It's absolutely faultless, from the stellar cast who never put a foot wrong (including the generally shaky Cooper) through to a rich script and a genuinely heartbreaking plot. This might well be the best film ever to deal with the issue of suffering: it's certainly one of the most intelligent, even if it's often an extremely difficult watch.

I sure like Eddie Marsan. Everything I've seen him in, he's lifted in some particular and distinctive way. The same is true here, as the film motors along on important, but standard questions for about half its run time. But then he comes in and delivers a strikingly written part on the importance of beauty in the world. The film does a nice job presenting a variety of arguments about suffering, and seems a bit sympathetic to the perspective of faith. Not very cinematic, but worth a spin.