Critical Week: Look at yourself

Things should be quieting down this month, but the screening schedule has continued to be fairly busy with an eclectic collection of movies to watch. Making a very strong debut, writer-director Christian Swegal gives the fact-based drama Sovereign an unusually sensitive spin, centred around smart, thoughtful performances by Nick Offerman and Jacob Tremblay as a father and son with radical views that lead to tragedy. At the other end of the spectrum is James Gunn's witty, colourful new take on Superman, starring a likably human David Corenswet alongside Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Hoult. It's big and entertaining, but never surprising.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Other Way Around
Sovereign • Baby
Hidden Master
ALL REVIEWS >

The Dardenne brothers are back with Young Mothers, another riveting doc-like Belgian drama that pulls us deeply into a real-life situation, this time with teen girls who have babies. Jonas Trueba's Spanish comedy-drama The Other Way Around is the engagingly clever story of a couple planning to celebrate their separation, with added witty meta-filmmaking touches. From Brazil, Baby is a sensually shot and played drama about a teen just out of detention as he discovers connections in the tough streets of Sao Paulo. I also had an advance screening of the British drama I Swear, based on the involving true story of Tourette's campaigner John Davidson. It stars the always superb Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson and Peter Mullan, with remarkable performances from Scott Ellis Watson and Robert Aramayo in the lead role at two ages (it'll be out in October). 

This coming week is also full. I'll be watching the new Smurfs movie, with Rhianna as Smurfette, Celine Song's new drama Materialists, Helena Bonham Carter and Pierce Brosnan in Four Letters of Love, Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson in Friendship, the German black comedy Dying and the first chapter in the Oslo Stories Trilogy, Dreams. 
.

Critical Week: Time after time

I've been busy with plans surrounding the 41st London Critics' Circle Film Awards (we've all voted and are now getting ready to announce our winners). As chair of this group, there's a lot to do at the moment, so I'm keeping very busy in lockdown at the moment. Otherwise, the biggest film I watched this week was Synchronic, a surreal adventure thriller that sends two paramedics (Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie) on a mind-bending odyssey that involves cool things like time travel but is rather corny too. Ed Gathegi stars in Caged, a psychological prison thriller that's emotionally involving even if it feels archly theatrical.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Supernova • The Capote Tapes
The Dig • The Night
ALL REVIEWS >

From Mexico, the dark drama Identifying Features sends a mother in search of her missing son, a powerful story that's slightly weakened by its artsy filmmaking. Another artful maternal drama, this time from Japan, True Mothers follows an adoption from both sides of the story, beautiful to look at and vaguely mysterious too. The most audaciously inventive film, perhaps of the whole year, The Wolf House is a pitch-black and deeply haunting animated fairy tale from Chile. The documentary The Capote Tapes tells the story of the iconic writer through the eyes of his no-nonsense friends. And the short film collection The Male Gaze: Hide and Seek is another set of strongly well-made little dramas about masculinity.

This coming week will be largely taken up putting together the London Critics' Circle virtual ceremony on Sunday 7th February, but I also need to watch Owen Wilson in Bliss, Sam Neill in Rams, the British streaking comedy Running Naked, the Argentine thriller 4x4, the camp thriller X and the Paris Hilton doc This Is Paris.