Critical Week: A family portrait

Three big sequels were screened this week for the press. The big one was the world premiere of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, attended by most of the cast and crew. The film is a worthy farewell to this franchise, and there are no surprises. Which makes it even more cosy and comforting. A lot more fun was Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, continuing the hilarious mock-doc comedy antics of the world's favourite fake British heavy metal band. And then there were Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga back for one more time as the ghostbusting Warrens in The Conjuring: Last Rites, which works best when it centres on the characters rather than the rather silly ghostly creep-out.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
On Swift Horses • Christy
Night of the Juggler
ALL REVIEWS >

We also had Benedict Cumberbatch in The Thing With Feathers, an artful exploration of grief that really gets under the skin. Cooper Hoffman leads The Long Walk, based on a Stephen King novel set in a 1970s American dystopia. It's very dark, but also compelling and thought-provoking. The horror thriller Good Boy skilfully unfolds through a dog's-eye-view, which makes it unusual enough to catch us off guard. And the British drama Brides addresses a very thorny issue with engaging characters and a sharp sense of youthful hope.

There are fewer screenings this coming week, largely due to the week-long Tube strikes, but among films I'll be watching are Emma Thompson in Dead of Winter, Michael Chiklis in The Senior, Adam Bessa in Ghost Trail and Justin Kurzel's Warren Ellis doc Ellis Park.

Critical Week: Ray of light

I took thinks a bit easier this week, recovering from last week's intense film festival screening programme. But it's been cinema weather in London, so I've watched films both at home and at press screenings anyway. Two films this week were animated, both far from Hollywood. The Japanese drama Josee, the Tiger and the Fish is actually a remake, but has a fresh visual approach that blends traditional anime with simply gorgeous digital artwork to tell a remarkably grown-up story about friendship and love. And from Germany, Moonbound is also beautifully animated with an eye-catching attention to detail in its wacky space adventure story. But an over-complicated script lets it down.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Pray Away • Sabaya
Never Gonna Snow Again
Ema • The Fever
PERHAPS AVOID:
Playing God • Moonbound
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As for the blockbusters, Ryan Reynolds is as charming as ever in Free Guy, a wildly entertaining action comedy that packs a nice punch. James Gun reboots The Suicide Squad, bringing back Margot Robbie and Joel Kinnaman plus Idris Elba for a riotously busy, loud, overlong and gleefully grisly caper. The perhaps too hushed coming-of-age thriller John and the Hole stars Charlie Shotwell as a tween who locks his family in an unfinished bunker to get some peace. Michael McKean and Alan Tudyk liven up the far too serious con-artist caper Playing God. And from Brazil, The Fever is a gorgeous observational drama about an indigenous man in an Amazon city facing big changes in his life.

Films I'll be watching this coming week include Benh Zeitlin's riff on Peter Pan with Wendy, Richard Dreyfuss in Crime Story, Kelsey Grammer in Charming the Hearts of Men, the Canadian drama Underground, the Norwegian comedy-drama Ninjababy and the shorts collection Boy Feels: I Love Trouble.