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This returns as one those of those, everyone ‘must’ see, treasures we find from time to time. So come and see why.

A truly lovely film which offers a Middle Eastern take on Jarmusch-ion manners. It was considered the most charming film at Cannes (2007)

We join the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Band arriving at Tel Aviv airport to play at the opening of an Arab cultural centre somewhere nearby. Their hosts fail to turn up so they start walking. After catching a bus to the wrong town, it is too late and they are stranded. Hesitantly, they accept the sanctuary of a bar owner Dina (Elkabetz) and resolve to spend a single strange and wonderful night in this desolate place far from home. From then on, the gentle, slightly scared Egyptians gingerly mingle with their more forthright Israeli hosts

“A sweet-natured examination of strangers in a strange land until its moving final scenes…Above all, it is almost perfectly formed and by no means just a pleasant work in a minor key. The more you think about it, the more truthful, thus important, it seems. I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying it…” (Standard) And like any well-observed slice of humanity, it is very funny. Cancel band practice.

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Language: French

PART 1

This loud and proud biographical drama, about the exiled wartime leader and later French president Charles de Gaulle, goes big whenever the opportunity arises.

Adapted from Julian T Jackson’s 2018 biography 'A Certain idea of France', the film is about how the French President-to-be (played by Simon Abkarian) worked himself up through the cracks of history. He’s a captivating and paradoxical figure: a home-front soldier and an unelected democrat who conjures an unofficial mandate for himself through bulldozing force of will and an unwavering belief in himself and his country. He speaks of France in spiritual terms as he tries to coax Churchill and Roosevelt (Simon Russell Beale and Campbell Scott) into taking on the collaborating Vichyists and their hated figurehead, Admiral Darlan (Mathieu Kassovitz).

A subplot involving the politicisation of young French resistance fighters reminds us that the war was also being fought on the domestic, civilian front, and it allows the film to reference, briefly, the plight of Jews in France. De Gaulle is distinctly old-fashioned and unsubtle – and often brash and overbearing – but it has strengths as an uncomplicated historical spectacle.

There’s nothing quite like a star-studded comedy that sees some of the most entertaining women in Hollywood team up and have, what I can only assume, as much fun off screen as it looks on screen.

Spa Weekend follows three childhood friends, played by Leslie Mann, Michelle Buteau and Anna Faris, who, after years of building their careers, relationships, families and everyday responsibilities, have forgotten how to take care of themselves – and each other.

So they embark on some much-needed pampering during a luxury girls’ getaway. But when their train-wreck friend (Isla Fisher) unexpectedly turns up, the relaxation quickly descends into hilarious chaos. Even though Fisher’s character is the one who causes all the mishaps, the other three still feel a protective need to take care of her, but can their bonds as friends make it through such a crazy weekend unscathed?

The latest comedy from the writers of The Hangover and Bad Moms centres on long-standing friendship as much as comic chaos, using the resort as the backdrop for a reunion that doesn’t quite go to plan. Spa Weekend is the ultimate girls’ getaway film and perfect for fans of Bridesmaids

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Language: Danish

Anders Thomas Jensen’s darkly comic drama balances absurd humour with a surprisingly moving exploration of family, memory and trauma.

After spending 15 years in prison, Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) returns home determined to recover money from a long-hidden robbery stash. The problem is that his brother Manfred (Mads Mikkelsen), who was entrusted with its location, now lives with dissociative identity disorder and believes he is John Lennon. Hoping to unlock his memory, Anker takes him back to the remote woodland house where they grew up. But as old wounds resurface, an increasingly eccentric collection of characters gathers around them, turning a simple mission into something far more unpredictable.

Writer-director Jensen once again mixes outrageous comedy with deeper emotional themes, creating a story that veers between laugh-out-loud absurdity and moments of genuine sadness. The humour is often delightfully strange, but it is grounded by a thoughtful examination of how people cope with painful experiences and fractured identities. Strong ensemble performances keep even the most eccentric situations feeling oddly believable, with Lie Kaas and Mikkelsen proving a particularly compelling pairing.

Beneath its eccentric surface lies an unexpectedly heartfelt story about family bonds, resilience and the different ways people learn to live with the past.

A bold reimagining of Homer’s epic, Christopher Nolan brings The Odyssey to the screen on an immense scale, combining myth, history and adventure into a sweeping cinematic spectacle.

After the fall of Troy, Odysseus (Matt Damon) begins the long journey home to Ithaca, where his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) continue to wait as ambitious suitors, led by Antinous (Robert Pattinson), threaten their future. Along the way, Odysseus and his dwindling crew encounter legendary figures including Circe (Samantha Morton) and Calypso (Charlize Theron), facing storms, monsters and seemingly impossible trials.

Rather than treating these encounters as straightforward fantasy, the story explores how myths are born, weaving together fragmented memories, flashbacks and competing accounts of past events. Nolan makes striking use of IMAX photography throughout, while the expansive ensemble gives the story a strong dramatic foundation. Damon leads confidently, supported by assured performances from Hathaway, Holland and Pattinson, with Samantha Morton and John Leguizamo making particular impressions in smaller but memorable roles.

Rich in spectacle and ideas, this ambitious adaptation offers a fresh perspective on a timeless story, balancing epic adventure with an intriguing exploration of memory, legend and the cost of war

Ridley Scott goes post-apocalyptic with an adaptation of Peter Heller’s 2012 novel, set in a world ravaged by a flu-like virus.

Sparse survivors in the aftermath of a catastrophic pandemic traverse the ravaged wasteland landscape in hopes of finding the origin of a mysterious radio transmission - wanting more from their lives. Will they find someplace that isn't overrun with these freaky cannibal humans out to get them? Is there any safe haven or is it all just ravaged now? Jacob Elordi stars in this as Hig, a pilot flying his little yellow Cessna plane around. With Josh Brolin as a tough ex-marine, and Margaret Qualley is a medic and Hig’s love interest who tags along.  Together they face invaders and the endless struggle of hope for a better life outside of their current life in a tiny enclave.

The highly prolific Scott (who, at nearly 90, doesn’t show any signs of slowing down) once again builds a gorgeous film with vast landscapes and a real sense of scale that contrasts beautifully against the impending threats. Not one to be missed on the big screen

It’s a miracle - forever inside a Warner Bros. vault to justify a corporate tax write-off, Coyote vs. Acme has been rescued and released. And rightly so, because it’s brilliant.

This cartoon/live action hybrid sees Wile E. Coyote, tired from decades of being blown up by explosive ACME products, team up with a no win, no fee lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte) to fight back. But ACME has its own powerhouse defence attorney in Kevin’s slick college nemesis Buddy Crane (John Cena), who is determined to silence the duo  - sending them on a wild quest for justice that’s as thrilling and physics-defying as Wile E.’s lifelong chase for the elusive Road Runner.

Yes, it’s a story about becoming the best version of yourself, about trying over and over again in the face of failure because you know it’s the right thing to do. There’s a mystery to solve in a fight against a heartless corporation, but there’s also no shortage of Looney Tunes antics.

It’s a testament to the enduring legacy of Bugs Bunny and co. that, almost a century on, they’ve lost none of their zaniness.

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Language: French

A light-footed, time-spanning drama that explores how the past quietly shapes the present.

When a large extended family in Normandy are asked to clear out their long-abandoned ancestral home ahead of a redevelopment, four distant relatives take on the task. As they sift through letters, photographs and paintings, one of them, Seb, begins to imagine the life of a young woman from the 19th century, Adele, whose journey to Paris opens up a parallel story that gradually intertwines with the present.

Director Cédric Klapisch moves fluidly between timelines, drawing connections across generations with a playful, inventive touch. The film finds its rhythm in small discoveries and shifting perspectives, using visual echoes and gentle humour to link past and present without ever feeling heavy. Moments of curiosity, coincidence and imagination keep the narrative buoyant, even as deeper themes about identity and belonging come into focus.

A strong ensemble brings warmth and personality to a wide range of characters, grounding the story in recognisable emotions as new relationships form and old ones are reconsidered.

Easygoing yet thoughtful, it’s a quietly uplifting reflection on connection, memory and the traces people leave behind.

Filmed in close collaboration with Tate Britain, the latest Exhibition on Screen production accompanies the first major Whistler retrospective there in three decades.

Bringing together celebrated masterpieces and rarely seen works, the exhibition offers a chance to reconsider an artist whose influence continues to shape modern painting.

James McNeill Whistler was one of the great artistic provocateurs of the 19th century, challenging Victorian conventions with his bold ideas about beauty, colour and artistic freedom. A contemporary of the Impressionists and admired by artists including Manet and Van Gogh, he sought to treat painting like music, giving works titles such as ‘arrangements’, ‘harmonies’ and ‘nocturnes’.

His most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), better known as Whistler’s Mother, has become one of the world’s most recognisable images. But there is much more to Whistler than a single celebrated portrait, and this film explores the artist behind the icon.

Director David Bickerstaff takes us beyond the gallery walls, combining the artworks with expert insight and the story of Whistler’s unconventional life. Visually rich and packed with detail, it offers an engaging introduction to an artist who insisted that art should follow its own rules.

Sex is legal for 12 hours a year in this cheeky rom-com with a Handmaiden-lite, dystopian backdrop.

In the not-too-distant future, a totalitarian bill has been passed forbidding any and all forms of carnal activity between unmarried couples. Some resist the surveillance state encroaching on our very bodies, while others are about as fazed by it as any other recent violation of our personal liberties. But on one night of the year, the ban is lifted, and sex is fully is allowed.

We follow the routes of Owen (Callum Turner) and Allie (Monica Barbaro) as they hunt for sex against a ticking clock. Owen had a plan with his girlfriend (Maya Hawke) but she chooses the night as an opportunity to hook up with a neighbour, while Allie is urged by her roommate to get herself out there. Their paths intertwine and decide to, at first, play each other’s wingmen from Manhattan to Brooklyn and back again.

One Night Only is less romcom and more a raunchy sex caper as we go from scrape to scrape, involving cameos and a string of almost-shags. It’s steamy fun.

Dolly Parton lights up this brilliantly funny feminist classic, a film that remains as sharp and spirited as ever.

These days, everything is an icon. A dance. A dress. Someone’s breakfast is probably ‘iconic’. The word has been stretched to breaking point. Dolly Parton, though, was the real thing: a generational talent whose warmth, wit and generosity made her impossible not to love.

She made her screen debut here, alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as three office workers who decide to turn the tables on their misogynistic boss. Fonda plays Judy, new to the workplace and quickly taken under the wing of ambitious manager Violet (Tomlin), while Parton is terrific as Doralee, the secretary enduring the unwanted attentions of boss Franklin Hart (Dabney Coleman).

What follows is a gleeful tale of workplace revenge, fuelled by the terrific chemistry between its three leads and packed with sharp one-liners. But beneath the comedy is a surprisingly powerful message about solidarity, equality and women refusing to accept the status quo.

At its heart, this is a film about women supporting one another, demanding respect and refusing to accept less than they deserve. Watching Parton effortlessly command the screen, it’s easy to see the qualities that made her so beloved.

Andrew Scott brings intensity to this tightly wound World War II drama, turning a question about weather into a matter of life and death. It finds plenty of tension in the crucial countdown to D-Day.

Three days before the Allied invasion, Scottish meteorologist James Stagg (Scott) advises General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) on whether conditions are safe for Operation Overlord. Stagg predicts weather makes an immediate launch too dangerous, putting him at odds with American meteorologist Irving Krick (Chris Messina) and figures including Field Marshal Montgomery (Damian Lewis).

Based on David Haig’s play, the film unfolds inside military headquarters, with competing forecasts and clashing personalities raising the stakes. Director Anthony Maras keeps things moving with a ticking-clock structure, while archive footage and staged combat give invasion a sense of scale.

Scott is excellent as the stern, principled Stagg, making his reserved character compelling without forcing sympathy. Fraser brings theatricality to Eisenhower, while Kerry Condon adds warmth as his secretary.

There’s little action until the closing stages, but the battle of ideas proves absorbing. Smart, efficient and grounded in a true story, this makes weather forecasting feel genuinely, unexpectedly thrilling.

Grab your broom and fly back to one of Studio Ghibli’s most enduring coming-of-age stories.

When 13-year-old witch Kiki leaves home to complete her training, she settles in a charming seaside town with her sarcastic black cat, Jiji. With flying as her only real skill, she starts a delivery service, embracing the freedom and uncertainty of life on her own. But when self-doubt causes her to lose the ability to fly, Kiki must find a new sense of confidence and purpose.

First released in 1989, Hayao Miyazaki’s film has lost none of its warmth or imagination. Its world, where witches and non-magical humans happily coexist, feels wonderfully lived-in, while Kiki herself remains an instantly likeable heroine, navigating all the awkwardness and uncertainty of growing up.

As with so much of Ghibli’s work, the animation is a major attraction. Originally hand-drawn using traditional techniques, every frame is packed with rich colour, intricate detail and a sense of movement that rewards the big screen. Now beautifully restored in 4K resolution, its visual charm is given a fresh lease of life, making this the perfect excuse to revisit a timeless favourite.

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Language: French

Louis Garrel and Camille Cottin sizzle as an 80s couple in crisis.

The directing duo behind uplifting mega-hit Intouchables return with this warm-hearted coming-of-age drama, but it’s the parents who prove the most compelling part of the story. Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano bring their trademark charm to 1980s Paris, following 13-year-old Vincent as he navigates adolescence, a hopeless crush and a fractious atmosphere at home. His father, Yves (Garrel), has been out of work for months but still dresses for a job he doesn’t have, while his ambitious mother, Sandrine (Cottin), embraces the technological future by enrolling on an IT course.

Both actors are terrific, bringing an irresistible chemistry to a marriage struggling to keep pace with changing times. Vincent gets into a series of harmless scrapes, from an ill-advised video-shop rental to a bar mitzvah mishap, while the film lovingly recreates the era with chunky computers, recession-era anxieties and all the awkwardness of teenage life.

There’s plenty to enjoy, but the scenes between Garrel and Cottin have the real spark. As Sandrine finds herself doing it all while Yves struggles to adapt, their combustible pairing feels ripe for a relationship comedy of its own.

Dustin Hoffman and Leo Woodall make quite the pair in in an offbeat rom-com turned heist thriller, that’s far better than it sounds.

Harry Horowitz (Hoffman) is losing his hearing, while his shy apprentice Niki White (Woodall) has a condition called hyperacusis, which obliges him to wear special noise-cancelling earplugs at all times. Even the slightest sounds bother him, but despite that, this pair are the best piano tuners in town. Niki begins a blossoming romance with music student Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu); the light-hearted, bouncy tone of the opening where we see him undertaking various tuning jobs with her helps you buy into their natural chemistry.

It lends Niki a special knack for this practice. He makes nothing of at first, until he finds out his condition can help him crack safes. A bunch of shady Israelis, led by Uri (Lior Raz) quickly ropes him into their small-time criminal enterprise, which involves swiping cash and luxury items. Niki relents after learning that Harry, currently hospitalised after a heart attack, has $36,000 in past due medical bills.

Tuner is reminiscent of Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy with its stylish, fast-cut montages and energetic pacing.

A warm, reflective family drama about grief, memory and the complicated bonds between sisters.

For her directorial debut, Kristin Scott Thomas draws on personal experience to tell the story of three sisters reuniting in the English countryside for their mother’s third wedding. As Diana (Scott Thomas) prepares to marry again, daughters Katherine (Scarlett Johansson), Victoria (Sienna Miller) and Georgina (Emily Beecham) are forced to confront old family wounds, lingering memories of their late fathers and the uneasy feeling that life is continuing to move forward without them fully ready.

Set largely within a cosy countryside home, the film balances gentle humour with more emotional conversations about loss, identity and family expectations. The wedding itself becomes less about romance and more about the shifting relationships between the women gathered around it, each carrying very different ideas about love, loyalty and the past.

The performances give the film much of its warmth, with Johansson, Miller and Beecham creating a believable sibling dynamic filled with affection, irritation and shared history. Johansson in particular brings a grounded emotional steadiness that quietly anchors the ensemble.

Bittersweet and heartfelt, it’s an intimate drama that finds comfort in connection, even amid unresolved feelings

Bullock and Kidman return for a witchy sequel that can still cast a spell.

Nearly three decades after Practical Magic became a cult favourite, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are back as the Owens sisters, bringing their singular blend of eccentricity, sisterly affection and supernatural mischief to a new generation.

When Kylie (Joey King), the latest in the Owens family to fall in love, finds her new romance threatened by an ancient curse, she turns to the family’s magic for help. Her mother Sally (Bullock), who long ago turned her back on witchcraft, and free-spirited aunt Gilly (Kidman) are soon drawn back into the supernatural world, setting off on a journey that takes the Owens women from Boston to their ancestral home in England.

Directed by Susanne Bier, the film embraces everything that made the original so distinctive: playful magic, romantic entanglements, colourful characters and a soundtrack steeped in witchy atmosphere. Bullock and Kidman remain the heart of it all, effortlessly slipping back into the sparring, affectionate rhythm that made Sally and Gilly such an irresistible pairing.

With its cosy autumnal mood, eccentric humour and enduring celebration of female friendship and family, this is nostalgic enchantment 101.

A fast-paced family adventure packed with laughs sees the lovable yellow troublemakers unleashed on another delightfully chaotic mission.

This time, the Minions find themselves in 1920s Hollywood, where an ambitious young filmmaker accidentally unleashes a collection of magical monsters. As the creatures escape and chaos spreads, the Minions do what they do best: make everything considerably worse before somehow making it better. Along the way, they stumble through one madcap situation after another, with plenty of mishaps, misunderstandings and explosive slapstick.

The pace rarely lets up, packing every scene with colourful animation, quick-fire jokes and the Minions' trademark gibberish humour. Younger viewers will love the constant visual comedy, while parents can enjoy the playful references and a story with just enough heart to hold everything together.

Bright, cheerful and consistently funny, this is exactly the kind of animated adventure we expect from the Minions. It may not reinvent the formula, but its infectious sense of fun, lovable characters and endless stream of gags make it an easy crowd-pleaser for audiences of all ages, with plenty of laughs to reward repeat viewings.

Brad Pitt heads deep into the Alaskan wilderness in this gripping survival adventure from David Ayer.

Pitt stars as James Belmont, a retired Special Forces operative who has withdrawn from the world alongside Odin, his former military scouting dog. Both carry the scars of their time on the front lines, and their bond runs deeper than that of owner and pet. When a plane crash leaves them stranded in unforgiving terrain, they must rely on each other to survive.

With 58 miles of wilderness between them and safety, James and Odin face freezing conditions, hostile wildlife and dangers lurking beyond the next ridge. Their journey becomes a tense test of endurance – and an affecting portrait of two battle-scarred survivors refusing to give up.

Pitt delivers the action thrills you’d expect, while in supporting roles J.K. Simmons brings his trademark grit and humour to the adventure, alongside a brilliant Anna Lambe. At its heart, though, Heart of the Beast is about an extraordinary partnership, turning the classic survival story into a two-way fight for life.

As Belmont reminds us, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, but the size of the fight in the dog

Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane face off in a brilliantly tense thriller at sea.

A seemingly idyllic sailing trip becomes a fight for survival when a young stranger arrives claiming to be the sole survivor of a deadly disaster. Directed by Phillip Noyce, Dead Calm makes wonderfully claustrophobic use of its open-water setting, turning a remote stretch of ocean into a stage for an escalating battle of nerves.

Neill plays John Ingram, an experienced sailor who has taken his wife Rae (Kidman) out to sea as they recover from the loss of their young son. Their fragile peace is shattered when Hughie (Zane) rows across from a drifting yacht, telling a horrifying story of food poisoning.

But John suspects something is wrong. Investigating the abandoned vessel, he discovers evidence that Hughie’s story is far darker than it first appeared, only to return and find the stranger at the helm of his own yacht, with Rae at his mercy.

Neill brings quiet desperation, while Kidman is superb as Rae’s fear gives way to determination. Zane makes for an unforgettable antagonist, all oily charm and menace. Tightly wound and packed with suspense, this three-hander wrings maximum tension from its brilliantly simple setup

Domhnall Gleeson gets swept up in a gloriously strange Scottish comedy.

A remote island, two wild siblings and a council worker sent to evict them. This is Louis Paxton’s eccentric debut, a film with all the ingredients of a modern folk tale, with plenty of laughs along the way.

Gayle Rankin plays Isla, a fiercely protective young woman raised in near-total isolation alongside her brother Sandy (Grant O’Rourke). Their memories of their parents are hazy, but their father’s warnings about mainlanders have left a lasting impression. So when Daniel (Gleeson), a mild-mannered council employee with a passion for Tolkien, arrives to reclaim the supposedly deserted island, he gets a far stranger welcome than expected.

Paxton blends the anarchic energy of Lord of the Flies with the oddball tenderness of Limbo, while charcoal-drawn animation reveals the island’s troubled history. John Hannah is also tremendous fun as a sinister selkie lurking among the rocks.

As Daniel becomes increasingly entangled with his eccentric hosts, the film erupts into a wonderfully silly battle of wills, packed with physical comedy, fantasy references and unexpected sight gags. With spectacular Highland scenery and a cast clearly relishing the madness, this is an affectionate, offbeat slice of Scottish folklore with bags of charm.

Delicate and heartwarming, Orlando von Einsiedel’s stirring documentary is the kind of film whose sweet subject transcends time and borders.

The film follows the romantic journey of PK Mahanandia, who embarked on a bicycle trip from India to Sweden in 1977 to be reunited with the woman he loved.

In 1975, P.K. met the woman of his dreams: Lotta. She was traveling from Sweden, when she sat for P.K. to sketch her portrait. In 10 minutes their lives changed forever. The film is mostly made up of reenactments, but they are done with so much artistry that you could remove the docu elements and have a brilliant drama on its own.

As well as its focus on racial discrimination, it’s also incredibly vital for the turbulent moment we’re currently living through. Empathy, respect, kindness, love — it’s all cyclical in how we treat others and are treated in return, whether in present situations and relationships or as time and lives go on. Its themes being based in Hindu ideology is essential to its richness as a true story and as a film.

Sensational performances from Tom Courtenay, Anna Calder-Marshall and Juliette Binoche power this deeply moving British dementia drama.

American writer-director Lance Hammer brings his intimate, observational style to London for a story about love, family and the difficult choices that come when illness changes the person we know.

Anna Calder-Marshall plays Leslie, a woman living with advanced dementia, with Tom Courtenay as Martin, her devoted husband. Their world is unsettled when Leslie’s daughter Amanda (Binoche) and granddaughter Sara (Florence Hunt) discover Martin and Leslie being intimate, prompting difficult questions about consent, care and where the boundaries of love and responsibility lie.

Rather than offering easy answers, Hammer allows these dilemmas to unfold through the family itself. Amanda and Martin may disagree about what is best for Leslie, but their arguments are rooted in the same love for her, lending the film a powerful sense of empathy.

Binoche brings warmth and humanity to Amanda, while Courtenay is quietly mesmerising as a man caught between devotion and uncertainty. Calder-Marshall’s remarkable physical performance completes an exceptional trio in this raw, compassionate portrait of love in its most challenging form.

Michael Mann’s under-appreciated cult gem returns with a director’s cut, wrapped in a glossy new restoration.

Always in the shadow of The Silence of the Lambs, the first stab at adapting Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter novels (this one based on Red Dragon), is nevertheless not one to be overlooked. Unlike Lambs, Manhunter is an exercise in subtlety and nuance. Brian Cox predates Anthony Hopkins' flamboyance with a cold, quietly sinister confidence as Lecter. However, the serial killer he's enlisted to help track down The Tooth Fairy (Tom Noonan) represents the psychological opposite of Lambs' Buffalo Bill — calm, ordered, and (chillingly) a more fully functioning member of society.

The third element is FBI profiler Will Graham (William Peterson), he is probably the most flawed of all three. He has an intensity bordering on the psychotic and represents the theme of a hunter needing to achieve empathy for his quarry (which Mann would re-explore again in Heat). Serial killers in media are ten a penny nowadays and, with the exception of Netflix’s Mindhunter, are rarely very good. So come and dive into the sordid world of where it all began.

This A-list ensemble is electrifying in Olivia Wilde’s spiky and riotous comedy about sex, marriage and partner-swapping.

The Invite puts the spotlight entirely upon four quite different actors playing two adult couples negotiating anxieties surrounding sex with other people.

A remake of the Spanish film The People Upstairs, it focuses on one disastrous hangout as Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela (Wilde) invite the freewheeling, un-married couple, Pina (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton) from the apartment above them over for drinks. Tensions soon rise as uncomfortable truths are revealed and we get to revel (not to mention squirm) in the ever increasing awkwardness.

It might be too easy to compare this to vintage Woody Allen – sophisticated pitter-patter dialogue over wine – but there are shades of his best work here. The film knows how much we all vicariously enjoy watching couples spar, and it’s impossible not to insert ourselves into the night, turning us all into deeply invested armchair commentators. It seems that the chance to watch a genuinely funny and uncommonly intelligent comedy for adults is an invite we have all been waiting for

There are career choices, and then there are career swerves. It is in such a swerve that we find Tom Cruise in 1988, post-Top Gun, and about to hit Cocktail face-first.

The young hot-head is Brian Flanagan (Cruise), a man with big dreams and an even bigger ego. Unfortunately, his résumé consists mostly of “owns a smile”, he is rejected from numerous jobs on Wall Street as he doesn’t have a business degree. So he takes a job as a bartender to pay his way through business school because, in 80s movies, bartending wasn’t a job. It was a stepping stone to just about anything.

Here he encounters Doug (Bryan Brown), who introduces Brian to the world of flair bartending. Here, instead of just making it a drink, the bartenders launch into a five-minute routine involving juggling, spinning, and flipping. By the time the drink arrives, the customer has aged visibly.

Cocktail is a deeply bizarre artefact of its time that offers a front-row seat to peak 80s excess, so it is hard to hate. It’s funny, it’s occasionally baffling, but it’s never, ever boring.

Hugh Jackman gives a bruising new life to Robin Hood in this stark, wintry tale of revenge, violence and redemption.

In bleak 1247 England, an ageing and isolated Robin Hood is tracked down by a young man seeking revenge. When his old friend Little John arrives needing help, Robin is drawn into one final adventure. After a bloody massacre, they rescue an orphaned girl and seek refuge at an island priory, where a determined nun nurses Robin back to health. But as old enemies and painful memories resurface, Robin is forced to confront the violence that has defined his legend.

Michael Sarnoski (director of the brilliant 2021 drama Pig) creates a grim, immersive medieval world of cold landscapes, muddy roads and astonishingly brutal violence. The pace is deliberately measured, with whispered conversations carrying as much weight as the frequent bursts of gore. Jackman is excellent as a weary, embittered Robin, balancing a fearsome physicality with unexpected tenderness, while Jodie Comer brings a compelling edge to the role of Sister Brigid.

Bloody and introspective, this is a Robin Hood story less interested in legend than the damaged man beneath it, and in whether revenge can ever truly offer redemption

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Language: French

The second part of Antonin Baudry’s two-part series devoted to the figure of the General follows De Gaulle in his quest for freedom and the sovereignty of France.

De Gaulle (Simon Abkarian) believes in a free France, and he is prepared to confront on Moroccan soil both General Giraud (Thierry Lhermitte), a dignitary put forward by the US who has no qualms about collaborating with the collaborators, as well as President Roosevelt (Campbell Scott), who has a firm vision of a Europe with redrawn borders.

The film weaves three storylines together. First, that of the General: an uncompromising hero who upends diplomacy to safeguard his country’s interests. Next is that of Jean Moulin (Félix Kysyl), the great organiser of the domestic Resistance and France’s youngest prefect, whose determination overcomes the ideological differences between the various Resistance leaders. Finally, there is the story of General Leclerc (Niels Schneider), who leads his battalion to victory in the Libyan desert against the German panzers, despite being vastly outnumbered.

A much grittier, bloodier film, Liberté brings this defining chapter in the General’s life – and in France’s destiny – to a grand close

We’re still waiting patiently for Wes Anderson’s upcoming magnum opus: The French Dispatch, but let’s jump back into his most elaborate, and accomplished work to date.

Set in a fictional European spa town between the world wars, The Grand Budapest Hotel pivots around the character of Monsieur Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), the hotel concierge who believes that etiquette helps define civilization. Gustave’s morals are no match for his manners as he enjoys sexual congress with guests of both sexes. It’s a feast of a role, and Fiennes, exuding masterful verbal dexterity, nails every comic and dramatic nuance.

Anderson’s frequently imitated, but never bettered, style is on full display; utilising all his tricks, and with an ensemble cast that’ll make any filmmaker green with envy. It’s a ornamental toy box of a film, so delicious-looking you may want to lick the screen.

It is also, in the Anderson manner, shot through with humor, bittersweet heartbreak and a bruised romantic’s view of the past. It is also a rollicking caper that mixes theft, murder, a prison break and pastry recipes into a rousing free-forall that whips by like a dervish

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Language: French

Bertrand Usclat and Martin Darondeau’s hilarious laugh-a-minute comedy is a wonderfully chaotic love letter to theatre.

Certain institutions are indispensable if one wants to know Paris. One of these is the Comédie-Française, a national theatre, and one of France’s most revered arts institutions; dedicated to French playwright Molière, but which also puts on plays by other classic French dramatists, foreign greats, and some modern playwrights. The theatre has a dedicated corps of players, and when they join, the have the “de la Comédie-Française” attached to their names. There is one golden rule: the play is never cancelled.  

Unfortunately for theatre producer Nina (Pauline Clément), everything is unravelling just three hours before the premiere of her first production – an ambitious retelling of Macbeth. Her lead actor is stuck on a train, tensions are exploding, passions flaring, equipment breaking down and egos are clashing. With panic setting in and the clock ticking, Nina must hold things together at all costs. Will the show go on?

France’s runaway hit comedy is a delicious behind-the-scenes farce which is unafraid to poke fun at the highbrow reputation of French theatre.

A scruffy, funny and surprisingly tender portrait of Anthony Bourdain before he became a household name, this focuses on the restless young man he was rather than the legend he became.

In the summer of 1975, Tony (Dominic Sessa) heads to Provincetown after missing out on a writing fellowship, hoping to reconnect with Nancy, an old school crush. Claiming to be a successful writer, he finds somewhere to sleep by taking a dishwashing job at a seafood shack, where he falls in with womanising co-worker Sal and the veteran chef (Antonio Banderas). As his stories become increasingly elaborate, Tony also discovers that he has a surprising instinct for the kitchen.

Sessa is terrific as Tony, capturing both his swaggering confidence and the intelligence underneath it. Banderas provides a particularly strong counterpoint, while a terrific supporting cast bring their own energy to Tony’s tangled social life.

Rather than forcing a dramatic transformation, the film simply observes a young man stumbling through a formative summer. The culinary world gradually begins to pull him in, even as he remains convinced that writing is his destiny. That uncertainty gives the story its appeal, leaving us curious about what comes next

Aardman’s hero is back in The Beast of Mossy Bottom – a terrifying tale of frankenfood, pitchfork-wielding villagers and a monster with suspiciously stiff orange hair.

Everyone is looking forward to Halloween on Mossy Bottom Farm - until the clumsy Farmer trashes the Flock's beloved pumpkin patch. But when Shaun turns mad scientist to fix the problem, things rapidly spiral out of control. With the Farmer missing and a wild beast roaming the woods of Mossingham, all the ingredients are in place for a monstrously fun family adventure.

Mossy Bottom is indeed a horror film. Or, at least, a horror for those with a 7.30pm bedtime. Scares have been softened. But there remains allusions to films like Psycho, as the flock cower in the shower. Other inspirations include Nosferatu and Frankenstein, The Shining and Weird Science. So there are plenty of nudges and winks for the adult horror fans in the audience.

Aardman once again showcases not just its extraordinary talent at sop-motion animation, but the way they juxtapose cutesy charm with genuine thrills. All in a brisk eighty minutes.

Daisy Edgar-Jones enters the Jane Austen cinematic universe in this gorgeous new adaptation of Austen’s beloved classic.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that film and television producers will never tire of Austen’s work. Though this time we are speaking not of Netflix’s upcoming Pride & Prejudice, but of her first book, Sense and Sensibility, which was published anonymously in 1811 with the title page stating only that it was ‘By a Lady’.

It is testament to said lady’s enduring legacy and the continued relevance of her stories that the adaptations keep coming thick and fast. The lavish new interpretation follows two sisters, Elinor (Edgar-Jones) and Marianne Dashwood (Esmé Creed-Miles), the former embodying reason, restraint, and practicality (sense) and the latter romanticism, strong emotion and impulsiveness (sensibility). Forced to leave their family estate after the death of their father, they move with their mother and younger sister, Margaret, to a cottage in rural Devonshire.

A classic coming-of-age story, it charts their contrasting experiences of love and loss, and the social and financial pressures of late 18th-century England. This beautiful and faithful adaptation is a sensual delight

Jane Schoenbrun crafts a intoxicating display of transformative ecstasy and submissive rapture, treating us to a bizarre pop-cultural world of fiercely believed-in trash and kink.

The director of I Saw the TV Glow gifts us another queer masterpiece (this one being far more accessible, so don’t panic) which follows smart young filmmaker Kris (Hannah Einbinder) who has been hired to “crack” the reboot of Camp Miasma – an endless, schlocky horror franchise which is itself a knock-off of Friday the 13th. In order to do so, she has tracked down the reclusive star of the original movie, Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson), with the hope of talking her into a cameo role. She discovers that Billy actually lives in the disused camp that was the location for the first film.

Billy is, at first, amused at Kris’s earnest description of her queer polyamory; there’s a deliciously awkward chemistry between the two leads, which marries perfectly with the deliberate artifice of the world around them. But boundaries come crashing down when the original killer becomes all too real. Gorgeous and exquisite, this slasher-cum-love story is essential viewing.

(Subtitled)

Language: Korean

A master class in blending, Ghostbusters is the ultimate horror comedy.

In the prime of their Saturday Night Live heyday, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis, who all contributed to the script and improvised many scenes, play three down on their luck parapsychologists. When a strange light begins to emit from Sigourney Weaver’s fridge! This turns out to be a doorway to another dimension, attracting all kinds of spooks. The team kick start the business of catching these things, practically demolishing the apartment block along the way.

It isn’t just Murray’s comic timing that holds up to this day; the special effects that bring the apparitions to terrifying life almost steal the film from under the sarcastic leads (one particular librarian still gives me nightmares). Who can forget such memorable monsters: a fifty-foot walking marshmallow, a flying booger, and a Sheena Easton lookalike in bubble wrap? Imagination on overload. (research Jack Whiting) Halloween Schmalloween. It is as fresh and as silly as it ever was. Come.

It’s the ultimate cult film. The first. The biggest. For more than 40 years it has defined what we mean by a ‘cult’ film, though few can ever hope to match its phenomenal level of ritualised worship.

A camp twist on sci-fi B-movies, it first sprang to life in 1973 as a musical in the tiny capacity studio above London’s Royal Court Theatre. An instant hit, the play transferred first to the West End. A movie spin-off was a no-brainer. The film attracted an audience hungry to celebrate a story of sexual awakening, where gender fluidity and pan-sexualism are joyfully celebrated.

Detached from the historical hoopla, you'd expect the film to be a bit on the time-withered side, but in fact it has stood the test of time rather well, with songs remaining as loopily catchy as ever. But the powerhouse of the film, no doubt, is Tim Curry's cross-dressing alien, Frank N. Furter.

See it once and laugh about it at dinner parties for the rest of your adult life. Or go along to the interactive viewings, dress up, and sing along. It's your call.