Movie of the Week

• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Cinemas

• La Chimera
• Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
• The Almond and the Seahorse
• Our Mothers

Streaming/On-Demand

• Mother of the Bride
• Force Of Nature: The Dry 2

Re-Releases

• Shallow Grave

CAST: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy, Travis Jeffrey, Lydia Peckham, Neil Sandilands, Eka Darville, Ras-Samuel Weld A’abzgi, Sara Wiseman, Dichen Lachman

CREW: Wes Ball (director, producer), Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (writers, producers), Patrick Aison and Josh Friedman (writers), Joe Hartwick Jr. and Jason Reed (producers), John Paesano (composer), Gyula Pados (cinematographer), Dirk Westervelt and Dan Zimmerman (editors)

PLOT: 300 years after Caesar led his fellow primates to freedom, ape civilisations have risen from the remains of the desolate planet, while humans have regressed to a near-feral state. The ambitious ape king Proximus Caesar (Durand) leads a mission to enslave other clans by perverting his namesake’s peaceful teachings, which causes young chimpanzee hunter Noa (Teague) to embark on a harrowing journey with unusually smart human Mae (Allan) to determine the future of apes and humans…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The epic saga of intelligent apes building their own world from the ground up continues in characteristically epic fashion
• Maze Runner director Wes Ball takes the franchise in a fresh new direction that further explores this ape-dominated civilisation
• The eye-popping visual effects continue to bring these apes to incredibly photo-realistic life, while allowing the performers underneath the motion-capture suits their chance to deliver true emotional performances
• The very limited human cast includes The Witcher breakout Freya Allan and Oscar-nominated actor William H. Macy, who both do plenty with very little dialogue
• Depending on this film’s success, we could see a brand-new trilogy of films that could well lead up to the movie that started it all!

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is showing in cinemas from Thursday 9 May 2024

CAST: Josh O’Connor, Carol Duarte, Vincenzo Nemolato, Alba Rohrwacher, Isabella Rossellini, Lou Roy-Lecollinet, Gian Piero Capretto, Ramona Fiorini, Luca Gargiullo, Giuliano Mantovani, Melchiorre Pala, Yile Vianello, Carlo Tarmati, Julia Pandolfo

CREW: Alice Rohrwacher (director, writer), Carlo Cresto-Dina, Paolo Del Brocco and Manuela Melissano (producers), Hélène Louvart (cinematographer), Nelly Quettier (editor)

PLOT: In 1980s Tuscany, Arthur (O’Connor) is a young British archaeologist who uncovers an international network of stolen Etruscan artifacts…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Become lost and then found again in an immersive archaeological adventure that often feels like a much more grounded Indiana Jones movie
• It comes from Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher, whose recent Alfonso Cuarón-produced short film La Pupille was nominated for an Oscar
• Fresh from wooing Zendaya on the tennis court in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, Josh O’Connor delivers a subtler lead turn that brings out some of the actor’s best work to date
• It competed for the Palme D’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it faced stiff competition from The Zone of Interest and Anatomy of a Fall (the eventual winner)
• With luscious cinematography and a mysterious script, it’s a soothing experience that may make you want to travel all across the world

La Chimera is showing in cinemas from Friday 10 May 2024

CAST: Martin Scorsese, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

CREW: David Hinton (director), Nick Varley and Matthew Wells (producers), Adrian Johnson (composer), Ronan Killeen (cinematographer), Margarida Cartaxo and Stuart Davidson (editors)

PLOT: Filmmaker Martin Scorsese presents a personal tribute to two of his most influential filmmaking heroes, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The living cinema icon that is Martin Scorsese leads a resounding filmic love letter to a pair of filmmakers that defined film forever
• The lives and careers of the duo, who have among their filmography The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus and A Matter of Life and Death, are deeply explored under the direction of David Hinton
• In addition to drawing from Powell and Pressburger’s works from the BFI National Archive, Scorsese and regular editor Thelma Schoonmaker (also Powell’s widow) contribute their own personal footage towards a clearer picture of their work ethic
• Scorsese passionately brings it all together to show the world exactly what their films mean to him, and why they have endured for many years after their deaths
• It’s the perfect introduction to anyone who may not yet be familiar with either Powell or Pressburger, or the mark that they left on cinema as a whole

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger is showing in cinemas from Friday 10 May 2024

CAST: Rebel Wilson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Trine Dyrholm, Celyn Jones, Meera Syal, Alice Lowe, Ruth Madeley, Rachel Adedeji

CREW: Celyn Jones (director, writer), Tom Stern (director, cinematographer), Kaite O’Reilly (writer), Alex Ashworth, Alison Brister, Andy Evans and Sean Marley (producers), Gruff Rhys (composer), Mike Jones (editor)

PLOT: Sarah (Wilson) and Toni (Gainsbourg) are two women struggling to care for their respective partners Joe (Jones) and Gwen (Gwen (Dyrholm), who both have a traumatic brain injury that leaves them unable to form new memories. As their efforts to connect with their partners becomes increasingly more difficult, the two women are suddenly drawn together…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The devastating effects of anterograde amnesia form a pivotal talking point in this moving British drama that’s based on Kaite O’Reilly’s stage play
• Rebel Wilson marks her first dramatic performance in a dual lead role opposite French actor Charlotte Gainsbourg
• Actor Celyn Jones and cinematographer Tom Stern make their directorial debuts here, with Jones also reprising the same role he once played on the stage
• The emotional story takes some unexpected turns that ultimately lead to a powerful message of living in the moment
• With strong performances and an earnest depiction of its sensitive topics, it’s a film that will move you as much as it will engage you

The Almond and the Seahorse is showing in cinemas from Friday 10 May 2024

CAST: Armando Espitia, Emma Dib, Aurelia Caal, Julio Serrano Echeverría, Victor Moreira, Patricia Orantes Córdova, Thelma Sarceño

CREW: César Díaz (director, writer), Delphine Schmit and Géraldine Sprimont (producers), Rémi Boubal (composer), Virginie Surdej (cinematographer), Damien Maestraggi (editor)

PLOT: In 2018, the citizens of Guatemala are engaged with the ongoing trials of the military officers who ignited a major event in the country’s civil war during the 1980s. Meanwhile, young forensic anthropologist Ernesto (Espitia) is approached by Mayan woman Nicolasa (Caal) who wishes him to excavate the burial site of her murdered husband, but he soon makes an unexpected connection to his long-lost father…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• This stern Guatemalan drama explores a deeply shameful episode in the country’s past, and its long-term consequences
• César Díaz’s film explores an event commonly known as the Silent Holocaust, which saw the genocide of numerous Mayan civilians during the country’s multi-decade civil war
• Its effects are still very much felt by the characters within this story, where fear and trauma reigns as they each come to terms with their shared history
• The film has won multiple awards on the film festival circuit, including the coveted Camera D’Or (which is given to an outstanding film by a debut filmmaker) at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival
• Both a timely history lesson and a moving human drama, it shares plenty of wisdom among the heartbreak about the current state of the world

Our Mothers is showing in cinemas from Friday 10 May 2024

CAST: Brooke Shields, Miranda Cosgrove, Benjamin Bratt, Chad Michael Murray, Rachael Harris, Sean Teale, Wilson Cruz, Michael McDonald, Tasneem Roc, Dalip Sondhi

CREW: Mark Waters (director), Robin Bernheim Burger (writer), Brad Krevoy (producer), Caroline Ho (composer), Ed Wu (cinematographer), Travis Sittard (editor)

PLOT: Lana (Shields) is shocked when she learns that her daughter Emma (Cosgrove) has suddenly gotten engaged, and is due to be married the next month at a luxury resort in Thailand. Things become even more complicated when Lana discovers that RJ (Teale), the man Emma is due to marry, is the son of Will (Bratt), an old flame who broke her heart many years ago…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The latest romantic-comedy offering from Netflix gives 80s starlet Brooke Shields a fun-filled lead role
• She shares some fiery chemistry with suave co-star Benjamin Bratt, while the likes of Miranda Cosgrove and Michael McDonald provide some entertaining support
• Director Mark Waters is no stranger to making wild comedies like this, having previously directed Mean Girls and the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday
• The film makes the most of its idyllic setting within the exotic and luxurious landscapes of Thailand, where the majority of the film takes place
• Dishing out traditional rom-com traits with a breezy and uplifting energy, this is a wedding-themed movie to definitely RSVP to

Mother of the Bride is streaming exclusively on Netflix from Thursday 9 May 2024

CAST: Eric Bana, Anna Torv, Deborra-Lee Furness, Robin McLeavy, Sisi Stringer, Lucy Ansell, Jacqueline McKenzie, Tony Briggs, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Richard Roxburgh, Kenneth Radley, Ash Ricardo, Ingrid Torelli, Matilda May Pawsey

CREW: Robert Connolly (director, writer, producer), Eric Bana, Steve Hutensky, Jodi Matterson and Bruna Papandrea (producers), Peter Raeburn (composer), Andrew Commis (cinematographer), Alexandre de Franceschi and Maria Papoutsis (editors)

PLOT: Aaron Falk (Bana), a federal police detective, and his partner Carmen Cooper (McKenzie) are called to the mountains where a five-woman hiking group has returned with only four members…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The sequel to the hit Australian crime thriller The Dry sees Eric Bana reprise his role as troubled federal cop Aaron Falk
• Like that film, Force of Nature is based on a novel by Jane Harper, which charts the deeply layered cases that Falk is assigned
• Director and writer Robert Connolly also returns after scoring one of Australia’s all-time opening weekends with the first movie
• The setting and circumstances are much darker than before, with a compelling murder-mystery at its core
• It’s a puzzle box that provides plenty of unexpected details to keep you utterly hooked

Force of Nature: The Dry 2 is streaming exclusively on Sky Cinema from Friday 10 May 2024

CAST: Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, Ken Stott, Keith Allen, Colin McCredie, Victoria Nairn, Gary Lewis, Jean Marie Coffey, Peter Mullan, Leonard O’Malley, John Hodge

CREW: Danny Boyle (director), John Hodge (writer), Andrew Macdonald (producer), Simon Boswell (composer), Brian Tufano (cinematographer), Masahiro Hirakubo (editor)

PLOT: Juliet (Fox), David (Eccleston) and Alex (McGregor) are flatmates who welcome their mysterious new tenant Hugo (Allen), but soon he is found dead in his room, leaving a suitcase full of money. The friends decide to dispose of Hugo’s body and keep the money for themselves, but they are soon consumed by paranoia and betrayal…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The darkly funny directorial debut of Oscar-winning filmmaker Danny Boyle returns to cinemas for its 30th anniversary
• It was also the first script for Boyle’s regular writer John Hodge, who would later work with the director on Trainspotting (and its sequel), A Life Less Ordinary, The Beach and Trance
• The film helped to launch the careers of its lead actors Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston
• In addition to becoming a box office hit both in the UK and internationally, it was also awarded the BAFTA for Best British Film
• The film’s uncomfortably bleak violence and irreverent sense of humour would shape the majority of Boyle’s style going forward, which would turn him into one of the country’s most esteemed filmmakers

Shallow Grave is showing in cinemas from Friday 10 May 2024