Tenet (12A)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
★★★

ALL eyes are on Christopher Nolan’s epic and mind-bending sci-fi thriller, the first big blockbuster film to be released during the pandemic, in the hope that it will persuade people to return to cinemas in their droves and save the industry.

Shot in IMAX and 70mm, the visuals are dazzling and beyond spectacular and certainly need to be seen on the biggest screen possible to be appreciated.

With an impressive cast, Tenet centres on The Protagonist (a sterling John David Washington) whose mission is to save the planet from World War III.

He’s armed with one word — Tenet — which after the first 10 minutes no-one mentions again.

He teams up with another operative Neil (the outstanding Robert Pattinson) and they embark on a mystifying journey through time “inversion.”

As Neil outlines the scientific theory of inversion and “temporal pincers” to The Protagonist, he asks him if his head hurts and mine certainly did because this is another mindfuck from Nolan as you try to keep up with the complex plot and mind-boggling visual twists and turns.

The thrilling and intricate action sequences and location shots, particularly off the Italian coast, are totally breathtaking.

Yet Tenet poses more questions than it answers in its numerous contradictions. It’s another Nolan film that you will need to see more than once to comprehend — music to the ears, surely, of cinemas up and down the country.

In cinemas.

The Lost Prince (12A)
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius
★★★★

THIS wonderfully surreal family comedy drama explores the unique bond between fathers and daughters and a dad’s need to continue being the hero in his child’s life.

Co-written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, it follows widower Djibi (a stunning Omar Sy) whose eight-year-old daughter Sofia (Keyla Fala) is his life.

Every night he takes her into “Storyland,” a fantasy film studio where they re-enact Djibi’s bedtime stories, full of colourful characters and heroes and villains.

Three years later, as Sofia’s (Sarah Gaye) interest in boys grows, her reliance on her father begins to lessen.

As she loses interest in hearing her father’s bedtime stories so the Storyland characters are made redundant and are sent packing to the land of Oblivion.

Hazanavicius skilfully marries the two worlds seamlessly as the film flits from one to another, mirroring each one’s growing concerns and woes.

And Djibi is desperate to find a way to be relevant and present again in his daughter’s life and to move on himself with the help of his eccentric and bohemian neighbour (Berenice Bejo).

An enchanting family film that will appeal to both adults and kids alike.

In cinemas.

Centigrade (15)
Directed by Brendan Walsh
★★★

INSPIRED by true events, this chilling survival drama set in 2002 centres on an American married couple who wake up to find themselves trapped in their frozen car following a snow blizzard in Norway.

She is heavily pregnant and wants her husband to smash the windows and get them out while he suggests it is safer if they stay put until help arrives.

The film portrays the strains and pressures on a relationship when faced with this horrendous and extreme scenario and fight to stay alive.

Genesis Rodriguez and Vincent Piazza are a blinding two-hander in the one enclosed location as their characters are faced with unexpected eventualities.

The recriminations, difficulties and claustrophobia of the car as their situation deteriorates increases the tension and turns this into a terrifying watch as the inevitable approaches.

Available on digital HD from August 31.

Love You Forever (PG)
Directed by Tingting Yao
★★★★

THIS bittersweet romantic drama, a love story which literally transcends time and space, has broken all Chinese box-office records.

Based on the bestselling short novel of the same name by Zheng Zhi, it follows the story of a young man who is able to travel back in time to save the life of his childhood sweetheart and soulmate. But the consequences are devastating.

Hong-Chi Lee and Yitong Li are captivating as the star-crossed lovers who keep meeting anew at different times in their lives and falling in love with each other all over again.

Gripping and heartfelt, it’s a fresh and intricately plotted romantic drama set in a non-linear timeline structure and, full of intrigue and surprising twists, it’s no run-of-the-mill romantic tale.

In cinemas.

Get Duked!
Directed by Ninian Doff
★★★★

SET in the Scottish Highlands, this is a deliciously anarchic satire about generational politics which pits young people against an entrenched older establishment as they fight to be heard.

Offset by hip-hop-loving farmers and hallucinogenic-inducing rabbit poo, it follows three teenage friends from Glasgow, Dean (Rian Gordon), Duncan (Lewis Gribben) and DJ Beatroot (Viraj Juneja) who, on the verge of being expelled from school, are sent on a four-day character-building Duke of Edinburgh Award camping trip where they are joined by home-schooled Ian (Samuel Bottomley).

The four lads are told to trek on their own over the Highlands to base camp by their team leader Mr Carlyle (Jonathan Aris) but they find themselves being hunted down by overprivileged The Duke (Eddie Izzard) and his wife The Duchess (Georgie Glen) in Purge and The Hunt style.

The Duke tells the boys: “One must cull the vermin [them] so that the crops thrive.”

Part comedy, part horror, part murder mystery and part musical, this is a visually innovative and exciting ride.

It’s a debut feature from music video director turned writer-film director Ninian Doff, who also designed the cracking opening titles and wrote some of the songs.

It also packs an ingenious and hilarious political punch in light of recent events in which school students have fought against the system and its injustices to be heard and recognised.