Gothic horror 'The Little Stranger' leads this week's new releases

Adapted from Sarah Waters' 2009 gothic horror novel of the same name, The Little Stranger is a post-World War Two drama, set in 1948, in which strange incidents begin to occur at a rural mansion. Dr. Faraday, a country doctor and son of a former housemaid of the estate, is sent to visit the residents and uncover the truth behind the occurrences. While he refutes any suggestion of the supernatural, he begins to become closer to the Ayres family - especially Caroline - causing events to wildly escalate as a result, in this intelligent examination of British class and gender roles.

• The Little Stranger has free screenings taking place in November as part of the Visions of Europe strand in this year's Into Film Festival.

Also released in cinemas this week

The House with a Clock in its Walls; Faces Places; The Captain

Also based on a gothic horror novel - a children's book in this instance - is The House with a Clock in its Walls, in which a ten year-old discovers that his uncle is a warlock and seeks to learn mystical practices before Doomsday hits; elsewhere, French documentary Faces Places from legendary filmmaker Agnès Varda sees her embark on a road-trip around small French towns and villages alongside her street artist friend, celebrating creativity and community; and another title for modern foreign languages students this week is The Captain, a German language production set during the final days of World War Two which sees a fleeing army deserter pretend to be a high-ranking Nazi official after stumbling upon a captain's uniform in this brutal black-and-white drama.

• The House with a Clock in its Walls plays in the Into Film Festival within the Saving the World strand, with screenings taking place across the UK.
• Faces Places, in our Year of the Woman strand, screens in East London, Thetford, Halifax and Ambleside.

Find out where you can see these films near you with FindAnyFilm

New to Order on DVD

Apostasy

Leading our DVD releases this week is British drama Apostasy, a semi-autobiographical tale from first-time director Daniel Kokotajlo, recounting his experiences growing up in a religious environment. The plot follows a family of Jehovah's Witnesses, living in Oldham, whose lives are turned upside-down when the eldest daughter begins to question her faith. Telling the story through the eyes of her younger sister, Alex, it explores ethical issues and the impact religions can have on relationships and identity.

Also new to order this week

On Chesil Beach

Adapted from Ian McEwan's bestselling novel, On Chesil Beach is set in 1962 on the English south coast. University graduates Florence and Edward fall in love and soon marry, but fall victim to pressures of the period around sexual intimacy. Coming from different social backgrounds with complex family relationships, the film uses flashbacks and other storytelling devices to adapt the work for the big screen and to cleverly explore the characters' different understanding of the world, as well as of each other.