Director Halina Reijn brings this dark comedy horror to the screen. Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and Bee (Maria Bakalova) are in a new relationship and are heading to Sophie’s childhood best friends David’s (Pete Davidson) palatial parental home for a “hurricane” party. There Bee is introduced to a a group of people from Sophie’s past including their relationships and old grudges. As the hurricane sets in they decide to play a game of Bodies Bodies Bodies. But when the game becomes real, the house guests have a long night ahead of finding a killer, before the killer, their grudges or their own paranoia finds them first.

This wasn’t really the film I was expecting, the trailers painted it more as a satire and genre parady. But in reality it is just an update of a very well trodden horror/thriller story.

While it is not particularly original, I did quite enjoy it. The story is relatively light hearted and the ending has a fun “twist”. It’s well shot and makes good use of mobile phone torches as a way of lighting with the small circle of light helps building tension as people move cautiously around the house avoiding what may be in the shadows.

The films occasional satire was best highlighted in the conversations between the group. With use of current vernacular such as triggered, toxic, silencing me amongst other “popular” phrases that are over used or misunderstood. One scene particularly, where four of the protagonists have a particularly angry confrontation which includes the reckless use of a gun. But rather than done in a way to “attack” a new generation the film instead shows that the generations behave the same. Even if the language is different.

The cast are all very watchable and Amandla Stenberg continues to show her talent in an ever widening variety of roles.

While it wasn’t particularly original it was a solid example of its type and nicely updated to reflect a modern generation. The story whizzes along at a pace and the humour that is there is delivered well by its cast. While it won’t last long in the memory, while it was there I enjoyed it.

Written by Mark Chapel and directed by Tom George is this pastiche of 1950’s whoduunits. It’s a party for the 100th performance of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, but there is tension in the air. The shows producer Petula Spencer (Ruth Wilson) has sold the film rights of the play to John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith), which has created tension between director Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody) and both screenwriter Mervyn Cocker-Norris (David Oyelowo) and the plays star Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson). After Kopernick and Attenborough come to blows, Kopernick heads off alone and meets an untimely end. The metropolitan police arrive in the shape of constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) and inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) to investigate the crime and find the killer in the murky world of theatre!

I found this great fun from Kopernicks opening monologue that basically tells you the film your about to see through to the ending you’re promised! It looks great with George borrowing heavily from Wes Anderson with its smart framing, colour palette and quirky characters.

What really makes it work though is the always fabulous Saoirse Ronan’s Constable Stalker, new to the job, bright eyed and eager, but it’s her fabulous comic delivery that makes it work. Her relationship with Rockwell’s world weary inspector is the warm heart of the film.

George and the cast have a great time poking fun at the concept of a Christie whoduunit and their theatrical depictions, from its caricaturing of its cast to the story tropes they rely on. But it’s only poking warm hearted fun at them.

The ensemble cast alongside it’s two excellent leads all deliver the quality you’d expect, even if their characters are a little light on detail.

See How They Run is tonnes of fun, a light hearted pastiche, it uses its 50’s whodunnit story to great effect. It’s warm, funny and never too serious. At its heart is the fabulous Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell who take you along on a wonderfully silly adventure. If you’re after a smile then run down to the cinema and give it a whirl.

New on Netflix is a British crime thriller, written and directed by Babak Anvari. Toby (George McKay) and Jay (Percelle Ascott) are disaffected young men and graffiti writers. They have decided to “attack” the establishment by breaking into homes of influential people and tagging them with their signature graffiti “I came by”. However when Jay finds out his girlfriend (Veranda Sethu) is pregnant he tells Toby he’s out. Toby decides to carry on alone and targets a well known judge, Sir Hector Blake (Hugh Bonneville). However, when he breaks into his home he makes a shocking discovery. When nobody hears from him, his mum Lizzie (Kelly McDonald), not satisfied with police efforts, decides that she is going to investigate and discovers the shocking background of Blake and the institutional connections that are seemingly covering it up.

This is an intriguing if rather nuts and bolts crime thriller which is elevated by a wonderfully sinister central performance from Hugh Bonneville. As with all the best movie baddies, less is more, his restrained menace and casual approach to his acts are chilling. As is his arrogance and privilege, that seemingly protect him from justice.

He is well supported by other strong performances from McKay, Prescott and Kelly McDonald who all bring differing levels of desperation with their situation.

While it is intriguing and has surprising turns It’s not perfect. It has a bit of an odd time jumping narrative that takes you a while to catch on to, so can confuse. But most importantly it is hampered by the classic thriller issue of people making stupid, unbelievable decisions, decisions that I found distracting as I tried not to shout at the screen “why would you do that?”.

While not destined to be a classic, it is a solid thriller. What makes it worth watching is Bonneville’s fantastic performance which is full of restraint and sinister motive. It’s hard to tell whether his actions or the way his privilege seemingly protects him from the law is the most chilling! Because that feels a little to close to reality for comfort.

George Miller directs and co-writes (with Augusta Gore) this adaptation of a short story The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye. Tilda Swinton is Alithea Binnie a narratologist, she describes herself as a solitary creature, engrossed in her work. That work takes her to a conference in Istanbul where she is approached by a mysterious man who warns her of the stories of Istanbul. As she presents at her conference she sees visions of mystical figures in the audience. Pushing away the concerns of those around her she heads off to the market where she finds an intriguing bottle. Returning to her room, she attempts to clean the bottle but in doing so she releases its contents, a Djinn (Idris Elba). Now released he is in her debt and grants her three wishes, before doing so he shares with her his story of his attempts to be freed and return to the world of the Djinn.

The film itself is a bit disjointed and its messages are hard to pull out. There are stories of love, the impact of stories replaced by science, the risks of trying to dictate and control the future and the frustration with been unseen by those around you. But often those stories get lost as the film moves through its complex narrative.

There is also a charm and the stories are beautifully told and presented on screen as we move through the ages and the parts of the djinns life.

Tilda Swinton is watchable as Alithea and you’re never quite sure how much of the story is her own creation or a magical reality. Elba is equally enjoyable as the Djinn, his presence and delivery help you to buy in to this magical creature. However, what works less well is the relationship between them. You never believe there is some great love story developing.

The film is a little uneven, but there is a charm to the story telling and it is beautifully presented on screen. Elba and Swinton are both watchable, even if together it doesn’t quite gel. I did buy into its storytelling and enjoyed it but some will probably find it too disjointed to enjoy.

Director Baltasar Kormákur brings Jaime Primak Sullivan’s story to the screen in this man versus beast adventure. Idris Elba is Nate Samuels, on a trip to South Africa with his two young girls Mere (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries) to visit the birth home of their recently deceased mum. There they meet old family friend Martin (Sharlto Copley) who runs the game reserve and helps on the frontline against poachers. When they all head out on a tour of the reserve, they make a very disturbing find. It looks like a lion attack but not by any type of Lion Martin has ever seen before. But they all will soon meet him as their trip turns into a battle for survival.

It is clear when we meet Nate’s daughter who is dressed in a Jurassic Park t-shirt, what we are getting, it’s a humans against killing machine in a very paint by numbers survival story.

It ticks all of the tropes. We have broken relationships, Nate and his daughters. Loss with the girls and their mum and regret as Nate looks back at a failed marriage and missed chances with his daughters. You need all of that to get some recuse and redemption. But that, alongside a question about whether it’s right to deal with poachers in any way, are only brief distractions from its main reason for been, a lion led chase through the jungle.

Don’t misunderstand me, this is not terrible. Why? Because Kormákur knows exactly what he wants Beast to be and discards anything that may get in the way and that’s perfectly fine. In fact I admired that about it.

There are other good things too. The chase scenes are well done and the story brilliantly builds tension, even if it partly builds it with the endless stupid decisions the characters make. The CGI lions work as well, you know they are effects, but work well nonetheless.

Beast is very predictable and disposable, it’s Jaws with lions and jungles and less intellect. But it is fun and fires along at pace moving swiftly between set pieces without letting story get in the way. It’s not great, but it knows what it is and it commits to it and has fun on the way.

John Hamberg writes and directs this new Netflix “comedy”. Kevin Hart is Sonny a dedicated husband and father, who does the important job of bringing up the kids, and running the home to support his wife Maya’s (Regina Hall) successful career as an architect. Sonny is more than happy, however, when his best friend Huck (Mark Wahlberg) gets in touch asking him to join him for his 44th birthday, he finds himself pressured by his wife to go do it and take some me time, so she can get some time with the kids. The thing is when he gets with Huck things get crazy and when he is convinced that one of Maya’s clients is making a move on her. He and Huck fight back, which does, unsurprisingly, not go to plan.

There is an idea that Netflix make films based on their algorithms. Well if that’s true and it creates Me Time, you need a new algorithm. The theory of it is fine. Hart, Wahlberg and Hall are all good comedic performers, so if you put them in a story structure that has worked before (many times before!) then it will work, right? Wrong, you get rubbish like this.

You know almost immediately where this is going and how badly it’s going to struggle getting there. Hart, Wahlberg and Regina Hall are all reprising roles from elsewhere and that’s the problem you’ve just seen it all before. But that’s okay surely it is at least funny, ah if only. There was maybe two laugh out loud moments and one of those is in the trailer.

The plot is non existent or if it exists, despite Hart’s best efforts, I lost interest in trying to figure it out after about 5 minutes.

Me Time is exactly the film you expect. Just the worst version of it. It’s derivative, dull and just not funny. All the main cast play exactly who you expect and have seen them do in other films. To be honest this is so dull, my advice is go watch any other Kevin Hart or Mark Wahlberg film instead, yes any!

Ron Howard directs Dan McPherson and William Nicholson’s dramatisation of the true life story of the rescue of 12 boys and their coach from a Thai cave. The boys and coach (Teeradon Supapunpinyo) head off to a local cave system as part of the birthday celebrations for one of the team. While in the caves unexpected heavy rains start to flood them. When parents become worried about the boys they head to the caves and realise that the flood waters have cut them off. The films tells the story of how, what starts as a local emergency response, becomes a global effort. With an incredible rescue plan, led by British rescue experts Rick Stanton (Vigo Mortensen), John Volanthen (Colin Farrell) and Australian doctor Harry Harris (Joel Edgerton).

The issue with well known stories like this, is how do you keep the audience engaged? Luckily Ron Howard has experience of doing just that and does a fantastic job of bringing this truly remarkable story to the screen.

The rescue itself took 14 days, so Howard has to be very lean within 147 minutes of storytelling. But he uses this to his advantage as he moves from one tense snippet to another gripping you from the very beginning through to the stories incredible climax.

While the script can be a little clunky, the star studded cast are almost invisible as they vanish into these incredibly brave and skilled rescuers. No big performances, just lots of wonderfully balanced ones, letting the calm heroics shine threw.

The cinematography strikingly recreates the horrific conditions that the boys and rescuers had to deal, dragging you through every tense, underwater challenge.

Even though I knew how the story played out, incredibly the film kept me hooked right until the end, just to be sure!

Ron Howard has form bringing incredibly dramatic real life tales to screen and does it again. Capturing every moment of the tension and fear of the boys and families and doing justice to the bravery and ingenuity needed to rescue them. Available on Amazon Prime, take a deep breath and dive in.

Jordan Peele writes, directs and produces his third feature film, this time adding a little sci-fi to his already trademark intelligent and original horror stories. Daniel Kaluuya is OJ son of a trainer of cinema horses. When he sees him killed in a freak incident he is left to run the business with his sister Em (Keke Palmer) and it soon is in trouble. However, the way out presents itself when an odd presence emerges over their land and with the help of Angel (Brandon Perea), who works in the local electronics store, they embark on a plan to capture footage of this unidentified aerial phenomenon. Footage that will make their fortune and it possibly may save some lives too!

I have to admit I’ve been a little mixed in Peele’s previous films, all with things to like and admire, but each feeling a little short for me. But Nope really worked, it’s a spectacular recreation of classic sci-fi horror and not just an homage, rather a very Peele take on the genre, with real depth, intelligence and humour.

The story is as layered as you’d expect, sci-fi monster horror, an exploration of the desperation for online fame alongside smart and subtle undertones. For example OJ realising that to stay safe he should never look the monster in the eye, a very evocative image.

Performances are outstanding Kaluuya in particular, a brooding, sullen and introverted character, who some how engages you completely, dragging you in to the story, one scene where he sits in his car avoiding the monster exemplifies this. Palmer’s energy and humour, as the showey polar opposite sibling is equally watchable. They are aided by a script, brilliantly paced to build tension, smart enough to keep you guessing, but well enough structured that you realise the clues were right in front of you. All this alongside stunning cinematography.

Nope is a fantastic sci-fi monster horror. Not an homage but a reworking, with a modern eye, depth and intelligence. It’s tense, smart and funny in the right places and is built around a fabulous Daniel Kaluuya performance. See it on the big screen, it’s worth it.

Directed by David Leitch is this adaptation of Kotaro Isaka’s book is Bullet Train. Brad Pitt is a grab and snatch man, codenamed Lady Bug, who is in Tokyo at the behest of his handler, Maria (Sandra Bullock). His latest mission is the grab of a brief case that is on a Bullet Train travelling to Kiyoto in the care of Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry), who themselves are on their own job to return the case to the mysterious White Death (Michael Shannon). But as Ladybug discovers they are not the only people on the train doing a job, it’s full of people with their own missions either for money or revenge, including Prince (Joey King), The Hornet (Zazie Beetz) and Wolf (Bad Bunny) amongst others, all which leads to a less than comfortable journey!

There are things to like about Bullet Train. Enjoyable performances from Pitt , Henry and Taylor-Johnson particularly, but not exclusively. There are laughs and a Kill Bill feel (which is always a good thing) to the story telling and some entertaining action set pieces that have the visceral quality that Leitch used to good effect in Deadpool 2. It also comes with a toe tappingly entertaining soundtrack.

But there are also problems, it’s too long at 126 minutes and is not as smart and funny as it thinks it is to fill the running time. At times it’s slow and convoluted as it tries to weave an intricate plot which actually rather than intricate becomes bloated and at times tests your patience. At other times it becomes downright silly, sometimes the silliness works, sometimes not so much.

I should have liked Bullet Train more than I did. All the component parts are there and Brad Pitt delivers in the central role. But overall it felt a bit of a mess, was overly long and not as smart as it thought it was. A Train journey that went one stop too far.

Directed by Chris Williams is this old fashioned pirate adventure animation. The world still lives in fear of what lies beneath the sea in fear of sea beasts. Great monsters who, has the tales of history tell, would come on land and grab unsuspecting humans. However, that fear has gone thanks to the hunters. Who for generations have fearlessly gone to sea to kill the beasts for their King’s and Queens. The greatest of all the hunter ships is The Inevitable, under Captain Crow (Jared Harris) and his trusty crew, led by Joseph (Karl Urban) and Sarah (Marianne Jean-Baptiste). On their greatest hunt for the ultimate beast they head to uncharted waters. But when they discover a young stowaway, Maisie (Zaris Angel-Hator), onboard, their views of the world are changed for ever.

The first thing to say about The Sea Beast is how it looks. It is stunningly beautiful. The quality of the animation is often breathtaking, the scenery, the way the sea and sky are realised for example is a real feast for the eyes.

The story itself is enjoyable and works on a number of levels, there is the gorgeous realisation of the beasts and cute baby ones for the younger audience, fun and adventure for those a little older. For those wanting more depth it also challenges the way history, if not looked at critically, can dictate the future in unhealthy ways by those who created the version of history we follow.

The voice cast works fine and has fun with over the top old school pirate adventure dialogue. The story perhaps lacks some of the emotional depth that the very best animation even if its animation is as good as you’ll see.

Maybe the only pity for me, was I saw it on Netflix because this would be such a treat on a big screen.

The Sea Beast looks absolutely incredible and it’s full of fun and high quality animated adventure. There is a well layered story which has something for audiences from eldest to youngest. It’s available on Netflix, but would be a real feast for the eyes on the big screen.