★★★★
A barnstorming twist closes Destroyer, the riveting new film from Girlfight director Karyn Kusama, but this is more intrigue crime drama than compelling thriller. Nicole Kidman leads as haggard antihero Erin Bell, an LAPD officer – with complex history – who could easily warrant a franchise to deliver her own extreme form justice. Staggering around with a potent feline vulnerability, Kidman is unrecognisable in every sense, bar that hers is yet another recognisably stellar performance.
★★★★
BAFTA nominated by fourteen, Liv Hill continues her path to stardom in James Gardner’s bleak but deeply affecting feature debut. A kitchen sink drama in the vogue of Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake and, more recently, Mark Gillis’ Sink, Jellyfish boasts an impressive authenticity in its handling of knotty upsets and great resonance in its storytelling. The viewing may be grim but the reality is much worse.
★★★
From the writers of A Dog’s Purpose – aka Nietzsche and Me – comes this cuddlier replicant of roughly the same premise. There’s still too much morbidity here for the tottering target market but the real takeaway is as upbeat and saccharine as they come. Think Homeward Bound meets The Fox and the Hound. Dog meets boy, dog gets lost, dog finds boy…or does he? Jeopardy!
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