Critical Week: Under pressure

It's been another lightish week film-wise, and we have three big weekends up ahead. First is the May Day holiday, followed by the three-day Coronation weekend, and then there's Eurovision, which Liverpool is hosting on Ukraine's behalf. Meanwhile, I've been watching movies and writing about them this week. Filmmaker Ari Aster is back with Beau Is Afraid, an unhinged three-hour odyssey starring an astonishing Joaquin Phoenix. It's ambitious, indulgent and fairly impenetrable, and its packed with moments of genius. Big George Foreman is a by-the-numbers biopic about the great boxer. Its sanitised, anecdotal, relentlessly inspiring approach is frustrating, but Foreman's story is riveting. And Khris Davis is solid in the demanding role.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Eight Mountains
Love According to Dalva
Little Richard: I Am Everything
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And then there's Last Sentinel, a nicely contained thriller set in 2063 on an isolated outpost where Kate Bosworth and three men grapple with paranoia and other dangers. It's engaging but a bit thin. From Greece, the drama Broadway looks great, and has a fascinating premise that involves quirky outcasts surviving with a performance art/crime scam. But it's superficial and aimless. For contrast, there was dancer-choreographer Siobhan Davies' mesmerising autobiographical film Transparent, which screened at the Lillian Baylis Studio at Sadler's Wells, followed by a terrific Q&A with Davies. Also at Sadler's Wells, I covered this spring's stunning performance by the exceptionally talented Nederlands Dans Theater.

This next week, aside from enjoying some downtime over the three-day weekend, I'll be watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, Jim Parsons in Spoiler Alert, the small-town comedy-drama 5-25-77, Irish drama Lakelands, French drama Mother and Son and Tunisian drama Harka. And there's also the stage show Supernova at the Clapham Omnibus (review here soon).