Critical Week: Take to the streets

The 70th London Film Festival kicked off last night with the European premiere of Elsinore, starring Andrew Scott. I attended a talk with him today, which was as engaging as you can imagine! But I still haven't seen the film, so I'll be hunting for a screening. I've already caught 20 LFF films (reviews are linked HERE), and I saw three more this week: Ruth Madeley (above) is terrific in Being Heumann, a ripping, essential account of Judy Heumann's 1977 standoff about accessibility. Mahershala Ali brings his powerful presence to the dramatic thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, a slightly messy film packed with provocative ideas. And Ryusuke Hamaguchi's extraordinary drama All of a Sudden effortlessly carries us through three hours of a fascinating new friendship.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Fjord • Naza • Tenzing
The Social Reckoning
California Schemin'
ALL REVIEWS >

Outside the festival, Mikey Madison leads Aaron Sorkin's sequel The Social Reckoning, as the whistleblower who exposed Facebook's extremely dodgy algorithm. She ably supported by Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong (as Mark Zuckerberg) and others. John Cena leads the charge in the action comedy Matchbox, as a spy who takes his childhood pals on a globe hopping adventure. It's ridiculous, but the stunts are jaw-dropping. Lesley Manville is of course excellent in the gritty thriller Winter of the Crow, as a British professor stranded in locked-down Soviet-era Warsaw. An ensemble of top French actors leads the charge in the theatre-based comedy Comédie Française, mixing smart humour and hilarious slapstick. And I also attended a live performance of Acosta Danza's dazzling Cuban Baroque.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching two highly anticipated animated films: Laika's Wildwood and Pixar's Ray Gunn, plus Pedro Pascal in Behemoth, Andrew Garfield in The Uprising, Jason Momoa in Street Fighter, the comedy Ghosts: The Possession of Button House and live performances of Heated Rivalry and Ballet Black at 25.