I’m Still Here/Ainda Estou Aqui ★★★★☆
Directed by Walter Salles. Starring Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello, Valentina Herszage, Luiza Kozovski, Bárbara Luz, Cora Mora, Guilherme Silveira, Maria Manoella. 12A cert, limited release, 138 min
Salles’ first film since 2012’s On the Road concerns the stirring story of Eunice Paiva, a Brazilian woman who, in the 1970s, bravely persevered after her husband was arrested by the military regime and “disappeared”. The film is, perhaps, a little too static. But Fernanda Torres’ faultless, Oscar-nominated performance makes it come alive. The veteran actor knows how to hide her concern from family while allowing it to leak out to us. She stands in for a whole nation pulling on a brave face. Energy does not buzz around this film, but it swells with humanity and quiet bravery. Full review DC
The Monkey ★★★☆☆
Directed by Osgood Perkins. Starring Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy. 15A cert, gen release, 98 min
Noisy, bloody adaptation of a Stephen King story about a toy monkey who brings death to someone nearby every time he is wound up. In his follow-up to Longlegs, Perkins bins story for concept. We encounter fleshy beings with arms and legs that just about meet the definition of characters. The middle comes between the beginning and the end. But the latest Osflick is really just a mechanism for delivering spectacularly gruesome – often inventive – beheadings, eviscerations and disembowelment. Old-fashioned disgusting fun. If you are at all in the catchment area you will have a blast. Full review DC
Welsh media reaction: New laws questioned after ‘rampaging force of nature’ Bundee Aki turns game
Last of the Irish Lords: ‘There’s a love-hate relationship between Irish people and Anglo titles’
Shane Horgan’s Six Nations prediction almost comes true, while Off The Ball comments make BBC coverage
Mortgage-free in a cosy cottage before age 40: ‘I don’t have any savings, but I don’t have any debt either’
Schmeichel ★★★☆☆
Directed by Owen Davies. Featuring Peter Schmeichel, Éric Cantona, Gary Neville, Kaspar Schmeichel. Digital platforms, 92 min
Engaging documentary on the great goalie Peter Schmeichel. Eric Cantona, his former teammate at Manchester United, is good value as a talking head. Alex Ferguson is on hand to chuckle over how many goalies he tried out; Gary Neville, in both archive footage and recollection, is stricken to recall that the towering #1, following a brief stint at Sporting Lisbon, returned to the premier league to join such rivals as Aston Villa and Manchester City. “There was this idea that we didn’t get along,” Schmeichel recalls, as we see Roy Keane. “I was not there to make friends.” Full review TB
September Says ★★☆☆☆
Directed by Ariane Labed. Starring Mia Tharia, Rakhee Thakrar, Pascale Kann, Rachel Benaissa, Barry John Kinsella, Claire Caulfield. 16 cert, gen release, 98 min
Two eccentric sisters have adventures in an oddly pitched drama from an important contributor to the Greek New Weird. Stranded somewhere between sexual awakening, schoolyard persecution tragedy and coming-of-age, September Says appears to be partially set in some AI-generated version of Ireland. It looks vaguely like our country and the accents are fine, yet there’s something oddly misshapen about the view, like one of those CG art fails in which everyone has the wrong number of arms. Tharia, Thakrar, and Kann provide a triumvirate of powerful performances only to be undermined by a blindingly obvious plot twist. Full review TB
