Ten Must-See Films at the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival

There are movies, and there are movies. At MIFF you'll find the latter. The largest and most prestigious event of its kind anywhere in the country, the latest edition of the Melbourne International Film Festival will feature more than 350 films over two and a half weeks, spanning every imaginable genre, language and style.

MIFF 2016 kicks off on July 28 with the world premiere of Australian sci-fi drama The Death and Life of Otto Bloom. From there it's off to the pictures — and with literally hundreds of options to choose from, there'll always be something to see. There's a stream dedicated to movies made in Australia, and another one on films about food. Fans of arthouse cinema can catch the latest titles from Sundance, Berlin and Cannes in the 'Headliners' section, while horror buffs get to stay up late with the weird and wonderful 'Night Shift'.

Below, we've put together a list of ten must-see films at the festival this year. Tickets for many of these titles are already selling fast, so unless you want to be stuck watching Hollywood blockbusters all August, you'd best start lining up sessions lickety-split.

THE NEON DEMON

When it comes to director Nicolas Winding Refn, the more twisted and controversial, the better. The latest effort from the man behind Drive and Only God Forgives is an ultra-stylish horror/thriller set in the cut-throat world of LA fashion. The Neon Demon has divided audiences and critics alike, derided as trash and hailed as a masterpiece. We can't wait to decide for ourselves.

Alternatively: Refn is far from the only noteworthy filmmaker to be featured at MIFF this year. The 'Headliners' section is full of new films from celebrated auteurs, including Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's The Unknown Girl, Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman, and Olivier Assayas' Personal Shopper. That last one features Kristen Stewart sending text messages to a ghost. What more could you possibly ask for?

CERTAIN WOMEN

Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart star in the latest contemplative drama from writer-director Kelly Reichardt. Adapted from a series of short stories by Maile Meloy, the low-key indie is split into three separate vignettes about women living in rural Montana. A quiet but extraordinarily compelling film, Certain Woman is an absolute must-see this year.

Alternatively: MIFF artistic director Michelle Carey has always championed female directors, and this year's program features plenty. We're especially excited about Chevalier, the new film from Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari, described in the program as "a bizarre and formally adventurous study of male antagonism set aboard a luxury yacht."

AQUARIUS

A worthy winner of the Sydney Film Prize at SFF earlier this year, Aquarius is an arresting, politically loaded Brazilian drama starring the magnificent Sonia Braga as an aging music critic at war with property developers who want to throw her out of her apartment. A masterclass in dramatic restraint bolstered by a phenomenal lead performance, it also boasts one of the best soundtracks of the year.

Alternatively: Award winners from further afield include Mia Hansen-Løve's Things to Come, which earned its maker the Best Director prize at the Berlin Film Festival in February, and Oliver Laxe's Mimosas, which won the Critic's Week Grand Prize at Cannes in May.

THE HANDMAIDEN

Another major SFF standout to make its way to MIFF is the latest film from South Korea's Park Chan-wook, the deliciously ludicrous period thriller The Handmaiden. With the same abundance of style he displayed in Oldboy, Thirst and Stoker, Park weaves a twisted tale, about a pair of con artists out to steal a rich woman's fortune, that is at once darkly funny, immensely sexy and gripping from beginning to end.

Alternatively: The 'Accent on Asia' section is invariably one of the strongest at the festival. Exciting titles in the lineup this year include Right Then, Wrong Now from Park's compatriot Hong Sang-soo, and After the Storm from Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda.

GIRL ASLEEP

Of all the local efforts on this year's MIFF program, it's the filmmaking debut of Windmill Theatre artistic director Rosemary Myers that has really caught our eye. A coming-of-age comedy set in suburbia in the 1970s, Girl Asleep looks like a cross between Alice in Wonderland and a Wes Anderson movie, and scored great reviews at the Seattle Film Festival, where it won the Official Competition Grand Jury Prize.

Alternatively: Other Australian standouts include psychological thriller Bad Girl, anticipated black comedy Down Under and aptly named musical Emo the Musical. The festival will also screen a number of newly restored versions of older Australian titles, including Innocence, Proof and The Boys.

TICKLED

A documentary about the world of competitive tickling. On those eight words alone, we reckon we could convince you that this film was worth watching. But as it turns out, there's a lot more to Tickled than initially meets the eye, with Kiwi filmmakers David Farrier and Dylan Reeve pulling back the curtain on a strange and possibly nefarious subculture, facing threats and legal roadblocks along the way.

Alternatively: Similarly odd is Lo and Behold, the latest documentary from German filmmaker Werner Herzog in which he ruminates on the mysteries of the internet. For something a little more hard-hitting, National Bird takes a look at the grim implications of the US aerial drone program, while Newtown explores the aftermath of the Sandy Hook mass shooting.

THE DEVIL'S CANDY

Sean Byrne's follow-up to underground hit The Loved Ones combines old school home invasion horror with headbanging heavy metal. Set in rural Texas, The Devil's Candy concerns a family of rock 'n' roll lovers being terrorised by a mental patient who may or may not be possessed by evil spirits. Byrne crafts a stylish-looking feature and lands many genuine scares, but the biggest selling point is the seat-rattling soundtrack. Catch it at the festival, because their sound system is going to be way better than whatever you've got set up at home.

Alternatively: The Night Shift section is full of strange and spooky offerings, ranging from Iranian ghost story Under the Shadow to Polish killer mermaid musical The Lure. No, you didn't misread that. A killer mermaid musical.

GIMME DANGER

Indie film legend Jim Jarmusch turns his camera on Iggy Pop, in this documentary about legendary punk rockers The Stooges. Mixing interviews, archival footage and even animation, Jarmusch charts the rise of one of the most influential bands in history, with the film described in one review out of Cannes as "essential viewing for Stooges fans." If that label applies to you, best jump on tickets quick.

Alternatively: Get up close with Janis Joplin in Janis: Little Girl Blue, sing along with the titular soul singer in Miss Sharon Jones!, and meet legendary DJ and industry icon James Lavelle in The Man From Mo'Wax.

ANTS ON A SHRIMP: NOMA IN TOKYO

In 2015, chef René Redzepi shut down his legendary restaurant in Copenhagen and relocated to Tokyo for a five week Noma pop-up. The resulting chaos is chronicled in this appetising doco that takes its name from just one of the strange dishes Redzepi decided to serve. Just whatever you do, don't go and see it on an empty stomach.

Alternatively: There are plenty of tasty treats in the 'Culinary Cinema' sidebar, but it's hard to go past Bugs, a documentary about eating... well... bugs. Remember what your mother told you: it's important to try new things.

SONITA

The winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, Sonita shapes up as a powerful true story about a 14-year-old Afghan refugee who dreams of becoming a rapper. Filmmaker Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami examines a culture of misogyny and oppression, even as her subject tackles these very same concepts in her lyrics.

Alternatively: Sonita is one of many films on the program that deals with refugee issues this year, with the festival hosting a dedicated stream to that very topic. In Fire At Sea, documentarian Gianfranco Rosi offers a portrait of the quiet island of Lampedusa, a common landing spot for migrants fleeing across the Mediterranean Sea.