Loving 2016 ***

Jeff Nichols has been a consistent force of nature in the world of B movies; from Mud to Midnight Special, he’s specialized in small, intense dramas, and as such, it was inevitable that his considerable skills would be co-opted for a ‘prestige’ picture. Tackling the real-life story of the Loving family, a mixed-race couple whose only crime was to love each other, Nichols manages to keep the focus on the relationship at the centre of the drama and not get bogged down in courtroom shenanigans. Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga are both excellent, and the period detail is kept to a minimalist background. There’s a lack of humour, and a deft-downplaying of drama and sometimes makes the story seem drab, but Loving is to be admired for its refusal to function as awards bait or to recast a personal drama in a contrived Hollywood way.