1976 (15)
Directed by Manuela Martelli 
★★★★

SET in 1976 Chile, Pinochet’s brutal and perversive dictatorship is seen through the awakening eyes of an upper middle-class doctor’s wife in this incisive character study and fascinating debut feature by Manuela Martelli. 

Carmen (Aline Kuppenheim) is overseeing renovations at her summer beach house when she is persuaded by the family priest, Padre Sanchez (Hugo Medina), to come to the aid of a young man (Nicolas Sepulveda) he is secretly sheltering at the church who is seriously injured. 

Describing him as a common criminal Carmen agrees to tend to his leg wound thanks to her training in the Red Cross. As she becomes more invested in his care she begins to get drawn into fight against the Pinochet regime. 

Up until that point Carmen had been oblivious to the realities of the dictatorship as it had never touched her existence, but after meeting Elias (Sepulveda) she becomes paranoid about being watched and followed. It is a major wake-up call for this bourgeois wife, mother and grandmother of three who once aspired to be a doctor but wasn’t allowed to be by patriarchal Chilean culture. 

Kuppenheim is elegance and class personified, and gives a virtuoso performance as the chain-smoking, pill-consuming and discontented Carmen. 

1976 is a beautifully crafted, stylish and complex drama which is absolutely gripping. 

Actor-turned-director Martelli shows remarkable skill, giving us an insightful look at life under Pinochet’s rule through fresh eyes. 
MD

Out in cinemas today

A Good Person (15)
Directed by Zach Braff
★★★

FLORENCE PUGH goes toe to toe with Morgan Freeman in this drama about grief, loss, guilt and opioid addiction. They are both a joy to watch, and particularly Pugh who gives another tour de force performance. 

Here she plays Allison a young woman whose world falls apart when a fatal car accident kills her future sister-in-law and her husband. She, the driver, survives the crash but soon becomes addicted to painkillers and Oxycodone in a devastating downward spiral. 

Freeman plays her ex-fiance’s (Chinaza Uche) father, a former cop who befriends Allison at an AA meeting. A recovering alcoholic he is, in turn, struggling with having to raise his teenage granddaughter Ryan (an impressive Celeste O'Connor) single-handedly. 

Written and directed by Zach Braff, he wrote the role of Allison specifically for Pugh, his former partner. There isn’t anything groundbreaking about A Good Person, but it is  filled with captivating turns, including Molly Shannon as Allison’s mother who is floundering trying to help her, and Pugh steals the show.
MD

Out in cinemas today and on Sky Cinema April 28

The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future (15)
Directed by Francisca Alegria 
★★★

SET in an agonising world where animals sing songs about their uncertain fate, a woman returns from the dead to deal with unfinished family business in this surreal yet haunting debut feature by Francisca Alegria. 

Cecilia (Leonor Varela) heads to the family farm in Chile to take care of her father who has had a heart attack, to encounter her long deceased mother who mysteriously killed herself years earlier, a magnificent Mia Maestro who does not utter one word throughout. She does not appear to have aged a day. 

Her sudden resurrection opens grieving wounds again for her husband and daughter who are still none the wiser as to why she took her own life. 

Part eco-drama, part supernatural sci fi and reminiscent of Manuel Carballo’s 2013 zombie-thriller The Returned, this bizarre drama is full of striking images and indelible moments as it explores the power of healing. 
MD

Out in cinemas today 

John Wick: Chapter 4 (15)
Directed by Chad Stahelski 
★★★★

THE ACTION juggernaut that is John Wick returns bigger, longer than ever, with even more insane fight scenes and featuring a blind assassin and nunchucks. 

While the first three films unfold over the course of a week this one picks up six to eight months after the last instalment and sees John determined to defeat The High Table and its new sadistic front man the Marquis (Bill Skarsgard), and finally win his freedom. 

Director Chad Stahelski teams up with Keanu Reeves for the fourth time in this franchise to deliver another relentless ride which expands the John Wick universe, providing further intrigue as they head to Paris, Berlin and Osaka. Despite the flimsy plot the extraordinary fight sequences, violence that is almost lyrical in its fluency, keep the viewer invested during the almost three-hour-long running time. 

I applaud Reeves’s stamina, and he is joined by action superstar and martial artist Donnie Yen as Caine, Wick’s long-time friend and blind killer, who steals every scene they share. The film also features again Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and the late Lance Reddick in poignant scenes.

John Wick: Chapter 4 raises the action film bar to a whole new level. 
MD
Out in cinemas today