Midsommar (18)
Directed by Ari Aster
★★★★★

HERE

AS ADULT fairy tales go, writer-director Ari Aster’s second feature definitely delivers a treat for horror aficionados with this unique shocker.

In it, a luckless band of US students take a trip to Sweden only to find themselves trapped in a grisly living nightmare of ancient pagan rituals at a time of eternal sunlight.

Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) are breaking up when, reunited by family tragedy, the former invites herself to join Dan and his fellow students in what turns out to be hell on Earth.

This increasingly gripping black comedy-cum-shocker is made all the more effective by unfamiliar actors and locations and a screenplay delivered with a straight face by the performers.

The suspense — and nastiness — mount in a rural mise-en-scene populated by ritualistic maniacs and the macabre style makes the Witchfinder General resemble a series of pallid Enid Blyton tropes.

Alan Frank

Spider-Man: Far From Home (12A)
Directed by Jon Watts
★★★★

After the emotional roller-coaster ride that was Avengers: End Game this new Spider-Man sequel is a much-needed amuse bouche – it’s a  more light- hearted and entertaining romp.

It has Peter Parker (Tom Holland) stricken by grief over the loss of his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and, overwhelmed  by increasing calls for Spider-Man to become the new Iron Man, he  decides to get away from it all by going on a school trip to Europe.

His plan is to win the heart of  MJ  (Zendaya on fantastic odd-ball and cutting comeback form) with an elaborate romantic gesture in Paris.

But Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) soon reminds him that superheroes can’t take a holiday when he calls him back into action to team up with newcomer Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) to defeat the elementals, alien monsters who can wield earth, wind, fire and water.

The film pays a hilarious homage to the Avengers at the beginning and provides a plausible explanation for “the blip,” the term for how people disappeared and then suddenly reappeared without warning five years later.

It is full of razor-sharp repartee, hilarious running gags and stunning action sequences in a film which is essentially about teenagers being teenagers and Parker trying to be a 16-year-old kid again.

Holland is the perfect Spidey, imbuing him with a refreshing cheeky-chappie charm and an adorable teenage geekiness and awkwardness.

Gyllenhaal is clearly having a blast going all out as Mysterio in a standout performance. Comic- book fans will know where his character arc is heading but I won’t spoil it for those that don’t.

It is vital you stay for the two post credit scenes which deliver the jaw-dropping twists of the film — which begs the question why did its creators wait until the end?

Maria Duarte

Don’t Look Now (15)
Directed by Nicolas Roeg
★★★★★

NICHOLAS ROEG’S 1999 film, adapted from a Daphne Du Maurier story, remains a potent and emotionally charged feature.

It’s perfectly performed by Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie as grieving parents John and Laura Baxter, who encounter a psychic woman in Venice claiming to be in touch with their drowned daughter. Then John sees her  and a disturbing narrative ensues.

Inevitably, much was made at the time of Sutherland and Christie’s boundary-breaking simulated sex scene, removed by the BBC when the film made its TV bow. Now its emotional impact in reinforcing the narrative is seen as validating its inclusion.

It’s impossible to look away once the film begins and apart from the masterful storytelling, praise is due to the late Roeg for using Venetian locations to create emotional mood rather than simply exploiting tourist-friendly images.

AF

Never Look Away (15)
Directed by Floran Henckel Von Donnersmarck
★★★

SPANNING three eras of post-war German history, this suspense-filled drama, inspired by true events, follows the life of a great young artist who is tormented by his childhood under the nazis and the Third Reich.

Directed by Floran Henckel Von Donnersmarck, the  Oscar-nominated film is a wonderfully rich and complex study of Germany’s past as seen through the eyes of German painter Kurt Barnert (an impressive Tom Schilling), whose character  is loosely based on renowned visual artist Gerhard Richter.

Kurt’s relationship with his wife Ellie (Paula Beer) and her former nazi gynaecologist and surgeon father (Sebastian Koch) sparks  a compelling and disturbing psychological drama.

The film is three hours long but, with its stunning visuals and  mesmerising cast, it reels you in from the opening scene and never lets go.

MD

The Queen’s Corgi (PG)
Directed by Vincent Kesteloot and Ben Stassen
★★★

WHEN Corgi Rex joins Her Majesty’s three pet Corgis at Buckingham Palace, his charm enchants the Queen and he becomes top dog.

But Rex’s arrogance during a cruelly funny sequence featuring Donald Trump and Ivanka visiting Buckingham Palace — “I bit the president in the unmentionables” –— lands him in disgrace and he ends up as a stray in London.

There, after various amusing adventures — including, for adult pleasure rather than child appeal, refusing a vet’s offer of a suppository — he finally finds love and royal redemption.

There’s astute vocal casting, with Jack Whitehall as Rex and, memorably, Julie Walters and Tom Courtenay as the comic-strip Queen and Duke of Edinburgh.

They add amusement to an animated film which, according to co-director Ben Stassen targets “our usual key demographic — five to 10 year-old children, while making their parents smile.”
 
In the final analysis, though, parents may well enjoy themselves more than kids.

AF

Escape Plan 3 (15)
Directed by John Herzfeld
★★★

IF YOU are still reeling from the horrendous turkey that was Escape Plan 2, rest assured that  this final instalment in the franchise is everything that wasn't.

It’s a fun, stupid and action-packed ride in which Sylvester Stallone appears from beginning to end — unlike in the previous film, in which he appeared to take the pay cheque and run. But then, who can blame him?

Stallone  is back as Ray Breslin who, along with his crew,  find themselves breaking into a Latvian prison in order to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a Hong Kong tech mogul, a plot strand which obviously will appeal to the Asian market.

Loud and pretty violent, it’s also  surprisingly hugely entertaining if you don’t overthink and  just enjoy it and it’s  probably best to do so on demand.

MD