The Kite Runner (12A)

Based on Khaled Hosseini's highly regarded novel, this story of exile, ambition and betrayal has an emotional power that outstrips its occasional implausibilities. In San Francisco a novelist, Amir (Khalid Abdalla), looks back on his childhood in Afghanistan, and his friendship with Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada), the son of his father's servant and an expert kite-flyer.

What happens between the boys haunts Amir so deeply that he will eventually risk his life trying to atone. The tragedy of Afghanistan is poignantly, at times terrifyingly suggested. Director Marc Forster (Monster's Ball) is as good as ever with his actors.