Critical Week: Phone home

Awards season is properly cranking up, with lots of screenings (and online links) for movies that are coming out in December and January - so we can see them ahead of voting deadlines, which are quickly approaching. It's great to see these films on a big screen when possible. Certainly, two unusually striking films I saw this week deserve that - both are very long movies based on true stories. Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme stars Timothee Chalamet (above) as an aspiring ping pong champ, and it's a singular visual odyssey, high energy and utterly riveting. It's also a little exhausting. And then there's Mona Fastvold's The Testament of Ann Lee, starring Amanda Seyfried as the founder of the Shakers in 18th century England and New England. It's a swirling, mesmerising journey that leaves us thinking. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Rental Family • Cactus Pears
Wicked: For Good
The Thing With Feathers
Zodiac Killer Project
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Ice Tower
ALL REVIEWS >

A bit more mainstream, Emma Mackey stars in filmmaking maestro James L Brooks' Ella McCay, a sparky and enjoyable comedy-drama about a family and political ambition. Bill Skarsgard leads the cast of Gus Van Sant's Dead Man's Wire, based on the true story of an unusual 1977 kidnapping. It's a gripping, strikingly well-made film. June Squibb stars in Scarlett Johansson's directing debut Eleanor the Great, a lively and likeable comedy-drama about memories and perception. Nicolas Cage leads The Carpenter's Son, an offbeat horror film based on an apocryphal gospel about the childhood of Jesus Christ (played by Noah Jupe). It's ambitious and creepy, and a little overwrought.

And then there was Park Chan-wook's overlong but sharply observant comedy No Other Choice starring Lee Byun-Hun as a guy who takes desperate measures to find a job. Sope Dirisu stars in the gorgeous British-Nigerian drama My Father's Shadow, as a man who takes his two cheeky sons on a day out in 1993 Lagos. The wonderful Iraqi drama The President's Cake centres on a young girl navigating her way through a restrictive system simply to bake a cake. The moving French drama Nino features yet another astonishingly transparent performance from Theodore Pellerin. And the Taiwanese drama Left-Handed Girl takes a snappy, fresh approach to connections between generations of women. I also attended the British premiere screening of Landman season 2 with Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore and Ali Larter in attendance.

It's another big week coming up, and I'll be watching Jodie Foster in A Private Life, Josh O'Connor in The Mastermind, Lav Diaz's epic biopic Magellan, the Spanish adventure Sirat and the animated films Scarlet and Little Amelie, plus festive live performances of Growled at the RVT and The Magic of Christmas at Brick Lane Music Hall.

Critical Week: I'll drink to that

In this full week between two short ones, I've been working to get ahead of things before taking a break starting next week. So I've been both attending screenings and watching films at home on links. And there were a couple of big ones along the way. Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick are back for the frothy comedy-thriller Another Simple Favour, this time set in gorgeous locations around Capri. Both silly and violent, it's also very entertaining. Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan lead a ragtag ensemble in Thunderbolts*, a more character-based Marvel film than usual, with a terrific linear narrative that outs the effects nonsense into emotional context.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Where Dragons Live • Thunderbolts*
Parthenope • Another Simple Favour
ALL REVIEWS >

Nicolas Cage gives one of his wonderfully bonkers performances in The Surfer as a guy who simply wants to return to surf the waves on the Australian beach where he grew up. Then things get outrageously messy. From Scotland, the 18th century samurai-Western mashup Tornado is set in the Highlands, slow and riveting, and superbly played by Koki, Tim Roth, Jack Lowden and more. From Italy, Paolo Sorrentino's Parthenope is yet another sumptuously gorgeous free-spirited epic odyssey, enjoyable and yet oddly out of reach. From Brazil, Karim Ainouz's bracingly colour-drenched dramatic thriller Motel Destino is bursting with passion and yearning. The Argentine drama Most People Die on Sundays has a much lighter tone than the title suggests, and it's a warm exploration of identity and connection. And the British doc Where Dragons Live is a fascinating look at a middle-class family sifting through its personal history.

This coming week, I'll have a few things to watch over the long weekend before heading off to visit my parents for a couple of weeks. Films include the musical drama Midnight in Phoenix, and there's also a stage production of Blood Wedding at the Omnibus in Clapham.

Critical Week: It wasn't me

It's been a momentous week in the UK, with a general election on Thursday that delivered on its expectations to completely upend the nation's government. On the 4th of July, no less. Meanwhile in the movies, Eddie Murphy returned for a fourth time for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, an overly retro sequel that feels like a movie we saw 40 years ago (we did). But Murphy is still great on-screen in this role. Also on Netflix, Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron reteamed for A Family Affair, which is as silly as it looks, and also an amusing guilty pleasure.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Kill • The Conversation
Orlando, My Political Biography
Unicorns • The Nature of Love
ALL REVIEWS >

I saw two horror creep-outs: Mia Goth is back for MaXXXine, the third film in Ti West's series about young women seeking fame, this time a pornstar going mainstream while yucky violence breaks out all around her. Also very yucky, Longlegs stars Nicolas Cage in perhaps his most bonkers role yet (which is saying a lot). It's a relentlessly unsettling freak-out. And I was also delightful stressed out revisiting one of the finest thrillers ever made, Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 gem The Conversation, followed by a terrific Q&A with legendary sound and film editor Walter Murch.

Three films use surrealism to address big themes: Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars in the eerie dark drama Tuesday, as a mother confronting death (in the form of a parrot) about her daughter's life. Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn lead the offbeat and intense Mother Couch, about a woman who forces her adult children to grapple with her mortality. And Paul Raci is a guru teaching The Secret Art of Human Flight in an quirky comedy-drama that's bleakly emotive. And then there were father and son Stellan and Gustaf Skarsgard teaming up for the gloomy and haunting Scandinavian mystery What Remains, and fiercely inventive Chinese drama Black Dog, which deservedly won a couple of prizes at Cannes. I also attended Carlos Acosta's breathtaking stage production of Carmen at Sadler's Wells.

This coming week isn't looking quite as crazy as this one was. I'll be watching Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in Fly Me to the Moon, Sandra Huller in Sisi & I, Korean thriller Sleep, Iranian drama My Favourite Cake and the British animated adventure Kensuke's Kingdom. In live theatre, I'm attending Dorian: The Musical and the opening cabaret for Soho Theatre's Clown Festival.

Critical Week: You're a winner, baby

Arriving back in London, there's a lot to catch up on, both with writing and movie watching. But I'm working my way through it all, fending off jet lag and surprisingly not too bothered by the cold, wet, dark days here. Awards season is in full swing now, so there are plenty of for-your-consideration films to watch, plus TV series as I am voting in both film and TV categories in this year's Golden Globes. I've only just begun to catch up.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Anatomy of a Fall
The Eternal Memory
ALL REVIEWS >

Films this week included yet another unexpected performance from Nicolas Cage, this time as a hapless nice guy propelled into a surreal social media flurry in Dream Scenario. It's smart and strange, and wonderfully provocative. Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani are back as The Marvels, an bonkers action comedy that's funny but vacuous. Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott lead the teen comedy Bottoms, which is rude and amusing, and never quite gets to the point. The important and engaging doc Every Body is a bracingly honest look at life for three intersex people, bursting with humour and music. And I caught up with this one on the plane...

The Covenant
dir Guy Ritchie; with Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim 23/US ***.
Set in 2018 Afghanistan, this remarkably understated thriller may be fictional, but it has a strong ring of truth to its story of an American soldier who feels a moral responsibility for helping the interpreter who saved his life. Director-cowriter Guy Ritchie recounts the story with an edgy authenticity that often feels like a documentary, so even when the bigger action beats emerge, they feel grounded in human experience. And performances have a terrific earthiness that avoids the usual militaristic bombast.

Films this coming week include Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon, Zac Efron in The Iron Claw, Alexander Payne's The Holdovers, Julia Garner in The Royal Hotel, James Marsh's Samuel Beckett biopic Dance First, Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron, Japanese monster reboot Godzilla Minus One, the doc American Symphony and the restored classic The Red Shoes.

Critical Week: Eye of the tiger

It's a busy but short week here in London, and I've been running around catching the usual eclectic variety of movies at press screenings. I've been a fan of Henry Golding since his excellent work in Crazy Rich Asians and Monsoon, so I was willing to set Snake Eye aside and look forward to Assassin Club. Alas, this one's a generic, poorly written thriller. At least he's good in the first act, before things get truly nutty. Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult are gleefully over-the-top from the start of Renfield, and they're the best thing about the movie, which mashes-up horror, comedy, romance and drama in ways we've seen before. But at least it's good fun.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Suzume • Everything Went Fine
Private Desert • Cairo Conspiracy
PERHAPS AVOID:
Assassin Club
ALL REVIEWS >

Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton are of course excellent in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a very British road movie about a man who decides to walk the length of England. Thankfully, it avoids sentimentality for something darker and more resonant. Teyana Taylor is a force of nature in A Thousand and One, an unusually realistic New York drama that traces a mother and son over a decade that's as tumultuous for the city as it is for them. And the Norwegian pitch-black comedy Sick of Myself, which lampoons how everyone is vying for attention, is so bone-dry that it makes us feel uncomfortable in all the right ways.

This next week I'll be watching Eva Green in The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan, Jim Gaffigan in Linoleum, the Polynesian epic Pacification and the Filipino drama I Love You Beksman, which opens the Queer East Film Fest (reviews here soon).

Critical Week: Desperado

It's been a very busy week with lots of meetings relating to the forthcoming London Critics' Circle Film Awards, voting deadlines in various awards and appearing on this week's episode of the Arts Hour for BBC World Service (link to come).

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Tár • M3gan • The Old Way
Empire of Light • Enys Men
ALL REVIEWS >

So I've only managed to watch three films this week. Nicolas Cage brings his wonderfully offbeat intensity to the Western drama The Old Way, which is never quite as original as it should be, but is sustained by Cage's presence and his chemistry with intrepid young costar Ryan Kiera Armstrong. Another genre film that is more entertaining than it should be is M3gan, about an AI robot toy doll that becomes murderously protective of its owner. It's gleefully nasty, but never scary. And Gillian Jacobs is terrific in the unusual The Seven Faces of Jane, which features episodes in the day of a mother's life made by eight filmmakers who didn't consult with each other. The result is surreal and riveting.

This coming week I'll be watching Anna Kendrick in Alice Darling, Vicky Krieps in More Than Ever, Alfredo Castro in The Substitute, the acclaimed British drama The Swimmers and the animated adventure Epic Tails.

Critical Week: I'm kinda busy

It was a relatively slow week for film screenings - and a short one after the Easter Monday holiday. Although I did have a couple of stage productions to cover, which is always a nice switch-up from being in a cinema. As for the films, there were two thoroughly unimpressive American independent productions. The starriest was Unplugging, with Eva Longoria and Matt Walsh (plus Lea Thompson and Keith David in scene-stealing roles). It's a corny romcom that hinges on technology addiction. Equally undercooked was the existential comedy I, Challenger, starring James Duval as a stoner trying to improve his luck with an absurd stunt. Neither film is very good, but they kill the time amiably enough.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Playground • Petite Maman
Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Hit the Road • The Northman
PERHAPS AVOID:
Unplugging • I, Challenger
ALL REVIEWS >

Much better, and far more challenging, is Gaspar Noe's inventive drama Vortex, which follows an elderly couple (Dario Argento and Francoise Lebrun) as they grapple with ageing, mortality and memory. And Kota Yoshida's unhinged Japanese triptych Sexual Drive is packed with warped humour and clever insight into the nature of attraction and desire. Finally, I had Upon Her Lips: Butterflies, a collection of five short films looking at female identity from intriguing angles.

Coming up this next week, we have the entire cast back on the big screen for Downton Abbey: A New Era, Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once, the mystery thriller Escape the Field, the French-Moroccan drama Casablanca Beats, the Nick Cave/Warren Ellis documentary This Much I Know to Be True and a screening of the restored 1959 Robert Bresson classic Pickpocket.

Critical Week: Take a load off

Bigger movies continue to turn up at the box office each week, signalling a return to the pre-lockdown pattern of one blockbuster per week. And press screenings are also getting a bit more colourful as a result. We had two big screenings this week, starting with the Nicolas Cage pastiche action comedy bromance The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which is even more fun than expected. Going full-method as himself, Cage and up-for-it costar Pedro Pascal dive fully into the ridiculous story, and they keep the audience right with them. There was also Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third chapter in the whizzy but oddly uninvolving Harry Potter prequel franchise. This one is much more momentous, and the actors (notably Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen) make it worth a look. I also caught up with Michael Bay's latest over-the-top action thriller Ambulance, a choppy but very entertaining ride through Los Angeles with the superb Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen and Eiza Gonzalez.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Compartment No 6 • Small Body
Poppy Field • Cow
PERHAPS AVOID:
Agent Game • Sonic the Hedgehog 2
ALL REVIEWS >

Further afield were the by-numbers spy thriller Agent Game, which has a strong cast (Dermot Mulroney, Jason Isaacs, even Mel Gibson) but rarely rises above its cliches. French actor-filmmaker Valerie Lemercier's Aline is a fictionalised biopic about Celine Dion, and it's as bonkers as you hope it will be. From Ireland, You Are Not My Mother is a stylish dramatic horror that properly gets under the skin. And from France, Anais in Love is a sunny, chatty comedy-drama that recounts an awkward coming of age.

For this coming week I have no press screenings in the diary, but I do have some links to watch at home, for films including Eva Longoria in the comedy Unplugging, James Duval in the comedy I Challenger and the Japanese triptych Sexual Drive. I also hope to see Alexander Skarsgard in The Northman, most likely buying a ticket for a regular cinema.

Critical Week: A proper belter

It was a long weekend in Britain, but the much-promised heatwave never materialised. It was warmish, but only sporadically sunny - basically like the entire summer has been. We haven't really had seasons this year, with a mild winter, chilly spring and a summer that has only rarely been warmer than 25C/75F. It's enough to make you want to scream. Thankfully, that's not what Jennifer Hudson was doing in the biopic Respect. Her performance is simply astonishing, never mimicry but rather inhabiting Aretha Franklin from the inside out, including her distinct way of singing. Her story is powerful too, even if the film feels a little standard (and overlong) for a biopic.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Year of the Everlasting Storm
Shang-Chi • Annette
Misha and the Wolves 
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Last Job • Wildfire 
ALL REVIEWS >

Distinctly outside any boundaries, Sion Sono's Prisoners of the Ghostland stars a gruff Nicolas Cage as a man forced to rescue a damsel (Sofia Boutella) from a Japanese wasteland. It's utterly nuts, and surprisingly enjoyable. Tom Burke stars in The Show, a colourfully bonkers British horror featuring a parallel reality underworld, or something. And a Canadian horror, Bloodthirsty, takes a grisly but muted approach to the werewolf genre. All three of these were at FrightFest and have release dates coming soon. A more serious drama from Poland, The Champion of Auschwitz, recounts the involving true story of a boxer in a Nazi prison camp. It's remarkably grounded and powerful. The nicely observant drama A Wake digs into a family dynamic after a funeral, then shakes things up with a revelation. And the harrowing, edgy Danish thriller Shorta follows two cops caught up in an anti-police riot. I also caught up with one that I had missed a couple of weeks back...

Vivo
dir Kirk DeMicco; voices Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ynairaly Simo 21/US ***.
Sony Animation's first musical was nabbed by Netflix, which made it hard to see on a big screen where its colourfully lush animation would have looked gorgeous. It's a lively tale that follows a cheeky honey bear (Miranda) from Havana who connects with a cheeky teen (Simo) in Key West, leading to a madcap adventure en route to Miami. There's a lot going on along the way, even if the plot itself is pretty simple. But it's populated by wonderfully lively characters (voices include Zoe Saldana, Brian Tyree Henry and the fabulous Gloria Estefan) and several terrific songs too. It's a little gem that adeptly keeps us smiling with a lovely Latin beat.

---

Films to watch this coming week include Camila Cabello in Cinderella, Justice Smith in The Voyeurs, Jon Bernthal in Small Engine Repair, Jaboukie Young-White in Dating & New York, coming-of-age drama Iceland Is Best, queer horror comedy Death Drop Gorgeous, and the German courtroom drama The Collini Case. We also have the programme launch for October's London Film Festival.

FrightFest: Climbing the walls

Now in its 22nd year, London's FrightFest is one of the top horror film festivals globally, and features a number of world premieres among its lineup, plus filmmaker events. After last year's double virtual edition, this year's event was largely held live in Leicester Square, with a virtual element to help audiences outside London enjoy the fun. I don't usually attend the festival as a journalist, but I try to catch films where possible, and this year I saw more than usual, including a few very good ones...

Knocking
dir Frida Kempff; with Cecilia Milocco, Albin Grenholm 21/Swe ****
Cleverly shot with a focus on thoughts and feelings, this Swedish thriller has a slow-burn quality that inexorably pulls the audience into its web of unnerving fear. Director Frida Kempff, writer Emma Brostrom and actor Cecilia Milocco take us deep into the mind of an unhinged woman who feels that something around her isn't right. And she seems so convinced about it that she pulls us into the mystery... FULL REVIEW >

No Man of God
dir Amber Sealey; with Elijah Wood, Luke Kirby 21/US ***.
Based on transcripts and firsthand reports, this well-made drama explores the early days of criminal profiling in the mid-1980s. It's a brainy, talky film, largely featuring conversations between a killer and a federal agent. This makes it feel like a stage play, spiced up with visual flourishes by director Amber Sealey. It's a darkly intriguing film, expertly assembled and performed, even if the subject matter is a bit well-worn... FULL REVIEW >

Prisoners of the Ghostland
dir Sion Sono; with Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella 21/Jpn ***
Heavily stylised, this bonkers action horror is set in a colourfully dystopian version of Japan crossed with the Wild West and populated by an international cast of quirky characters. Sudden explosions of action, violence and song keep the audience on its toes. Director Sion Sono playfully indulges in outrageously overwrought imagery, sets and costumes, creating a deranged comic book-style atmosphere that feels far too haphazard to fully come together... FULL REVIEW >

John and the Hole
dir Pascual Sisto; with Charlie Shotwell, Michael C Hall 21/US **.
A coming-of-age drama with a sinister twist, this film retains an unnervingly hushed tone throughout its steadily paced narrative. The visuals are eye-catching, and performances are skilfully understated, echoing Michael Haneke in bleak outlook and Yorgos Lantimos in surreal-fable tone. Director Pascual Sisto deploys ominous horror-style elements to crank up the menace, and the script plays with some big ideas, but the minimalistic approach never offers much insight... FULL REVIEW >

The Show
dir Mitch Jenkins; with Tom Burke, Siobhan Hewlett 20/UK **.
With the look of a colourful comic-book, this offbeat British fantasy by Mitch Jenkins and Alan Moore is packed with playful stylistic flourishes. At the centre is a noir-style investigation that refreshingly defies expectations, spiralling through a series of encounters that play with some lurid connections between the real and spirit world. It's sharply well-made, and packed with terrific characters, but there's little going on under the gorgeous surface... FULL REVIEW >

When the Screaming Stops
dir Conor Boru; with Ed Hartland, Jared Rogers 21/UK ***
Dryly hilarious, this British horror comedy is packed with deadpan asides and nutty revelations in the mock-doc style of What We Do in the Shadows. Its entertainingly silly tone jars against the pitch-black premise, as whiplash shifts in tone and some obvious plotting undermine the clever premise. And without much character nuance, the mix of blood-thirsty murder with goofy jokes adds an awkwardness to the mindless fun... FULL REVIEW >

Bloodthirsty
dir Amelia Moses; with Lauren Beatty, Greg Bryk 20/Can ***
With slick visuals and a detailed set-up, this is not your typical werewolf horror. It's also far too serious for its own good, even with twisted touches that add compelling observations about the aggression and sacrifice required for artistic success. It's grisly enough to hold the attention, but some earthy energy in the writing and direction would have allowed the story and characters to resonate much more strongly... FULL REVIEW >

Sweetie, You Won't Believe It
dir Yernar Nurgaliyev; with Asel Kalieyva, Danyar Alshinov 20/Kaz ***.
Loud and abrasive, this jumpy comedy from Kazakhstan has a lot of energy as it mixes Three Stooges-style slapstick with bumbling criminal action and some outrageous grisliness. With six credited writers, the script is a mess, piling random nonsense on top of corny plot points and lots of illogical chaos. But the gleefully gruesome approach and some absurd character touches manage to turn it into an entertaining guilty pleasure... FULL REVIEW >

See Shadows' FRIGHTFEST HOMEPAGE for a full list of films and links to reviews.

For more information, visit FRIGHTFEST

Critical Week: Beach weather

The heatwave continues to bake Britain, with the promise of thunderstorms to cool things off this weekend. Cinemas are open to full capacity, and their air conditioning is a great way to escape the stickiness. Although there's still a sense that people are looking to stay safe from this new surge in the pandemic. Critics have been wearing masks at screenings, including M Night Shyamalan's new thriller Old, starring Thomasin McKenzie, Alex Wolff and Gael Garcia Bernal. It's an enjoyably head-spinning freak-out. Matt Damon stars Stillwater, which recently screened at Cannes. It's a big movie, overlong and a bit contrived, but beautifully performed by Damon, Camille Cottin, Abigail Breslin and especially little scene-stealer Lilou Siauvaud.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Night of the Kings • Kandisha
The Man With the Answers
PERHAPS AVOID:
Joe Bell
ALL REVIEWS >

Mark Wahlberg stars in Joe Bell, a solidly made true drama that kind of misses the central point of its homophobia theme. Nicolas Cage is terrific in the above-average offbeat drama Pig. Ben Platt and Lola Kirke are both strong in Broken Diamonds, a slightly too-gentle look at mental illness. The solid horror thriller The Boy Behind the Door has two excellent young teen stars and some properly nerve-jangling suspense. The Pebble and the Boy is a slightly awkward British road-trip drama infused with Mod culture. And the superb French thriller Kandisha puts a multi-cultural community at risk from a demon, while filling scenes with nuance.

Sundance Film Festival London returns to Picturehouse Central next week, and I have 12 in-person press screenings in the diary for that, plus Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt in Jungle Cruise, the drama Lorelei and horror The Offering.

Critical Week: Meet the neighbours

After nearly a year of on-off lockdown, it's beginning to feel like I'll never get to make a new friend again. Everyone is feeling the ongoing boredom of staying home all day during this third London lockdown, only getting out for a bit of exercise each day. This may be great for catching up on movies and binge-watching series, but it's also wearing us down. At least I'm keeping busy, which is perhaps much of the battle. But with a drastic reduction in work for self-employed people like me, the strain is getting much more serious.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Days of the Bagnold Summer
Nomadland • The Mauritanian
ALL REVIEWS >

So it helps to watch mindless rubbish like The Croods: A New Age, the enjoyably bonkers sequel to the much more coherent 2013 animated romp about a caveman family, this time with added eco-farmers voiced by Peter Dinklage and Leslie Mann. Also disappointing was Nicholas Jarecki's ambitious opioid thriller Crisis, interweaving three important plots headlined by Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer and Evangeline Lilly. Doug Liman's Locked Down was also uneven, a cleverly made but over-egged British pandemic heist comedy with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anne Hathaway. 

I connected much more strongly with some films from off the beaten path. Sh*thouse (UK title: Freshman Year) is a scrappy university comedy, written and directed with offhanded charm by its young star Cooper Raiff. From Ivory Coast, Night of the Kings is a bracingly original prison drama with some stunning mystical touches. From Hong Kong, Twilight's Kiss recounts a sensitive, secertive romance between two fathers in their late 60s. And the shorts collection Boys Feels: Desire in the Dark features five intense European mini-dramas exploring angles on masculinity.

I have a list of films to watch over the coming weeks, including Dylan Sprouse in Tyger Tyger, Olivia Cooke in Pixie, Quentin Dupieux's comedy Keep an Eye Out, the British drama Justine, and two more collections of male-oriented short films: The Latin Boys Volume 2 and Boys on Film 21: Beautiful Secret. There's also the programme launch event for this year's BFI Flare film festival, which runs 17-28 March.

Critical Week: Now you see her

It's been a busy week, with another wildly eclectic selection of films to dive into. Seriously, my head begins to spin sometimes at the way they bump into each other in my schedule. The biggest title was a late press screening of The Invisible Man, Leigh Whannell's new take on the classic novel, centring on the terrific Elisabeth Moss as a woman haunted by her unseen ex. Clever acting and directing add subtext that makes up for the rather lazy screenplay. Nicolas Cage goes nuts once more in Color Out of Space, also based on a classic novel, this one about pink-hued alien invasion on an isolated farm. The movie is bonkers, and a lot of fun.

Smaller movies made the most of sometimes tired genres: Villain stars Craig Fairbrass in an unusually thoughtful London crime thriller. Run is an atmospheric smalltown Scottish drama with Mark Stanley. Straight Up mixes comedy and drama as a gay man tries to make his relationship with a woman work. Blood on Her Name is a taut, grounded dramatic thriller about a woman in trouble. The Garden Left Behind is a thoughtful, moving New York drama that takes on both immigration and transphobia. And Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street is both a fascinating behind-the-scenes doc and a provocative look at one man's personal odyssey to accepting his past.

Outside the cinema, I caught up with two plays: Tom Stoppard's astonishing Leopoldstadt (at the Wyndham) is a grand yet deeply personal look at the impact of history, while Al Blyth's The Haystack (at the Hampstead) is a riveting thriller about state-sanctioned hacking and personal compromises. And I also visited Rethreading and Retracing, a lovely exhibition of textiles by Bita Ghezelayagh at the Aga Khan Centre.

This coming week, I have a screening of the new Pixar animated quest adventure Onward, Daniel Radcliffe in Guns Akimbo, Michael Pena in a horror-style Fantasy Island, the festival favourite System Crasher, the topical romcom Breaking Fast and the doc Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.

LFF: Start the party without me

The 62nd London Film Festival kicked off on Wednesday evening with Steve McQueen's Widows. Unfortunately, I was halfway around the world at the time, in the tiny town of Kavieng on New Ireland island in Papua New Guinea. A family event (more on that in another post) took me away from the London Film Festival for 10 days this year - my 22nd year covering the event. I've seen several films beforehand, and will be back to binge on movies over the final five days. So my coverage won't be quite as deep as usual. But here we go with some highlights from the first three days, starting with something bracingly original (pictured above)...

Border [Gräns]
dir Ali Abbasi; with Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff 18/Swe ****
This Swedish film is such a genre mash-up that it's relentlessly surprising, with an engaging through-line that also makes it darkly satisfying. Mixing comedy, romance, mystery, horror and Norse mythology, each scene provides a thrill of the unexpected as secrets are revealed and the interconnections between the rather oddball characters continually shift... FULL REVIEW >

Colette
dir Wash Westmoreland; with Keira Knightley, Dominic West 18/UK *****
Much more than a period biopic, this inventive film digs beneath the surface of its people and situations to offer both a refreshing angle on history and a bold comment on the world today. Finally, it ends up feeling bracingly current, exploring both gender issues in ways that are both honest and understated. And it's beautifully written, directed and performed... FULL REVIEW >

Lizzie
dir Craig William Macneill; with Chloe Sevigny, Kristen Stewart 18/US ***.
The sensational true story of Lizzie Borden is told in an intriguingly naturalistic style by filmmaker Craig William Macneill. It's a remarkably thoughtful film, packed with insinuating plot points and earthy performances. And Macneill uses deliberately choppy editing to drop hints and reveal the chain of events out of sequence. It's rather chilly, and very cleverly made... FULL REVIEW >

Mandy
dir Panos Cosmatos; with Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough 18/Bel ***.
Set in 1983, this film has a strong period vibe, echoing the era's horror thrillers everything from the themes to the typeface. Benjamin Loeb's grainy widescreen cinematography and Johann Johannsson's haunting score further add to the tone. Filmmaker Panos Cosmatos creates a deliciously deranged mix of grisly violence and witty characters, although the inevitable climactic carnage is at least 30 minutes too long... FULL REVIEW >

The Breaker Upperers
dir-scr Madeleine Sami, Jackie van Beek; with Madeleine Sami, Jackie van Beek 18/NZ ****
With this engaging comedy, the Kiwi duo Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami keep up a steady stream of hilarious gags from beginning to end in each of their roles: as writers, directors and actors. Much of the film has the awkward, absurd tone of Taika Waititi's work (he's a producer), creating riotously sloppy characters who are deeply likeable even when they're doing something painfully stupid.

Papi Chulo
dir-scr John Butler; with Matt Bomer, Alejandro Patino 18/Ire ***.
Irish filmmaker John Butler traces an offbeat friendship in this engaging comedy-drama, which takes a turn that adds a complex exploration of a deep theme. It's a charming story with intriguing characters who interact in honest, messy ways. So while the events in the movie sometimes tip over the top, the story and characters remain easy to identify with.

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
CRITICAL WEEK

I haven't had time to check out what films are showing in Port Moresby - it's rather nice not to think about it, frankly! Meanwhile, First Man is hitting US and UK cinemas this week...