Midnight Special (12A)
(Jeff Nichols, 2016, US) Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver. 112 mins
Already one of the most interesting film-makers around (Mud, Take Shelter, Shotgun Stories), Nichols adds a Close Encounters-like sci-fi element to his trademarked slow-burn intensity here. It’s best not to know too much, but the focus is a boy with special powers who is abducted by his father. Spielberg without the cheese.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War (12A)
(Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, 2016, US) Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt. 114 mins
This sequel/prequel takes a leaf out of Frozen’s book, setting up a magical queen-off between sisters Blunt and Theron, with Hemsworth’s huntsman caught in the FX crossfire.
Dheepan (15)
(Jacques Audiard, 2015, Fra) Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Vincent Rottiers. 115 mins
A Sri Lankan ex-fighter and his fake family strive to integrate in the Paris banlieues, making for a nuanced, empathetic immigrant tale with an added thriller element.
Couple In A Hole (12A)
(Tom Geens, 2015, UK) Paul Higgins, Kate Dickie, Jérôme Kircher. 105 mins
They’re literally in a hole, this Scottish couple, living like savages in a French forest. Explanations eventually come in a lo-fi tale that’s persuasive and poignant, if occasionally overwrought.
The Man Who Knew Infinity (12A)
(Matt Brown, 2015, UK) Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons, Toby Jones. 109 mins
The true story of an Indian maths genius taken under the wing of Irons’s Cambridge don makes for a novel variation on a familiar formula.
Hardcore Henry (18)
(Ilya Naishuller, 2015, Rus/US) Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett. 96 mins
A first-person dash through the action-movie gamut with this wearying but technically impressive shoot ‘em up, which basically puts you inside the head of a teenage gamer.
Boulevard (15)
(Dito Montiel, 2015, US) Robin Williams, Roberto Aguire, Kathy Baker. 88 mins
Williams’s final performance comes via this subdued late-life crisis drama, in which he plays a depressed husband who impulsively picks up a gay hustler one night.
Nasty Baby (15)
(Sebastián Silva, 2015, US) Sebastián Silva, Kristen Wiig, Tunde Adebimpe. 101 mins
This ramshackle, up-to-date indie revolves around a Brooklyn gay couple trying for a baby.
The Last Man On The Moon (PG)
(Mark Craig, 2014, UK) 96 mins
A heroic former astronaut remembers the space race in this cosmic nostalgia trip.
I Am Belfast (15)
(Mark Cousins, 2015, UK) 84 mins
Cousins’s lyrical, meditative tour of his home town, with imagery from top cinematographer Christopher Doyle.
The Passing (15)
(Gareth Bryn, 2015, UK) Dyfan Dwyfor, Annes Elwy, Mark Lewis Jones. 89 mins
A couple are rescued from death by a mysterious loner in this haunting Welsh-language drama.
Out from Friday
The Brand New Testament God’s daughter wreaks havoc in this imaginative Belgian comedy.
The Jungle Book Disney de-cartoonifies more of its back catalogue with a live-action update.
Eye In The Sky Helen Mirren takes remote command of a tense counterterrorism situation.
Eisenstein In Guanajuato Peter Greenaway freely imagines the Russian master’s Mexico trip.
Criminal Kevin Costner’s convict has a good guy’s memories implanted in his head.
Despite The Falling Snow Swedish actor Rebecca Ferguson plays a cold war femme fatale who falls in love with a communist politician.
Our Little Sister A gentle family drama from Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda.
The Sweeney: Paris Jean Reno takes our cherished cops-and-robbers brand across the Channel.
Fan Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan plays his own stalker.
Coming soon
In two weeks... Don Cheadle channels Miles Davis in Miles Ahead… Idris Elba foils terror attacks in Bastille Day…
In three weeks... Another superhero smackdown in Captain America: Civil War… Oscar-winning Holocaust story Son Of Saul…
In a month... Tom Hiddleston plays Hank Williams in I Saw The Light… Terrence Malick’s Knight Of Cups...
