Age, happiness and the passing of time are the themes that percolate movingly through Mike Leigh’s ANOTHER YEAR, his first film since 2008’s punchy, upbeat HAPPY GO LUCKY. It’s a serious, meditative but powerful drama that explores a year in the life of a contented, endearing professional couple in their early 60s and the friends and family who cross their path...

While many of Leigh’s films have explored upheavals in the lives of their protagonists (Vera in VERA DRAKE, Phil and Penny in ALL OR NOTHING), ANOTHER YEAR feels different in mood and structure: more contemplative, less confrontational, more at ease with the gentle passage of time.

With ANOTHER YEAR, Leigh seems more interested in what doesn’t change in our lives than what does: our long-term selves, rather than our short-term experiences. Time passes, events happen (some within our control, some not), but fate proves the most powerful force. Within this, there are many other more specific interests: the legacy of the 1968, university-educated generation; the role of alcohol in our social lives; our self-awareness relating to our age and that of others; and what we pass on, emotionally, to our kids.

Dave Calhoun, Time Out Online