1 The Shallows (15)
(Jaume Collet-Serra, 2016, US) 86 mins.
To misquote Godard, all you need for a movie is a girl and a shark. And you’ve got to admire this taut little thriller for sustaining its minimalist premise – Blake Lively goes surfing, big angry shark turns up – with vivid visuals, a smart heroine, some well-timed jump scares and just enough depth to avoid, er, shallowness. OK, it does get a bit silly towards the end – but it is a shark movie, after all.
2 Wiener-Dog (15)
(Todd Solondz, 2016, US) 88 mins.
Reviving the deadpan miserablism of his 1998 hit Happiness, Solondz uses an itinerant dachshund to string together stories of American failure and loneliness – albeit with the odd ray of sunshine, some beautiful cinematography and a strain of humour so dark it’s barely detectable. The star cast also helps: Julie Delpy, Greta Gerwig, Danny DeVito and Ellen Burstyn all figure.
3 Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates (15)
(Jake Szymanski, 2016, US) 98 mins.
A cast of appealing players (Zac Efron, Adam Devine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza) and a ripe premise (two jocks advertise for wedding dates and get a pair of stoners masquerading as respectable young ladies) make for a rowdy anti-romcom that could be just the summer holiday your brain deserves.
4 Pete’s Dragon (PG)
(David Lowery, 2016, US) 103 mins.
How To Train Your Dragon may have stolen its boy-and-his-creature thunder, but this forest-dwelling fantasy remake is more sombre and less sappy than expected. There’s a sincere eco-theme and a heightened, fable-like glow to it. Plus, the dragon itself is both impressively rendered and adorable.
5 Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (PG)
(Stig Björkman, 2015, Swe) 111 mins.
Home movies, diary readings and her children (including Isabella Rossellini) cast new light on an icon of both Hollywood and European cinema, whose scandalous modernity and melancholia complicated and compromised her stellar talent.
