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What is the worst thing you have ever done? The answer to that pointed question, on the cusp of a wedding, changes everything. British museum director Charlie Thompson (Robert Pattinson) is with his fiancé, bookstore clerk Emma Harwood (Zendaya). They are enjoying the company of his best mate Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Mike’s wife, Rachel (Alana Haim), when Rachel prevails upon Mike to reveal his story. He reluctantly agrees to do so only if the other three also come clean abo

The Stranger is a mesmerising portrait of young man different to any other.   We are in French controlled Algiers in 1938.   It is where Meursault (Benjamin Voisin), who is in his early 30s, works as a clerk.   He is quiet, unassuming, has little to say and lacks drive.  One day he receives a telegram indicating that his mother has died.   Without showing emotion, he attends her funeral, where he doesn’t shed a tear.   The next day he goes to the local baths and is spotted by

This is the dramatic back story to the key character in one of the most iconic books written, namely Victor Hugo’s 1862 French historical novel Les Misérables.   I speak of Jean Valjean (played magnificently by Grégory Gadebois).   It is December 1815 and having spent 19 brutal years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread and repeatedly trying to escape, he emerges consumed by rage.  Tired and hungry, having walked for days, he reports to the police in a quiet village in Prov

Mayhem abounds in this blood soaked, high octane, horror action comedy. As a young adult, Asia Reeves and her child sister, Maria are first seen in the pouring rain, having escaped from their violent father who imprisoned them.   They enter a convenience store, where Asia tells Maria not to be scared, as they attempt to find their way to New York City.   But moments later, their father is back in their lives, having tracked them down.   Asia shoots him and flees.   Their fath

Living in Paris, American/French psychiatrist Lilian Steiner’s (Jodie) life is spiralling.   A patient she has seen for eight years, Pierre Hallan ( Noam Morgensztern ), who originally came to see her to quit smoking, abruptly cancels all future appointments.   Pierre claims one visit to a hypnotist cured what Steiner couldn’t and he maintains that he is 40,000 Euros out of pocket because of her.  That is his calculation of the cost of his visits to Steiner, plus that of ciga

A chick flick, Reminders of Him pulls at the emotions to present a story arc that heads down a predictable path.   Still, for fans of this genre, I dare say they will be satisfied they get the ending they desired.   Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe) was deeply in love with Scotty Landry (Rudy Pankow) and he with her, when a tragic accident occurred on his birthday, and he died.   Kenna was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and sentenced to seven years jail. Now, having been releas

The expression Hail Mary refers to a last-ditch attempt at an unlikely outcome.   And so it is that Project Hail Mary is about a desperate effort to save planet Earth from a destructive force.   The sun is dying and with it half the world’s population is expected to be wiped out within 30 years.   The cause is a powerful organism named Petrova, which has made a beeline from Venus to the sun.   In fact, it has already infected many planets and the world’s greatest scientific m

Strap yourselves in for a wild ride in this darkly comedic science-fiction zombie movie.   The set up comes in the wake of Skylab (America’s first space station) falling out of orbit in 1979.   Most debris on board burnt up upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, but some did not, notably a tank containing a parasitic fungus.   It crashed into the remote Western Australian outback, where it remained intact until 18 years ago.   Then, microscopic cracks enabled the hazardous orga

A crisis of faith. That is the essence of the slow-moving drama that is Midwinter Break.   The film is set up at the start with reference to a traumatic incident that happened in the first year of marriage between Irish couple Stella and Gerry.   It saw them leave their beloved home for Scotland, where Stella (then played by Lesley Manville) was a teacher and Gerry (Ciaran Hinds) an architect.   Both have since retired.   It is freezing cold on Christmas Eve when Stella atten

An entertaining and engaging sports-based animation from the studio behind Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, this is an underdog story involving animals.   The title refers to the horned creature, as well as the greatest of all time.   Will Harris is a little goat with big dreams.  For as long as he can remember, his hero in a game called roarball, which looks suspiciously like basketball, has been five-time all-star black panther Jett Fillmore.   She plays for the Vinelan

Writer and director Maggie Gyllenhaal has upended the story of Frankenstein by focusing primarily on his partner, who she brings back from the dead.   It is a drama, a horror and an unconventional romance, with feminism at its core.   The story injects Frankenstein’s writer Mary Shelley into the tale from beyond the grave.   In short, she manages to possess a young woman called Ida (Jessie Buckley), injecting in her unhinged behaviour. Ida is subsequently dealt with by two he

A biographical comedic drama inspired by reality, I Swear is one of the feel-good films of the year.   The movie, which starts in 1983, traces the journey of a Scottish youngster who, at a time when the condition isn’t universally recognised, develops Tourette’s Syndrome.   John Davidson is the eldest of four children, a hard worker and a gifted young soccer goalkeeper who eyes a promising future when he enters high school.   But as soon as he does, the first symptoms of Tour

Four hours before he is due for execution, Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) is visited by a priest (Adrian Lukas).   In this black comedy, Becket proceeds to calmly relay his sordid story to Father Morris.  Becket’s mother, Mary (Nell Williams), was heir to a family fortune worth US$18 billion – $19 billion.   But when she fell pregnant at age 18 and refused to abort the baby, she was disowned and disinherited by her ruthless father, Whitelaw (Ed Harris).   Still, she did all s

When Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released 35 years ago, it was a movie well ahead of its time.   Its special effects were awesome.   Even looking at it now, it measures up well.   Those scenes of transformative liquid metal continue to impress. Photos by Simon Aubor   And with the emergence of all powerful AI in recent years, the film’s backbone – man vs machine (humans at war with Skynet) – is particularly salient.   And remember, the opening scene had a location and da

Why and when do marriages turn sour?   A couple of broad questions, I know, but ones picked apart in Bradley Cooper’s third directorial film (which he also co-wrote and in which he features).   The other two he directed are A Star is Born and Maestro.   Is This Thing On? starts with the words “We need to call it, right?” “I think so, too.”   That effectively brings down the curtain on a relationship that has run for 26 years, or does it?  Alex and Tess Novak (Will Arnett and

If you ever wanted to get up close and personal with The King in his heyday, here is your chance to do so in retrospect.   As a follow up to his 2022 biographical film Elvis, Baz Luhrmann has crafted a compelling documentary in which Presley is front and centre, larger than life.   Most of the time, Elvis is shot in close up, appearing just in front of your face, making the great music for which he was renowned, forever gyrating.   What extraordinary stage presence! The visua

Sexually charged, Pillion is a dramatic comedy that opens the door on relationships between gay men with a dominatrix mentality.   Written and directed by Harry Lighton, it is based on the 2020 book Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones, which was set in the pre-AIDS era.   Colin (Harry Melling) is an introverted, naïve homosexual parking officer who lives with his kind-hearted parents in London.  Pete (Douglas Hodge) and his wife Peggy (Lesley Sharp), who is dying, but is not backward

He is a 40-year-old high school teacher and she is a furniture restorer, aged 35.   He has an ex-wife and a young daughter.   She has just extricated herself from a relationship with a married man who promised to leave his wife … or has she?   It is their first date.  She has invited him over for a home-made dinner with her signature dish. He has brought wine … and condoms.   Each has with them – in their heads – a Greek chorus (four male mates for him and four female friends

It is 1952 and a struggling 23-year-old New York City hustler aspires to be the world table tennis champion.   Marty Mauser (Timothy Chalamet) is working selling shoes in his uncle’s Lower East Side store.   Marty is good at his job (he could sell snow to the Eskimos), but isn’t even remotely interested in it, even though his uncle offers him the role of manager. Marty has bigger plans.   At a time when ping pong is hardly recognised as significant in the US, Mauser aspires t

A creature feature with bite, Primate is about a pet chimp in Hawaii that contracts rabies and “goes ape”.   The film starts with a brutal attack on a veterinarian.   Then we cut to 36 hours earlier.   That is when college student Lucy boards a plane to return to her native Hawaii, which is where her younger sister, Erin and father, Adam live. It is a beautiful, open plan home, embedded into a cliff, and includes an underground swimming pool.   Joining Lucy are her long-time