Kensuke’s Kingdom ★★★★☆
Directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry. Voices of Cillian Murphy, Sally Hawkins, Raffey Cassidy, Aaron MacGregor, Ken Watanabe. PG cert, gen release, 85 min
Working with the filmmakers, Frank Cottrell-Boyce has adapted Michael Morpurgo’s adventure into a thrilling all-ages animation, replete with a clever sheepdog, marauding animal poachers, a long-shipwrecked Japanese WW2 veteran, and lovely performances from Watanabe and Murphy. An unlikely friendship is the heart of a film that touches lightly on environmental themes, loss and history. Who knew the same set-up used for the compelling portrait of stranded madness found in 2021′s Onoda: 10000 Nights in the Jungle could yield delightful family entertainment? Full review TB
Janet Planet ★★★★☆
Directed by Annie Baker. Starring Julianne Nicholson, Zoe Ziegler, Luke Bosco, Abby Harri, Will Patton, Edie Moon Kearns, Mary Shultz, Sophie Okonedo, Elias Koteas. 12A cert, limited release, 113 min
A fine-grained, unhurried study of an admirable parent and her singular daughter. Janet (Nicholson) is, yes, the planet around which young Lacy (Ziegler) revolves. The film, not overburdened with plot, is much taken up with three visitors to the family’s attractive home over a languorous summer. The post-hippie setting may ask too much of less tolerant viewers, but the female leads create a touchingly plausible central relationship. Janet Planet plays a little like a memory piece from an unknown future — the past life of an adult who, as a child, grasped only a bare majority of unfolding tensions. Full review DC
Shayda ★★★★☆
Directed by Noora Niasari. Starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Osamah Sami, Mojean Aria, Jillian Nguyen, Rina Mousavi, Selina Zahednia, Leah Purcell. 15A cert, limited release, 118 min
A girl is focused on getting a Simba Happy Meal toy while her father schemes. Her mother tries to rustle up specialised foods for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, but is nervous about community-based shopping. If you didn’t know that Niasari’s domestic thriller was drawn from life, these small, poignant details give the film away. Realism and deft timing power along the semi-autobiographical Shadya, based on the Iranian-Australian’s childhood experiences. Ebrahimi is tremendous as the title character, a young mother who has taken refuge from her abusive husband (Sami) in a Brisbane women’s shelter. Full review TB
Harold and the Purple Crayon ★★☆☆☆
Directed by Carlos Saldanha. Starring Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Jemaine Clement, Zooey Deschanel, Benjamin Bottani, Tanya Reynolds, Alfred Molina. G cert, gen release, 90 min
A man-child (Levi, irritating) with a crayon that can manifest real objects copes badly with real life. Crockett Johnson’s Harold and the Purple Crayon, a staple of US children’s fiction, here gets a nondescript, inoffensive big-screen translation from one of the men behind the Ice Age franchise. Dedicated Johnson enthusiasts may balk at the move from bold, simple lines to a messy collision of animation and (mostly) live-action comedy. Most everyone else will barely notice the images as they pass through the brain without touching the edges. Clement does, at least, do decent villain work. Full review DC
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