Critical Week: When a plan comes together

It's another big blockbuster weekend at the movies, so I had to look around for other movies coming out this week that I could review. One of these was the rather lightweight heist thriller The Gentleman Thief, starring John Travolta and Rebecca De Mornay. It's an easy watch, twisty and not terribly tricky. But the big movie this week features three stars of current box-office champ The Odyssey: yes, Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jon Bernthal lead the charge in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which might be the best Marvel movie yet. It's a thoroughly engaging mix of humour, thrills and resonant emotion.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Ish • Mustache
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Wham! 10 Days in China
ALL REVIEWS >

I also caught up with the animated adventure Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie, which is aimed at very young children but keeps a smile on grown-up faces too. The megahit French comedy Just an Illusion, is a very lively coming-of-age story starring Louis Garrel and Camille Cottin as bickering, messy parents. Mustache is a superbly written and directed coming-of-age story set in Northern California, with an excellent cast. The Canadian romantic comedy Middle Life is charming and a bit awkward. The dazzlingly original animated memoir Bouchra is a true original, with a lot to say about culture and identity. And I also managed to catch up with the latest big-screen version of Masters of the Universe, which is far more fun than it should be.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Dominic Sessa in Tony, Glenn Close in The Summer Book, Vicky Krieps in Love Me Tender, George MacKay in Mission, the comedy Super Troopers 3 and the romcom Do Us Part. I also have a live performance of Matthew Bourne's The Car Man.

Critical Week: This little piggy

It's been a very busy week for me movie-wise, watching 12 films. But then, this is one of those weeks when distributors dump lots of surprise releases in between blockbusters (namely The Odyssey and Spider-Man). There are also two animated movies, due to the start of UK school holidays. Director Andy Serkis and writer Nicholas Stoller adapt George Orwell's classic allegory Animal Farm into a wacky barnyard adventure, but they also maintain the novel's deeper themes. And from Belgium, the animated romp Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog is as nutty as the title suggests (it's actual Chickenhare's second movie, but sadly I never saw him face the Hamster of Darkness). 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Hadestown: The Musical
On the Sea • Ask E Jean
Tomorrow's Too Late
PERHAPS AVOID:
Sour Party
Brunello: The Gracious Visionary
ALL REVIEWS >

Fresh from Cannes, Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder deliver fabulous performances in Jane Schoenbrun's astonishing Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, a yearning Lynchian drama with meta layers of horror movie lore. I caught an early screening of the sequel Fall 2, starring the up-for-it Harriet Slater and Arsema Thomas. Can't say any more about that at the moment. From Korea, Colony is the latest re-invention of the zombie genre by Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan), and fans will love the expertly orchestrated nonstop action suspense. Corey Feldman makes a cameo in the uneven comedy Sour Party, which has a goofy charm but never comes into focus. I caught up with two superb films that premiered at SXSW London: Test is a riveting drama about a bodybuilder (played by writer Brock Yurich) who can't face who he is, while Alex Kahuam's inventive The Remedy is a surprisingly involving and very grisly dramatic horror film.

And there were four documentaries that are well worth seeing: Ask E Jean is a lively, engaging look at the woman who beat Trump in court twice. Alex Gibney's expertly assembled Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie is disturbing and also very deeply personal. Likeable pop star Dylan Holloway chronicles his transition in the honest, important Tomorrow's Too Late. And the hugely entertaining Wham! 10 Days in China unearths superb never-seen footage to follow the band on a groundbreaking tour in 1985. 

At the moment, this next week looks a bit less intense. I'll be watching Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Canadian comedy Middle Life, French comedy Just an Illusion. animated adventure Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie and the autobiographical doc Bouchra.

Stage: We are world beating

Ali in Wonder(Eng)land
direction & dramaturgy Lara Parmiani
with Abdollah Aljohi, Adela Belekova, Arlind Daullja, Raquel Diaz, Malgorzata Fronc, Jean-Marie Kalambak, Maria Carmen, Jesus Leon, Wen Yueh Lu, Anna Marsden, Cristina Martinez, Julius Morie, Wilson Ringda, Hamed Vojoudzadeh
musicians Selim Guzel
set & costumes Isabella Van Braeckel  • lighting Chris McDonnell
Jacksons Lane, Highgate • 14-15.Jul.26 ★★★★

An ensemble of 16 migrants created this show with director Lara Parmiani, playfully infusing the Alice in Wonderland narrative with their own life experiences. The idea is simple: navigating Britain's immigration system feels like entering an absurd parallel universe where rules of logic don't apply. Loose and scrappy, this is a hugely imaginative show, played with boundless energy and a real depth of feeling. And because the performers are so honest about their stories and feelings, the show is both engaging and important.

Almost all of them take a turn as the title character Ali, who falls into a rabbit hole of confusion as they try to find a safe home in the UK. Some are refugees, others arrive from European countries for work, but all of them face an arrogant, nonsensical system that continually contradicts itself and shifts dramatically with each change in government. Sometimes they feel tiny, cruelly taunted by both officials and the public. At other times, they make helpful friends and find inner power in their presence.

All of this is played for laughs, but of course repercussions are serious, and emotions are darkly resonant. Alongside Selim Guzel's live on-stage music, this diverse bunch of actors is dressed in dungarees with white, red or blue T-shirts, interacting with a lively sense of humour. They often speak directly to the audience or don Ali's hoodie to take that role as the story moves through various recognisable chapters, including a mad tea party, a friendly caterpillar and a kangaroo court. The Home Office interview plays like a deranged, unwinnable episode of Who Wants to Be an Englishperson. As one person observes, this blindingly messy system is exactly how the officials want it to be.

This is a bracing piece of physical theatre that is made riveting by broad-but-grounded performers who have lived these experiences. It continually reflects situations any immigrant can identify with, from language barriers to learning British social cues ("Do I smile too much?") to facing a wide range of subtle, and not-so-subtle, bigotry. They're accused of stealing both jobs and benefits, as if it were possible to do both at the same time. And the most salient point is that multi-culturalism has defined the richness of British culture for centuries. So while we are smiling at the optimistic attitudes and warm camaraderie, the show's jabs are hitting their target with razor-sharp accuracy.

For information, LEGALALIENS THEATRE > 

photos courtesy LegalAliens • 15.Jul.26

Critical Week: Smile for the camera

It's been a busy week for me, running around town watching movies and stage shows. It was fun to catch up with the hugely engaging characters for Heartstopper Forever, a strongly involving movie that caps the TV series with a nicely grown-up story, even if the writing is a little cute. Joe Locke, Kit Connor and friends are terrific. But basically this entire week has been about Christopher Nolan's massive adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey. I watched it on the huge BFI Imax screen, and it's thunderously entertaining, carrying a powerful thematic kick. The cast is also excellent, particularly Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, John Leguizamo and Samantha Morton.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Last First Time • The Odyssey
Heartstopper Forever
ALL REVIEWS >

There were also two superbly made big-budget biopics. From France, De Gaulle: Resistance is the first of two films about the iconic general-turned-politician, and it's a thrilling account of 1940-42 from an angle I'd never seen before. From Romania, The Yellow Tie traces the life of composer-conductor Sergiu Celibidache, another involving story I'd never heard. 

There was also a filmed version of Hadestown: The Musical, a terrific stage production (the original Broadway cast performing in London's West End) based on the myth of Orpheus, with catchy soulful songs. The British romance A Year in London is enjoyable but overwritten. From Nigeria, the action thriller Son of the Soil is rather chaotic, but also very watchable as it dives into a nasty underworld. From Mexico, the beautifully shot Last First Time is an inventive, provocative coming-of-age drama. There were two docs: Synthetic Sincerity is a playful look at the limits of AI, Brunello: The Gracious Visionary is essentially a lavishly produced two-hour advert for the Bruno Cucinelli fashion brand. And I saw two live stage performances: Blue Mist at the Theatre Royal Stratford East and Ali in Wonder(Eng)land at Jackson's Lane.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Hannah Einbinder in Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Corey Feldman in Sour Party, the animated adventure Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog and two docs: Ask E Jean and Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie.

Stage: A place to call home

Blue Mist
by Mohamed-Zain Dada
director Milli Bhatia • designer Tomás Palmer
with Omar Bynon, Azan Ahmed, Kashif Ghole, Sanjeev Bhaskar
Theatre Royal Stratford East • 10-14.Jul.26
national tour 17.Jun-30.Jul.26 ★★★★

Carrying a very strong punch, this topical play is written with serious intent by Mohamed-Zain Dada, exploring issues that swirl around Muslims living in present-day Britain, specifically men with a Pakistani heritage. It's an energetic piece, bristling with life and culture, and packed with larger questions about identity and ambition. Quite a bit of the writing is very on-the-nose, but the points it makes about British society are important. And the larger themes have a wider resonance.

It's set around Chunkyz Shisha Lounge, a hang-out spot for young men looking for an alternative to pub culture. Three friends have found a home here: Jihad (Omar Bynon) is an aspiring journalist, Rashid (Azan Ahmed) is full of ideas to earn a living, and Asif (Kashif Ghole) is loyally in their corner. As they share gossip about the community and tease each other mercilessly, Jihad reveals that he is entering a competition to make a radio documentary. And when he wins, he decides to explore shisha culture. But the news media group mentoring him wants a juicier angle that plays up dodgy behaviour and racial divisions. Will Jihad betray his friends' secrets in order to launch his career?

This moral conundrum is powerful, and indeed it echoes far beyond the setting of this particular play. Like many first-time artists, Jihad thinks that compromising on this doc will allow him to be more honest in future work. And the context highlights an urgent aspect of a media agenda that deliberately politicises ethnicity, exploiting people to gain attention, oblivious to any harm caused. The way this plays out is darkly involving and also entertaining, largely because these three guys are so much fun to watch, with their hilarious wordplay, lively banter and close friendship. The terrific actors also give these men a superb physicality in eye-catching dance and fight choreography.

The stage is eye-catchingly simple: a shisha lounge with a neon backdrop. Lighting and smoke effects add clever touches, as does a major transformation in the final act. Sound is also used inventively, as Jihad makes audio recordings for his report (Chunky is voiced by iconic actor-comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar). All of this builds a sharp depiction of a subculture while focussing on three young men who simply want to pursue their careers and find happiness in life. The decisions they make create some powerfully emotional moments, leading to a final sequence that hits us right between the eyes. So even if the show is a bit too aware of its importance, it's still vivid and urgent.

For information, BOUNDLESS THEATRE >

photos by Ali Wright • 10.Jul.26

Stage: Naked villany

Richard III
by William Shakespeare
director Nicolás Pérez Costa
with Nicolás Pérez Costa, Marta Carvalho, Tricia Hitchcock, Juliet Prew, Hugo Coello, Mathew Miles, Julia Rose Lisa, Tom Longmire, Oliver Broad, Nabhan Uddin, Germán Martins
The Cockpit Theatre, London • 8-11.Jul.26 ★★★

Shakespeare's most florid villain gets a highly amped-up staging in this adaptation by Madrid-based Argentine actor-director Nicolás Pérez Costa. Performed in the round, the production emphasises physicality, using striking choreography and on-stage percussion to drive the action. And it also cleverly deploys sound and light to create a visceral experience for the audience. So perhaps we can forgive the rather overworked tatty New Romantic costumes (black lace by the mile) and literally on-the-nose cracked China-doll makeup.

Using the original text, which has been carefully trimmed, Pérez Costa presents Richard as a twisted, twitching monster who has somehow made himself look like a hero to the court. Walking with crutches, he regales the audience with his tormented ideas, devious plans and murderous thoughts, conniving to steal the throne after the death of his brother Edward IV (Mathew Miles). Oozing paranoia, he seduces Edward's widow Anne (Julia Rose Lisa) and kills her sons. Always with someone else to blame, he delights in doing away with anyone who even hints that they might go against his ambition.

Watching this brutal plan unfold is properly intense, played to the hilt by a gifted ensemble of players. Even when they're not in the spotlight, they lurk around the stage space, which features several steel drums that offer both height and noise. Light, sound and musical effects add motion and violence in several key sequences, such as a billowing sheet encompassing Richard's feverish nightmare in which he confronts his victims. And the climactic war sequence is superbly staged, from Richard's triumphant arrival on horseback to his final moments on the battlefield.

Throughout the story, Pérez Costa growls and snarls his dialog with menacing relish, magnetically commanding the attention. And the up-for-it cast around him equally commit their whole bodies to this extremely physical production. It's loud and abrasive, as this narrative should be. And the story has a fiendish power that pulls us in even as we are repulsed by the violent machinations of this unapologetically power-hungry man. And of course, they thankfully don't need to highlight the parallels with present-day politics.

For information, THE COCKPIT > 

photos courtesy of the production • 9.Jul.26

Critical Week: Bump in the night

It's been the third heatwave of the summer already, and I've been seeking refuge in air conditioned cinemas. There have been a few big screenings this week. We had a properly blood-soaked screening of the super-violent Evil Dead Burn, which kind of sidesteps the franchise for some gory horror. The live-action remake of Moana, is exactly like the 2016 animated original, but it helps to have actors Catherine Laga'aia and Dwayne Johnson on screen. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Shoot the People
The Last One for the Road
ALL REVIEWS >

As for movies outside the mainstream, Willem Dafoe gets a fantastic lead role in the smart, funny, moving drama Late Fame, costarring a scene-stealing Greta Lee. Sean Bean menaces Mackenzie Foy in the atmospheric, wintry Western The Isolate Thief. Finn Whittrock confronts his past in the thoughtful drama Westhampton. Summer campers get very silly, but also find some deeper meaning in The Floaters. And the doc Shoot the People is a bracing look at the work of British photographer Misan Harriman. 

Meanwhile, I also finally caught up with the brightly lit, extremely creepy Backrooms, complete with the Everything Must Go extra footage. And I finally watched the superb doc Marty: Life Is Short, celebrating the extraordinary life and career of Martin Short. Finally, there was a live performance of a bold Spanish-produced take on Shakespeare's Richard III at the Cockpit.

Coming up this next rather busy week, I'll be watching Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, teen romance Heartstopper Forever, the biopic De Gaulle: Resistance, a film of Hadestown: The Musical, action thriller Son of the Soil, British romance A Year in London, Mexican drama Last First Time, the AI doc Synthetic Sincerity, the designer doc Brunello: The Gracious Visionary and a live performance of Blue Mist at the Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Stage: Myth, memory and other bad ideas

–320°F
Minus Three Twenty Fahrenheit
written & directed by Hideki Noda
with Sadawo Abe, Suzu Hirose, Eri Fukatsu, Koji Ohkura, Shoko Takada, Yuri Kawakami, Satoshi Hashimoto, Hideki Noda, Isao Hashizume
choreography Shigehiro Ide
sets Yukio Horio • costumes Kodue Hibino
music Marihiko Hara • sound Raku Nakahara
lighting Motoi Hattori, Makoto Kitazawa
Sadler's Wells, London • 2-11.Jul.26 ★★★★

Following a run at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Japanese theatre company Noda Map brings a cast of 25 fully committed performers to London to stage this outrageously energetic epic play. Mixing various styles of theatre, this is a sparky mix of comedy, physical theatre, existential debate and absurd nuttiness. At 2 hours 20 minutes with subtitles and without an interval, it's not for the faint-hearted, but the bonkers storytelling and big ideas catch the imagination.

It's difficult, and perhaps pointless, to describe the Faustian narrative. But a brightly comical tone runs through the show, with constant sight gags, witty wordplay and cheeky characters who refuse to behave themselves. It opens with God (Isao Hashizume) making a wager with the Angel of Light (Suzu Hirose) about human desire. Then we're in the present day, as Professor Kyuri (Eri Fukatsu) is excavating for angel bones, the key to health, desire and longevity. She discovers that Help (Sadawo Abe) vibrates on the angelic frequency, so sends him into his genetic memories to both medieval and ancient times, seeking answers. And he's easily bribed with bananas.

All of this is set in a Tower of Babel that shifts through the eras, ruled by priests, monarchs or chief executives. There's a lot going on visually, with constant action as scenes shift using inventive trickery with light, sheets, screens, trap doors, steam vents and colourful costumes. It's dazzling to watch, thankfully directed with enough clarity to reveal exactly where to look. Each performer invests enormous personality and attitude into multiple roles, bringing them to life in ways that are continually surprising.

Along the way, the script tackles enormous questions, such as why humans are always running (to get away from metaphorical dinosaurs, of course). There's a Pied Piper who leads liberated lab mice or angels who have been frozen to –320°F to preserve them. But not all mice (or angels) follow the crowd. Conversations explore how our bones hold the memories of everything that has gone before, while fossilised bones communicate with the future. The show is a blinding mix of playful dialog, eye-catching choreography and heart-stopping insight. "When I had youth, I had nothing and I lacked nothing." "Beauty isn't an achievement."

Writer-director Hideki Noda, who performs as Kyuri's lively Assistant Stalwart, says that this play is designed to be something different for everyone who watches it, depending on how willing they are to connect with its more personal layers. Intriguingly, he acknowledges some will dismiss the show due to its excessive goofiness. But he clearly has these people in mind when he makes us laugh at something absurd or stops us with a profound observation. And in the end, this is a strikingly beautiful depiction of the folly of seeking eternal youth or trying to understand the meaning of humanity. Or of love itself.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS > • NODA MAP >

photos by Takashi Okamoto • 2.Jul.26

Critical Week: It's my party

It's my birthday week, so I decided to go see a guilty pleasure movie (I'd missed the press screening while I was in France), namely Jackass: Best and Last. It was as ridiculous as expected, not quite as funny as the joke has been stretched to the breaking point. But these guys evoke an intriguing stream of nostalgia that's engaging. Then the week's best surprise was the Canadian comedy Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, an absurd time-travel adventure that's riotously funny and also hugely likeable thanks to actor-filmmakers Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Minions & Monsters
ALL REVIEWS >

Rather a lot darker, My Father's Island is a gorgeously shot drama set in a remote corner of Norway starring the excellent Swann Arlaud and Woody Norman. Nathan Grubbs stars in and directs the involving drama Cowboy, worth a look even when it goes a bit off the rails. And Amanda Richards stars in and directs the likeable and deliberately rude musical romp Whiskey Dixie and the Big Wet Country. I also saw Hideki Noda's −320°F at Sadler's Wells.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching the live-action remake of Moana, the reboot Evil Dead Burn, Willem Dafoe in Late Fame, Sean Bean in The Isolate Thief and the doc Shoot the People. There's also a live performance of Richard III at the Cockpit.

Dance: An explosion of everyday joy

Phoenix Dance Theatre
Interplay
dancers Dorna Ashory, Aaron Chaplin, Rory Clarke, Phikolwethu Luke, Graciela Mariqueo-Smith, Hannah McGlashon, Yasmina Patel, Tony Polo, Dylan Springer
costumes Janne Beresford, Melissa Parry
lighting Luke Haywood, Alina Longmore
Sadler's Wells East, Stratford • 24-27.Jun.26 ★★★★

There's an unusual everyday quality to these four pieces by the Leeds-based Phoenix Dance Theatre, as these sparky young performers wear costumes that look like street clothes. And the beautifully fluid choreography mixes powerful dance moves with real-life interaction. The energy is infectious, filling the space with waves of physical joy.

First up is Next of Kin, choreographed by Marcus Jarrell Willis, a duet that ripples with the textures of a relationship. As this duo spin around the stage, they are expressing a full range of emotional realities in just 7 minutes, from fights to cuddles to moments in which they split apart and do their own thing. It's a remarkable display of extraordinary dance skill combined with physical theatre, as the quick and complex choreo expresses sparky wit, playfulness and dark intensity.

Ed Myhill's 13-minute piece Why Are People Clapping?! (restaged by Camille Giraudeau) is only accompanied by the sound of hands coming together. And it explores the rhythms of a range of activities, from a tennis match to a pounding heartbeat. The piece evolves from solos into duets and a full-group clapping circle that spurs faster and more complex moves. There's a sense that much of this is improvised, as performers mime various actions, cheering each other on with vibrant energy and impressive physicality, leading to a jubilant climax.

A bit longer, Small Talk by Travis Knight and James Pett is set to a classical score as two dancers intriguingly negotiate for space on the stage. This involves moving a large rug, a floor lamp and a chair around the space, interacting with them and each other to reflect how relationships shift over time. The performers dive into the elegant, demanding choreo, expressing full-bodied emotions. The push and pull between them is beautifully portrayed in duets and solos, with each light touch carrying remarkable weight. It's delicate and achingly honest.

Finally, Suite Release is a new 40-minute piece by Marcus Jarrell Willis and Yusha-Marie Sorzano that traces the origins of house music, opening with Labrinth's stunningly eerie rendition of How Great Thou Art. The set resembles a community space, cleverly echoing both a church and a nightclub, in which the dancers perform hugely physical choreography that evolves as the beat shifts through soul, disco and hip-hop, ultimately becoming a full-on party. It reverberates with groovy group energy that emerges from individual personalities coming together. It's clear that this company is gleefully celebrating bodies, music and life itself.

For information, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Drew Forsyth • 25.Jun.26

Critical Week: On an adventure.

I took a four-day trip to France this week to attend the Annecy Festival of Film Animation, and along with spending time with filmmakers and fellow journalists, I also managed to see five films. Writer-directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado enthusiastically offered a sneak screening of Forgotten Island, a ripping, gloriously animated adventure centred around friendship memories. And Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri were on hand to open the festival with the world premiere of Minions & Monsters. It's a joyous romp through early Hollywood, the best minions movie yet. I also saw Nobody, a gorgeously animated and superbly well-told adventure from China; The Violinist, a beautiful but unsatisfying personal drama set over half a century in Singapore; and Soul Shift from Germany, a riotously silly, bright-hued sci-fi comedy with a sharp point. (NB. Titles link to reviews; Forbidden Island is embargoed until closer to release.)

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Drunken Noodles
A Private Life
ALL REVIEWS >

Meanwhile in London, the 34th Raindance Film Festival is heading into its final weekend. I caught four films: Think of England is a cheeky wartime British comedy that morphs into a rather intense drama; from Iran, My Daughter's Hair is a dark and involving family melodrama; Pescador is a provocative, artistic road movie that plays with magical realism in Mexico; and The Troll is a brightly deadpan pastiche of influencer delusion. Raindance reviews are linked HERE >

Finally, I saw two films that open in cinemas this week. Milly Alcock is Supergirl in a followup to last year's Superman. Set in outer space, it's a very different film, enjoyable but derivative, with lots of big action-comedy set-pieces. And the Icelandic vampire thriller Thirst has a dry, camp sense of humour running through the queer, outrageously grisly nuttiness.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching a few more films at Raindance and catching up with others that I've missed. Oddly, there are no press screenings in the diary for my birthday week, but I do have a show titled -370°F at Sadler's Wells.

Critical Week: Shop til you drop

The 34th Raindance Film Fest kicked off Wednesday night with April X, an enjoyably stylised near-future thriller starring Luly Krug and Connor Storrie. Indie films from around the world are on the programme over the next 10 days. Meanwhile, the biggest film in cinemas is Toy Story 5, the latest thoroughly entertaining sequel in the franchise that could easily have just ended years ago. Thankfully, the Pixar team doesn't rest on its laurels.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Cactus Pears • Toy Story 5
Rose of Nevada • Nino
Virginia Woolf's Night & Day
PERHAPS AVOID:
A Murder Between Friends
ALL REVIEWS >

I also saw Voicemails for Isabelle, a romcom that references classic romcoms shamelessly and still wins us over thanks to charming leads Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson. Virginia Woolf's Night and Day is a smart British period comedy-drama with Haley Bennett as a fiercely independent woman in 1910 London, Joan Collins leads the cast of the nutty whodunit A Murder Between Friends, which is watchable even if it's very corny. The British drama Ish is a staggeringly realistic slice of life that grapples meaningfully with big issues. And the American drama Blue Film is a fascinating and finely contained exploration of attraction and sexuality.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Milly Alcock in Supergirl and the Icelandic vampire movie Thirst. At Raindance Film Festival, I plan to see Think of England, Pescador, My Daughter's Hair and more, and then at Annecy Festival in France there's Minions & Monsters to start with.

Dance: Island dreams

Acosta Danza Yunior
Next Generation
artistic director Carlos Acosta
dancers Carolina Monteagudo, Heidy Núñez, Maria del Carmen Pantoja, Paul Brando, Alexander Arias, Alejandro Figueredo, Ernesto Muñoz, Noel Sánchez, Anthony Quevedo, Edgar Quintero
teacher Maylin Castillo • company manager Rayselis Rodriguez
technical director Pedro Benitez • sound Jose Acedo
Sadler's Wells East, Stratford • 17-20.Jun.26 ★★★★

Graduates from Carlos Acosta's Cuban dance academy take the stage for a programme that bursts with youthful energy and strength. Each of the four pieces has strong echoes of Caribbean culture, catching the vibes of life on a tropical island while also reflecting larger social issues. Fluidly choreographed, this is a riveting show, and a promising look at the future of dance.

Fuga, choreographed by Susana Pous, opens with a group of dancers languishing in the sunshine on a spotlit square of green in the middle of the stage with the sounds of the sea. Their movement starts gradually, as they awaken and start to interact, looking beyond their shores to another life but refusing to let others go. They smoothly shift, roll and stretch both individually and communally. And as they begin to escape, it becomes strikingly moving. 

In a red frame around the edge of the stage, a pair of dancers (a girl in black and a boy in red) take a playfully exploratory journey around the space, spinning and echoing each other in complex textures of interaction. This is an eye-catching display of athleticism, using balance and flexibility to create a deconstructed take on both ballroom and ballet, with added drama!

Inspired by René Magritte's series The Lover, Kit Holder's Capriccio begins with two male dancers whose heads are wrapped together in a sheet; one flexes his muscles in casual wear, the other is in a suit. They move together in silence, pushing and pulling each other reactively. This duality is echoed in individual solos, performed alternatively side-by-side, leading to a stunning duet featuring dazzling choreographical flourishes. Their expressive chemistry is astonishing.

Finally, Juliano Nunes' Mundo Interpretado (Interpreted World) is framed by a floating field of water lilies designed by artist Glenda León. Beneath this, six dancers execute big moves together along to the rhythmic music. This mesmerising piece evolves into various solos, duets and group moments, progressing through sexy lifts, flips and flight, as the sound of waves returns. The interlocking movement is gorgeous, shifting from an edgy struggle into the blissful joy of balletic precision.

This is a beautiful show full of powerful physicality, mixing classical and modern dance with acrobatics. And the cleverly understated costumes perfectly augment each piece. The movement is so expressive that we feel like we are breathing in sync with these gifted dancers. Their youthful spark adds a terrific kick to the entire programme, revealing their serious strength and talent while hinting at much more to come.

For information, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Jayne Jackson, Yuris Nórido • 17.Jun.26