This week on the Movie Squad pod, Simon Miraudo and Cecilia Allen get all high-falutin for a couple of intriguing dramas: the first, a humble romance from director Clio Barnard; the second, an ambiguous Tim Roth mystery.

In Cecilia's review of Clio Barnard's Ali & Ava, we learn which members of the Movie Squad enjoy a good romance (and who'd prefer a gnarly horror movie) while discussing the story of a British-Pakistani DJ who begins an affair with a sweet-natured Irish woman.

Then, Simon Miraudo plants the seed of curiosity while covering Sundown, from director Michael Franco, in which Roth's character abandons his family during a crisis to stay at an Acapulco hotel, for reasons that aren't immediately apparent (leaving plenty of space for audiences to apply their own reasoning and perspective), culminating in surprising violence.

Ali & Ava is now in select Australian cinemas. Sundown opens 7 July.