Logan (15)
(James Mangold, 2017, US) 137 mins
Up the violence, ditch the multi-character plot macramé and give the actors room to act, and you get a different type of X-Men movie, possibly the one Wolverine fans always wished for. Long in the claw and holed up with a fading Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Hugh Jackman’s mutant is well past his prime here, but a girl with familiar powers gives him a reason to fight again. It’s exhilarating when he does, but just as interesting when he doesn’t.
Moonlight (15)
(Barry Jenkins, 2016, US) 111 mins
A deserving Oscar-winner and a distinctive study of a poor, gay, African-American outcast growing up painfully. That makes it sound like a misery memoir, but it’s the opposite: sensual, beguiling and intimate, but also unsentimentally honest, with a propensity to dig beneath the stereotypes.
Certain Women (12A)
(Kelly Reichardt, 2016, US) 107 mins
Reichardt’s films tend to attract adjectives such as “subdued” and “understated”, which is to say they’re an acquired taste. This triptych of barely connected stories concerning Montana women is quietly captivating, strong on landscape and, as you’d expect, subtly perceptive on gender. The able cast includes Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and Kristen Stewart.
The Fits (12A)
(Anna Rose Holmer, 2015, US) 72 mins
Hot on the heels of Moonlight, another unorthodox African-American coming-of-ager, this time dealing with a strange young girl who abandons boxing training to join the regimented dance troupe across the hall, whose members are falling victim to a mysterious, possibly imaginary epidemic. Mystery and artistry triumph over the low budget.
Hidden Figures (PG)
(Theodore Melfi, 2016, US) 120 mins
This lively, accessible dramatisation of the African-American women who played a part in the space race makes its serious points with a wonderfully light touch. Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe play the pioneering mathematicians.
