Young Adam (2003)
Every female character has a seemingly insatiable desire for the drifter Joe (Ewan McGregor). Despite being a cold film, in its portrayal of both joyless sex and the life of the bargemen working rainy Scottish canals, there's a sustained sexual tension that's heightened by the mystery surrounding the drowning of Joe's former girlfriend. When clothed, Ewan McGregor spends most of the time moodily smoking, yet this is one of his best performances, as a man whose seemingly passive nature belies a predatory brutality.
Brief Encounter (1945)
Brief Encounter beautifully conveys the reserve that takes an English love affair no further than longing looks and a passionate clinch. It's based on a play by Noel Coward. David Lean directs Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in the story of two middle-class types who fall in love after a chance meeting in a railway station. The black-and- white cinematography and film noir feel emphasise the hopelessness of the romance, which is a guaranteed tear-jerker.
Morvern Callar (2002)
The opening shot of an intimate caress illuminated by the lights on the couple's Christmas tree takes a gruesome turn when the camera pans to reveal the slashed wrists of Morvern Callar's dead boyfriend. Samantha Morton deservedly won Best Actress in last year's British Independent Film awards for her role as the girl who deals with her boyfriend's suicide in an unorthodox way. Instead of reporting it, she puts her name to the first draft of his novel and takes her friend, Lanna, on a drug-filled holiday to Spain.
