Critical Week: You're going to be just fine

It seems that awards season is arriving early this year, as screenings have already begun for many of this year's festival favourites, who are jostling for attention in the awards conversation. What's nice about this is that, at many of these screenings, we get a chance to meet the actors and filmmakers. And I particularly like getting a bit ahead of the buzz - making up my own mind without reading reviews. One of my most anticipated this year was Harris Dickinson's writing-directing debut Urchin, starring Frank Dillane (above). It's a stunner, authentic and artistic, and profoundly moving.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Plainclothes • Solo • Steve
The Lost Bus • Happyend
Tape • Peacock • Megadoc
ALL REVIEWS >

The starriest event, attended by the cast and crew, was for Steve, which stars Cillian Murphy as headmaster of an English reform school. It's another remarkably artful, skilfully shot and acted drama with a powerful kick. Paul Greengrass' riveting, immersive true story The Lost Bus stars Matthew McConaughey and American Ferrera as a pair of everyday heroes trying to save young kids during a horrific California wildfire. And Emma Thompson is terrific in the snowy and very gritty thriller Dead of Winter.

I also caught up with three festival favourites: The Love That Remains is an unusually nuanced collage of complex family life from Iceland, Two Prosecutors is a wryly ironic drama set in Soviet-era Russia as a young lawyer tries to take on the system and, from Spain, Romeria is an involving look at identity as a young woman seeks answers about her heritage. I also loved Mike Figgis' making-of-Megalopolis documentary Megadoc, which is a gorgeous portrait of Francis Ford Coppola. Finally, I attended two offbeat live performances that mix dance, music and spoken word: How to Be a Dancer in Seventy-two Thousand Easy Lessons at Sadler's Wells East and Vlaemsch (Chez Moi) at Sadler's Wells.

Films to watch this coming week include Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt in The Smashing Machine, Channing Tatum in Roofman, Sam Claflin in All the Devils Are Here and Brett Goldstein in All of You, plus Acosta Danza's A Decade in Motion on stage at Sadler's Wells. I'm also hosting a Q&A with director Sophie Dupuis and actor Felix Maritaud tomorrow following their new film Solo.

Critical Week: Stay cool

This is an almost comically hyped-up cinematic week, as #Barbenheimer heralds the release of two of the year's most anticipated releases, Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. Annoyingly, Universal refused to let me attend any Oppenheimer press screenings, but I'll still see it. Of course, Warners launched Barbie in a big splash of pink, and it's a hugely enjoyable film, far smarter than expected, with a strong point underpinning its candy-coloured hilarity. Teyonah Parris, Jamie Foxx and John Boyega (above) star in the funky comedy-thriller They Cloned Tyrone, which oozes style as it tells a bonkers story that also has a much more serious edge to it. More gleefully ridiculous, Joy Ride is an entertaining and perhaps too-riotous romp following Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu into various crazy situations in East Asia.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Oppenheimer • Barbie
ALL REVIEWS >

Much more subtle films included Julia Louis-Dreyfus reteaming with writer-director Nicole Holofcener for the comedy You Hurt My Feelings, which astutely observes relationship issues from a knowing perspective. The stunningly well written, directed and acted drama Mutt follows a young trans man as he reconnects with three people from his past. The literally breathtaking thriller The Dive remains contained around two sisters who have a terrifying underwater crisis. There were also two docs: the sassy and profoundly moving Kokomo City, about Black trans sex workers caught between their various communities, and Bobi Wine: The People's President, a riveting portrait of a populist politician standing up against corrupt rule in Uganda. I also caught two superbly masculine shows at the end of Sadler's Wells Flamenco Festival.

Tomorrow I'll buy a ticket to see Oppenheimer in 70mm but not Imax, as those are all sold out. In addition, I'll be watching the romantic comedy Red, White & Royal Blue, plus the French drama Smalltown Boys, the Malaysian thriller Walid, the animated adventure Mavka: The Forest Song, the Tibetan doc Baato, and the 23rd Boys on Film shorts collection Dangerous to Know.