Mommy (15)
(Xavier Dolan, 2014, Can) Anne Dorval, Antoine-Olivier Pilon, Suzanne Clément. 135 mins
This could be the film that distinguishes 25-year-old Dolan as a prodigious talent, rather than a precocious upstart. It’s his fifth in five years and his best yet: the study of a spirited single mother and her dangerously explosive teenage son. There’s barely a calm moment in this volatile relationship, to the extent it verges on hysterical melodrama, but it’s acted with such florid, ferocious energy that it makes other films look timid.
The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya (U)
(Isao Takahata, 2013, Jap) Chloë Grace Moretz, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen. 137 mins
Miyazaki may have retired but this Studio Ghibli animation is up to the usual standard: fantastical yet substantial. The fable-like story concerns a magical woodland princess whose relocation to the city brings out the worst in humankind.
The Divergent Series: Insurgent (12A)
(Robert Schwentke, 2015, US) Shailene Woodley, Theo James. 119 mins
It still feels like bronze medallist in the Hunger Games, but this dystopian fantasy franchise at least makes it to second base, with Woodley a credible leader for the jargon-heavy revolution.
Wild Card (15)
(Simon West, 2015, US) Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Sofia Vergara. 92 mins
Statham is up to his usual growling and fisticuffs as a Vegas hard man with a gambling problem. The neo-noir story in between (by William Goldman) is offhand and disjointed, though.
The Voices (15)
(Marjane Satrapi, 2014, US/Ger) Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick. 101 mins
At the behest of his talking pets (and a talking severed head), Reynolds’s not-all-there shmuck goes on an ill-thought-out killing spree, making for a cheerfully gory black comedy.
Dark Summer (15)
(Paul Solet, 2015, US) Peter Stormare, Keir Gilchrist, Grace Phipps. 79 mins
A teen cyberstalker under house arrest is subjected to a not-particularly-scary haunting for his sins.
Home (U)
(Tim Johnson, 2014, US) Rihanna, Jim Parsons. 94 mins
Despite the stunt casting, this lonely-girl-meets-eccentric-alien story feels pretty run-of-the-mill. Bright colours and cute characters for the kids, but little for grown-ups to chew on.
The Gunman (15)
(Pierre Morel, 2015, Spa/UK/Fra) Sean Penn, Idris Elba, Javier Bardem. 115 mins
Penn “does a Neeson”, fronting a trans-European shoot ’em-up that unfolds with yawnsome familiarity but some famous faces along the way.
A Second Chance (15)
(Susanne Bier, 2014, Den) Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ulrich Thomsen. 102 mins
Moral conundrums and soapy contrivances intermingle when a childless cop steals a neglected baby. No foreseeable complications there, then.
Sixteen (15)
(Rob Brown, 2013, UK) Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Rachael Stirling, Rosie Day. 79 mins
A more sobering take on the Brit urban thriller, in which a schoolboy’s witnessing of a stabbing, and his past as an African child soldier, complicate his attempts to integrate.
Out from Friday
Maxine Peake As Hamlet Screened Shakespeare from Manchester’s Royal Exchange. Out from Mon
Blind Smart Norwegian drama told from a blind woman’s perspective.
Cinderella Lily James shall go to the ball in Disney’s live-action remake.
Dior And I Doc following Raf Simons’s first season at the fashion house.
The Face Of An Angel Michael Winterbottom’s take on the Meredith Kercher murder and media circus surrounding it.
Get Hard Kevin Hart prepares Will Ferrell for his prison sentence. It’s a comedy.
Robot Overlords Plucky Brits take a stand against robot invaders.
Seventh Son Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore grace an effects-driven fantasy.
The Signal Techie teens are drawn into a sci-fi plot.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water Feature-length nonsense from the cartoon posse.
Wild Tales Collection of Argentinian stories.
Coming soon
In two weeks... Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts age inappropriately in While We’re Young… One more for the road in Furious 7…
In three weeks... Keanu Reeves goes for the kill as John Wick… Ryan Gosling directs Lost River…
In a month... Kate Winslet leads Alan Rickman’s A Little Chaos… Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman in Soviet murder thriller Child 44…
