Critical Week: Another nosey novice

Hot on the heels of Sydney Sweeney in Immaculate, here comes Nell Tiger Free investigating another sinister female-centred Catholic conspiracy in The First Omen, a 1971-set prequel that's strong on atmosphere and gothic grisliness but never feels hugely original. The events around setting up the notorious 2019 Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew is dramatised in Scoop, an interesting if straightforward account starring Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Evil Does Not Exist
Io Capitano
The Old Oak • Luca
ALL REVIEWS >

And then there's Woody Allen's latest, the sparky French comedy-thriller Coup de Chance, which maintains an entertaining tone even when it gets rather dark. Viggo Mortensen wrote, directed, composed the score for and stars alongside the always-superb Vicky Krieps in the Western dramatic thriller The Dead Don't Die. It's gorgeously shot and strongly involving. The faith-based drama Someone Like You is sunny and beautiful and almost painfully sudsy and predictable. And the Mongolian drama If Only I Could Hibernate is a fascinating glimpse into a complex culture, through the eyes of a stressed-out teen.

This coming week I'll be watching the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, the biblical epic The Book of Clarence, Irish horror All You Need is Death, Spanish mystery Close Your Eyes, Congolese thriller Omen and the Japanese anime Spy x Family: Code White.

Critical Week: Eat me

A couple of upstarts are arriving this month to challenge the dominance of Barbie and Oppenheimer at the box office, although it doesn't look like a fair fight. Jason Statham is back for more over-the-top action mayhem in Ben Wheatley's Meg 2: The Trench, a guilty pleasure mashup of shark chaos and thrilling villainy. Meanwhile, Seth Rogen has recharged another franchise with the hugely engaging Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mania, a gorgeously animated romp that's funny and thrilling. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Klondike • Shortcomings
TMNT: Mutant Mayhem • Lola
Smalltown Boys • Kokomo City
PERHAPS AVOID:
Til Death Do Us Part
ALL REVIEWS >

Also screened this week was Gran Turismo, the hugely crowd pleasing true story of a gamer-turned-racer starring Archie Madekwe, David Harbour and Orlando Bloom. The British comedy-drama The Trouble With Jessica is uneven but has a terrific cast led by Shirley Henderson and Rufus Sewell. Til Death Do Us Part is a choppy mess of a thriller with Cam Gigandet and Jason Patric. The doc Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed is a surprisingly intimate, important look at the closeted Hollywood icon. And I finally caught up with the exuberant British comedy Polite Society, which uses wildly inventive action to punch its involving story.

This coming week I'll be watching Disney's remake of Haunted Mansion, Judy Greer in Aporia, Ben Kingsley in Jules, Daisey Ridley in The Inventor, Grant Gustin in Puppy Love, Jeremy Allen White in Fremont, the Japanese drama Love Life and the Romanian drama RMN.

Critical Week: Turn the tables

The women ruled at this week's press screenings. Jennifer Lopez (with Constance Wu, above) chomps merrily on the scenery all the way through Hustlers, a far-too-energetic retelling of a true story about strippers who con Wall Street clients out of their cash. Renee Zellweger is nothing short of astonishing in the terrific biopic Judy, following a few months near the end of the icon's life with passion and emotional power. And Downton Abbey brings those fabulous grand dames to the big screen. The men are there too, but who cares when Maggie Smith is shooting daggers at Penelope Wilton?

Brad Pitt travels into space, and into his own repressed daddy issues, in the muted and rather odd Ad Astra, a gorgeous sci-fi epic that simply fails to resonate. Peter Sarsgaard leads the charge as a quirky-nerdy house tuner in The Sound of Silence, a nutty little drama that's more intriguing than involving. From Colombia, Monos is a ripping dramatic thriller about a group of teens working for some sort of paramilitary organisation, isolated in the mountains and then jungle. It looks amazing, and packs a punch. And there were two documentaries: the harrowing Sea of Shadows skilfully traces the horrors inflicted by humans on the diverse sea life in the Gulf of California, while Mother is a sensitive, powerfully moving look at a carer who works with European Alzheimer's patients in Thailand.

This coming week, there are no press screenings for Sylvester Stallone's franchise closer Rambo: Last Blood, so we'll be at the cinemas with everyone else to see this swan song. But we do have screenings lined up for the comedy-horror Ready or Not, Awkwafina in the comedy-drama The Farewell, Dev Patel in the true drama Hotel Mumbai, the claymation sequel A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Celine Sciamma's acclaimed Portrait of a Lady on Fire and the British drama Real. Advance press screenings also start next week for the BFI London Film Festival (which runs 2-13 Oct).