The summer holidays might be coming to an end but the great movies on offer on big screens and small thankfully show no signs of slowing down. This week: eye-opening documentaries, clever comedies and Bono as a singing lion!
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Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist (Netflix)
Category: Documentary
Netflix continues its excellent Untold series of real-life stories with a two-part film about Hawaiian NFL star Manti Te’o and the catfishing scam that made him headline news ten years ago. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo (who now identifies as Naya) was a Californian resident who fooled Manti into an online romance which culminated in the faking of her death.
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And since Manti was the brightest football star in the States, when he grieved the loss of his ‘girlfriend’ it seemed like all of America was grieving with him. But what happens when you tell the world you’ve been hoaxed? An elegantly told story that digs deep, highlighting the ever-present dangers of virtual relationships.
Official Competition (cinemas)
Category: Comedy
Starring two icons of Spanish cinema - Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas - plus the respected Argentine actor Oscar Martinez, Official Competition is a brilliantly funny takedown of movie-making and all the pretensions, ticks and egos of the film industry. A rich businessman wants to finance a great movie so he can leave his mark on the world.
Enter Penny as director Lola, plus Antonio and Oscar as Félix and Iván, the chalk-and-cheese actors who are set to star. What follows is the three of them preparing to make a masterpiece, including some brilliantly funny rehearsal scenes and hilariously bizarre acting exercises. If you like films about film-making - and if you like your humour extremely dry - this is highly recommended.
Phantom of the Open (buy/rent on all major platforms)
Category: Comedy
Get ready to have your cockles warmed by this true story starring the great Mark Rylance as Maurice Flitcroft - a crane operator in 1970s Cumbria who, out of the blue, took up golf. So far, so normal. But then the eccentric Maurice decided that he didn’t just want to play everyday golf - he wanted to enter the British Open. So begins a film that celebrates Maurice as a cult figure from sporting history, a wonderfully whimsical and hugely heartwarming tale of an outsider who aimed for the stars. Sally Hawkins co-stars.
Beast (cinemas)
Category: Action
It’s Big Dris versus Big Cat in this enjoyably ridiculous survival pic which sees Idris Elba fight a rogue lion on a South African reserve. There’s not really a whole lot more to it than that, although Elba’s character just happens to be a widowed dad who’d planned to use this holiday in Limpopo to reconnect with his two teenage daughters (which sounds like something from at least three Dwayne Johnson movies). Leave your brain at home and Beast delivers some solid thrills.
Sing 2 (buy/rent on all major platforms)
Category: Family
This sequel to the hit animation from 2016 about a group of musical animals sees the gang struggling to put on a show in order to impress an entertainment mogul. It’s great fun too - such a treat for the eyes and ears with stunning animation and genuinely breathtaking vocal turns from voice talent including Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Pharrell Williams, Halsey and actual Bono! His U2 classic ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ has never sounded better.
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Inside the Mind of a Cat (Netflix)
Category: Documentary
Think you know your moggy? Think again. This brief-but-brilliant documentary is here to challenge your preconceptions and explain to us what really goes on in the weird and wonderful world of the house cat. There’s also some history too, tracing cats being kept as pets all the way back to 10,000BC. Cleverly blending plenty of cute felines and some actual science, this is an eye-opening must-see for everyone, not just cat-lovers.
Fresh (Disney+)
Category: Thriller
We loved Daisy Edgar-Jones in Normal People and Where the Crawdads Sing. With Fresh she shows that she can throw a curveball too. Co-starring Pam & Tommy’s Sebastian Stan, this is one film it’s best not to describe too much, for fear of spoiling the surprises. Suffice to say, if you like dark dramas in the vein of Get Out and Promising Young Woman, give Fresh a try. It’s a deliciously disturbing kidnap tale. Just don’t eat snacks whilst you’re watching!
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