Available on Netflix.

Directed by Michael Matthews, Love and Monsters is set in a dystopian future, 7 years after a catastrophic attempt to destroy an earth bound asteroid caused the Monsterpocalypse, turning millions of the earth’s creatures into human eating monsters. The remains of humanity are driven into underground colonies and in one of these we find Joel. An average 20 something, who feels that he doesn’t make enough of a contribution and is alone until he reconnects with his pre-monsterpocalypse girlfriend Aimee. After a monster breach of his colony he decides he can wait no more and is going to risk his life making an 85 mile, seven day trek across the surface to be reunited with his true love.

What a fun surprise this was, it’s a strange cross between Stand by Me, Predator and Jumanji. There are lot’s of recognisable story elements on show, a dog companion, wise experienced surface dwellers who share crucial survival tips and a zen like robot who with it’s last battery power shares with Joel what’s really important in life. All of it done with a fun charm.

While the story arc is predictable, that doesn’t really matter, the adventure bits are adventurey. The humour is plentiful and keeps it light and the touching moments are just right.

Dylan O’Brien carries the film well as the unlikely hero Joel, fully believable throughout his journey of discovery and is well supported by those he meets on the way, Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt as Clyde and Minnow particularly.

While it’s not perfect and drags a little in the final act, it’s a minor criticism. At its core there are nice messages about the importance of family and tackling the unknown, delivered as a fun “coming of edge” adventure told in a light and humorous way.

Now on Amazon Prime Video.

Directed by Max Barbakow with a screenplay by Andy Siara, Palm Springs is an update on the “stuck in a time loop” story.

Andy Samberg is Niles, a guest at the wedding of his girlfriends friend. He seems less than thrilled to be there, dressed in swim shorts, drinking beers from a can. Then he surprises everyone with a beautiful speech celebrating the happy couple before navigating his way smartly over the dance floor and meeting sister of the bride Sarah (Christin Milioti) who also appears less than thrilled to be there. After an evening with Niles and an arrow incident, she follows Niles into a cave. When she wakes in her hotel to her shock she finds herself joining Niles in a time loop nightmare.

While there are inevitable comparisons with Groundhog Day, this is a very different film, much darker at times (especially if you start to think about just how long Niles has been stuck) but we also get a different dynamic with multiple characters experiencing their own loops.

Palm Springs is a smart comedy and has fun with both the gags that come from people knowing exactly how their day will play out as well as what happens when your actions have no consequences. But it also cleverly asks other questions of those same scenarios, what if nothing you do matters? How do you deal with your actions having no consequences on others but you still have to live with them?

We also find Niles actions have had consequences with J.K Simmons’s Ray, who Niles brought into his loop during a night partying together. It’s those relationships that gives this a freshness, as we see how the loop affects all involved very differently.

It also cleverly leaves ambiguity in the character back stories to allow you to fill in your own interpretation on how they got there and what may happen to them.

I’ve seen lots of really positive reviews of Palm Springs and while I’m not as bowled over as some it is a warm hearted take on the Groundhog Day idea asking some interesting questions along the way. Exploring how life can seem meaningless and subsequently full of meaning if you take a minute to appreciate what is there for you and how it can be better with people to share it with.

Palm Springs is an intelligent enjoyable comedy, which does have a dark side, but ultimately one with a positive message that puts a smile on your face.

New on Netflix.

You know sometimes you watch a film that everyone loves and you hate or, of course, the opposite? Stowaway directed by Joe Penna and written by Penna alongside Ryan Morrison, maybe such a film.

Set in a near future a three person crew are setting off on a two year mission to Mars. Under the command of Marian Barnett (Toni Collette) are Doctor Zoe Levinson (Anna Kendrick) and scientist David Kim (Daniel Dae Kim). Just 12 hours into their mission they realise they are not alone when they discover a stowaway, Michael (Shamier Anderson). This presents the crew with the ultimate dilemma as they realise that the ship can only support three of its inhabitants for the entirety of the mission.

There is no doubt this film has its problems, the story is a little ridiculous and the plot holes plentiful, but that aside, what is in here is a patient well thought out study of how people react when faced with the greatest of ethical challenges under the most extreme of conditions.

Penna makes some smart directorial decisions as well. The slow pace is used well to drive the tension and, let’s face it because we’ve seen this story before, feeling of foreboding. Also keeping the conversation with the ground crew something we never hear pays off in building the feeling of isolation and distance. Although the pacing can be challenging at times, especially the distinct lack of action as their borrowed time runs down, let’s just say they are no Apollo 13 crew!

Performances are solid and I’ve been keen to see Anna Kendrick in a more dramatic role and she delivers well. Toni Collete is as reliable as ever with Daniel Dae Kim playing the difficult role of the one who is happy to make the hard decision. Anderson also brings a quiet calm to the role of the unfortunate interloper.

The film is beautifully shot, giving that feeling of scale, intimacy and isolation even on the small screen.

Stowaway has certainly been met with mixed reviews, but in my opinion it depends on whether you are prepared to suspend your disbelief and ignore the plot holes. If you can you’ll be rewarded with an enjoyable, tense, thoughtful, if a little predictable, space drama.

Available on Sky Cinema in the UK.

Written and directed by Emerald Fennel is the wickedly dark Promising Young Woman. Carey Mulligan is Cassie a woman consumed by the drive to seek revenge for a traumatic event that happened at college to her best friend. She seeks it by going out to bars acting drunk and attracting the attentions of predatory men looking for a potential “easy conquest”. However, they get more than they bargain for when Cassie sobers up. Her behaviour comes at a cost, her promising medical career abandoned, still living at home and working in a coffee shop. But when she meets an old college friend Ryan (Bo Burnham) he presents an opportunity to seek a final revenge on those who she feels were most to blame for the trauma that haunts her.

Fennels directorial debut is original, sharp and well crafted. But this is Mulligans film creating in Cassie a driven, smart, witty character, who always broods with an undercurrent of calm menace.

Alongside Mulligan there is good support from Bo Burnham, Alison Brie and Laverne Cox, but in reality there is not a poor performance to be seen.

The story itself plays with multiple genre’s from revenge to 90’s college films, turning each on its head. The story telling feels a tad uneven as after a very strong opening act, where we see Cassie play out her revenge on her predator victims, it drifts a little in the middle, before its surprising, but ultimately hugely satisfying conclusion.

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just a dark revenge story as it’s also smart enough to raise questions about societies differing views of men and women who act the same and about the impact of trauma on both the victims, perpetrators and those who rather than judge could’ve done more.

Promising Young Woman is excellent, Fennel and her cast have created a hugely smart, wickedly dark and very enjoyable film which is well worth a watch.

Now showing on Amazon Prime.

Based on an unfinished film called Metalhead is Darius Marder’s directorial debut, written alongside his brother Abraham, Sound of Metal. Ruben (Riz Ahmed) and Lou (Olivia Cooke) are a young couple, whose relationship rescued him from destructive addiction, tour in thier Airstream mobile home performing as “jobbing” metal band Blackgammon. However when one morning Ruben awakes to find he has lost his hearing they find their plans for the band in ruins and Ruben desperately searching for a way to cope and get his hearing back. This leads him to moving into a deaf community run by Joe (Paul Raci) where he learns about deafness, himself and life.

This is an incredible piece of film making as Marder and his sound designer Nicolas Becker create a world that immerses you in Ruben’s trauma. The sound is a hugely important part of the story, moving seamlessly between the noise of the everyday world, beautifully done in an early scene in the RV where you hear every detail as Ruben makes breakfast, and, by cleverly using distortion, into his new one as his hearing diminishes.

The sound and performances of Cooke and particularly Riz Ahmed create an almost claustrophobic environment, especially during the opening act, as you feel Ruben’s desperation as deafness envelopes his world. In an inspired directorial touch when Ruben joins the deaf community where signing is crucial, those signed conversations are left uncaptioned for the audience, allowing us to experience his isolation and helplessness in trying to understand the world around him.

The film does move slowly and isn’t so much a story but an exploration of Ruben’s experience. Perhaps inevitably the intensity of its first half falls away a little in the second. However, the final act of the film is as powerful as its beginning as both Ruben and Lou discover some painful truths about their experience and whether thier choices are the right ones for them.

Sound of Metal is an excellent piece of film making and while it doesn’t follow a standard story arc it doesn’t have to. This is more about the experience of addiction, desperation and loss, than story.

For Ahmed’s performance and the incredible use of sound, the world it builds and the experience it creates, Sound of Metal is well worth a watch.

Showing on Netflix.

Written by Kata Weber and directed by Kornel Mundruczo, Pieces of a Woman is a study of grief and trauma. Vanessa Kirby, with an Oscar nominated performance, is Martha who we find alongside her husband Sean (Shia LaBeouf), preparing for the home birth of their daughter. As the labour begins she is disconcerted to find her usual midwife is unavailable but is replaced by a well qualified and experienced substitute. However as the labour progresses, all is not well and when heartbreaking tragedy strikes, Martha, Sean and those close to them find themselves in a desperate spiral of grief, trauma, blame and retribution.

Pieces of a Women is a hard watch, it is an almost relentlessly dark portrayal of grief, trauma and, in reality, the impact of failing to address it. Martha and Sean’s lives spiral into very dark places as their relationship disintegrates and their behaviour becomes ever more self destructive. Those around them react differently as they seek revenge and some kind of justice against the midwife who they feel should pay for their loss.

This is much more a study of loss than a coherent narrative, the film plays out over a year but focuses mainly on the 6 months between the loss of the baby and the trial of the midwife.

The film is well shot and cleverly uses the bleak, coldness of the winter months to mirror that of the story.

You can see why Kirby has earned award recognition, with a strong and emotional performance, but they are plenty of good performances alongside, Shia LaBeouf again giving an interesting and understated performance and Ellen Burstyn as Martha’s strong, seemingly cold and callous mother.

Pieces of a Women is a tough film to enjoy, but does have plenty to admire in the performances and cinematography. However, it fails to build on a powerful opening 30 minutes and as the characters decend into their varying levels of darkness, it is difficult for the narrative to hold together.

As a study of grief and its destructive nature it is certainly successful, whether it is as successful as a film overall is harder to judge.

If you’re prepared for 2 hours of pretty bleak storytelling then there are certainly things to admire here. But it is bleak and admirable rather than for those who fancy a light hearted bit of entertainment.

New on Netflix.

Written and directed by Mr Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone, we have super hero spoof Thunder Force.

Emily (Octavia Spencer) and Lydia (Melissa McCarthy) are “estranged” school friends, growing up in a world where “miscreants” are a constant menace. Miscreants developed super powers after been genetically altered by an 80’s meteor impact and while all of humanity was affected only the miscreants unlocked these powers using them for nefarious means. Emily lost her parents in a miscreant attack vowing to continue their work to develop ways to unlock those powers in other humans to develop super heroes to fight back. Emily’s drive pushes her and slacker Lydia apart. However, their school reunion brings them back together. When Lydia stumbles over Emily’s life work she accidently finds herself part of an experiment giving her super strength and together with Emily who develops her own power, invisibility, the two friends become Thunder Force ready to fight miscreant crime.

The setup and the idea is promising, a fine cast is assembled including two likeable leads in Spencer and McCarthy, but unfortunately Thunder Force fails almost completely to build on that promise in this hugely mediocre comedy.

It’s not a complete loss, Spencer brings a nice comedic touch to her role and Jason Bateman is a particular highlight as the Miscreant “crab man” with his, hopefully purposely, crude effect claw arms! McCarthy is also fine trotting out the outsider, underdog character that she does well, it just reminds you of better films she’s done that character in.

Beyond that I was struggling for entertainment, the script was painfully unfunny and while there were a couple a humorous moments they were very few and far between.

Thunder Force isn’t unpleasant or offensive and in McCarthy and Spencer there are characters you could build on and there is fun to be had with the super hero genre. But, Thunder Force just isn’t anywhere near funny enough which feels like a missed opportunity.

New on Netflix.

Written and directed by the team behind the excellent Searching,  Annesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian, bring us thier new film, Run. Sarah Paulsen and Keira Allen play mother and daughter Diane and Chloe Sherman. Diane a single parent and Chloe her intelligent, talented and capable daughter, who also happens to be wheelchair bound and suffers from asthma and diabetes. They live a quiet and seemingly isolated but contented life. Chloe is home schooled and not allowed a smartphone or Internet access. But this is about to change as she awaits responses to her college applications. However, when Chloe finds some pills marked in her mothers name inside her medication it makes her suspicious and raises questions in her own mind about her life and the relationship between them.

Run’s story follows a relatively well trodden cinematic path, built around the condition Munchausen by Proxy and for two thirds of its 87 minutes it’s a smart, tense, intelligent psychological thriller. Allen’s Chloe, regardless of her medical challenges, is anything but helpless and Allen who herself is a wheelchair user, brilliantly helps develop the tension as everything she believed to be true is stripped away from her.

The increasingly excellent Sarah Paulsen provides a brilliant counter, in what is fundamentally a two-hander, bringing much of the sinister undercurrent to the character that served her well In the recent TV series Ratched.

Where Run falls short is its final act as it fails to retain its suspense and intelligence, increasingly becoming predictable and stretching credibility as it goes. There is also a question about whether its short running time also means it misses the chance to add a little more depth to its characters.

That final third is a little frustrating, because for me it let down what had been a really well done story. It also took away from two stand out performances, Allen and Paulsen both believable and engaging.

That said, while Run is not of the same quality as Searching, it is still a tense and enjoyable ride.

Available on Netflix.

Based on the true life story of the Fletcher Street stables in north Philadelphia, we find this heartfelt, if familiar story of troubled kid trying to find his way in life on difficult city streets surrounded by poverty, drugs, alcohol and gang culture. Colt (Caleb McLaughlin) is expelled from his Detroit high school and his mother decides to take him to his father (Idris Elba) for the summer in the hope he can straighten him out. Harp is a north Philly cowboy, running one of the last inner city stables. The stables are trying to hold off the relentless march of gentrification that continues to displace poor communities. It is within this environment Colt is challenged with finding himself and his purpose while avoiding the potential traps that life on the streets of inner cities are laced with.

Concrete Cowboy is a slow moving mix of stories, there is a familiar one as Colt struggles with finding his path in life as his Dad imparts classic tough love wisdom on him. This runs the risk of pushing him into a life on the streets with his childhood friend Smush (Jharrel Jerome) who is involved with drugs, gangs and their inherent risks. Alongside this is a gentle story of developing relationships and hope.

The film raises questions about displacement of poor communities and the threatening undercurrent of a gang culture that awaits the young disenfranchised men in them. In McLaughlin there is a solid and engaging central performance as he struggles to balance loyalty to his friend with the growing positive influence of working with the horses and people at the stables. He is well supported by Elba, Jerome and some impressive performances from an amateur cast made up of members of the real stables and cowboy community.

It’s not a film that is going to stand out as it treads its familiar path, but it certainly it is engaging, warm and watchable. It also does a good job of capturing the almost tragic inevitability of the situation, for both the stables and young men in poor inner cities.

Concrete Cowboy is patient and emotionally engaging, filled with good, watchable performances. The story, while predictable, is interesting enough and certainly drew me in and kept me invested in it from start to finish.

Available on streaming services and Sky Cinema in the U.K.

Not for the first time Mystery Inc. are on the big screen to solve another mystery. There’s been plenty of feature length Scooby Doo’s including a couple of live action outings. This time we are back in animated territory as the gang are looking to take Mystery Inc. to the next stage of more challenging “grown-up” mysteries with their new financial backer Simon Cowell. However, when there is a suggestion that Scooby and Shaggy aren’t bringing much to the group, they slope off feeling unwanted. But when they run into an army of small and angry transformers and a superhero team they find themselves in a race to save the world from arch villain Dick Dastardly.

This outing is a little “wacky” including the odd decisions to give Scooby a speaking part far beyond his usual “Raggy” and the use of an animation technique that looks rather cheap and a long way from the quality the modern animation audience is used too.

That said, there are things to enjoy, the voice cast have fun, Gina Rodriguez as Velma and Amanda Seyfreid’s Daphne in particular and Jason Issac’s is in his villainous element as Dick Dastardly. There are also some nice Hanna-Barbera crossovers with cameos from Captain Caveman and Muttley as well as a nicely updated opening credits recreating the classic 60’s titles.

However, it does lack the traditional feel of a Scooby adventure, less mystery more animated superhero battle, but while the animation is underwhelming, it’s colourful and fast moving and they’ll be enough fun to keep a younger audience entertained and plenty of nods and winks to keep an older one watching.

Scoob! Could’ve been an awful lot worse and actually I found it fun, but it does feel a bit straight to TV and is not in the same league as what you’d expect from today’s major animation studios. But for those who remember the original it’s a decent nostalgic trip and I think for the kids fun enough.