DVD and Blu-Ray releases

Silent Souls

(Artificial Eye, cert 15, DVD)

Two men from an almost extinct Russian ethnic sub-group take a dead woman to her final rest in this poetic, poignant drama which works brilliantly as character study and as a meditation on the notion of national identity.

The Arrival of Wang

(Peccadillo, cert 15, DVD)

A raggy but highly ingenious Italian drama about an interpreter called in by the government to … actually, any more explanation will ruin the film. Suffice to say it’s sci-fi. And recommended.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

(Fox, cert 15, Blu-ray/DVD)

From the writer of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a similar joke, steampunk vampires versus a US president who knows how to swing an axe — political metaphor entirely accidental. Timur Bekmambetov, director of vampire classic Night Watch, is in charge and his audacious finale makes it all worthwhile.

Red Lights

(Momentum, cert 15, Blu-ray/DVD)

Here is a great film about two professional sceptics (Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy) who go around exposing spiritualists as hustlers. Until halfway through, that is, when it wheels on Robert De Niro’s charismatic mentalist and the whole thing crosses over to the other side.

What to Expect When You’re Expecting

(Lionsgate, cert 12, Blu-ray/DVD)

There are decent roles for women — though they’re all on the toxic spectrum — in this girlcom about pregnancy that’s more expectation than delivery. J-Lo and Cameron Diaz star, which is probably recommendation enough for some.

The Alexander Sokurov Collection

(Artificial Eye, cert 15, DVD, £29.99)

Three films from the eclectic Russian director — 1989’s sensual Save and Protect, 1990’s mournful The Second Circle, plus Elegy of a Life, his joyous 2006 documentary on cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife Galina Vishnevskaya.