Sinners ★★★★★
Directed by Ryan Coogler. Starring Michael B Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Li Jun Li, Delroy Lindo. 16 cert, gen release, 137 min
The latest from the director of Creed and Black Panther is (as they say) quite a swing: a period vampire flick that doesn’t turn supernatural until 45 minutes into its running time and a blues-heavy musical that brings Funkadelic stand-ins and hip-hop DJs to a hoedown in Prohibition-era Mississippi. It has not just one but two Michael B Jordans. It has dancing Irish vampires bellowing Rocky Road to Dublin. It’s also terrific from leisurely beginning to horrific end. A satisfactory siege horror that also manages to offer a cultural history of African-American life. Full review DC
Grand Tour ★★★★★
Directed by Miguel Gomes. Gonçalo Waddington, Crista Alfaiate, Cláudio da Silva, Lang Khê Tran, Jorge Andrade, João Pedro Vaz. No cert, limited release, 129 min
Watching Gomes’ epic globe-trotting adventure, one could be forgiven for assuming the film is adapted from a 20th-century classic. Waddington plays an English gent who flees his fiancee in southeast Asia in the early part of the last century. The jilted woman (Alfaiate) then pursues him from country to country. It could be something from W Somerset Maugham or Joseph Conrad. But the Portuguese director has his own tricks. The action is intercut with contemporary footage of the locations through which the characters pass. An entrancing film that deservedly won Gomes best director at Cannes last year. Full review TB
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Verdigris ★★★★☆
Directed by Patricia Kelly. Starring Geraldine McAlinden, Maya O’Shea, Michael James Ford, Killian Filan 18 cert, gen release, 95 min
Kelly’s remarkable debut feature is a lovely tale of unlikely friendship, inspired by her experiences as a census enumerator in Dublin’s north inner city. Marian (McAlinden), a middle-aged woman in an abusive relationship, forms an improbable bond with a teenage sex worker named Jewel (O’Shea). At first the suspicious younger woman rebuffs Marian with torrents of verbal abuse and a manner befitting a stray dog. But kindness and the occasional takeaway win out. This is a feature made with love, jollied along by Tania Freimuth’s subtle cinematography and two tremendous performances. Full review TB
Warfare ★★★★☆
Directed by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza. Starring Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Joseph Quinn, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Michael Gandolfini, Evan Holtzman, Charles Melton. 15A cert, gen release, 95 min
Gruelling re-creation of an incident from the Iraq War that saw US navy Seals holding out for help following attack by IED and grenade. Few other American war films have come this close to acknowledging the true suffering of combat. The second half takes place over the constant screaming of soldiers whose bowels are visibly spilling out. It is to the directors’ credit that the action, in something close to real time, is transfixing without being exciting. Many may reasonably complain about the lack of an Iraqi perspective, but few could deny the dedication to an austere brief. Full review DC
