Film

Four new films to see this week

Spider-Man: No Way Home, Swan Song, The Lost Daughter, The Story of Film: A New Generation

Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home

Donald Clarke
Tara Brady
Sun Dec 19 2021 - 06:00

SPIDER-MAN NO WAY HOME ★★★★☆
Directed by Jon Watts. Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei, JK Simmons, JB Smoove. 12A cert, gen release, 148 min
Spider-Man and Dr Strange accidentally open up parallel universes in the latest film from the liveliest sub-stream of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No Way Home is the poorer for featuring little of the high-school humour that so enlivened the first two episodes. But it is still much lighter on its feet than 90 percent of the MCU. What makes the thing really fly – and it does still fly – is the witty energy of Jon Watts's direction and the fizzy chemistry between the core actors. Holland and Zendaya are just great. Full review DC

SWAN SONG ★★★★☆
Directed by Benjamin Cleary. Starring Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Glenn Close, Awkwafina, Adam Beach. Apple+, 112 min

Mahershala Ali and Glenn Close in Swan Song

A dying man (Ali) considers replacing himself with a clone. Cleary, Irish Oscar-winner for the 2015 short Stutterer, has taken his time crafting his debut feature, a cerebral sci-fi that shares a sub-genre and themes of loss and love with Alain Resnais's Je t'aime, Je t'aime and Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The protagonist's confrontations with himself are as philosophical as they are discombobulating. Awkwafina's Kate, another patient who has already gone through the same process that Cameron is facing, makes for a fascinating second set of duel performances. Full review TB

THE LOST DAUGHTER ★★★☆☆
Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Starring Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard, Dagmara Dominczyk, Paul Mescal. 15A cert, gen release, 122 min

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Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter

A woman contemplates earlier life choices while holidaying among strangers. Based on the novel by Elena Ferrante, Gyllenhaal's opening gambit as a writer-director is a brave charge at source material defined by flashbacks and far too many subplots. For all of cinematographer Hélène Louvart's sun-drenched visuals and the wildly starry cast, this is not an easy sell. The central character, a languages professor named Leda Caruso, as essayed by Colman at her crankiest, is hardly good company. The director's clever script carefully probes at parental indifference, as both a relatable and monstrous feeling. Full review TB

THE STORY OF FILM: A NEW GENERATION ★★★★☆
Directed by Mark Cousins. Limited release, 160 min

Mark Cousins in The Story of Film: A New Generation

Cousins follows up his epic 2011 series on the history of film with an extensive study of the intervening decade. The Belfast man sees huge advances and endless possibilities. There is some foreboding here, but the key impression is of a form mutating its way creatively into a new millennium. The film is better at convincing us that cinema remains tied in with its past rather than that the last decade welcomed radical shifts in form or technique. He does, however, make the case for democratisation. Everything from Frozen to Palme d'Or winners are in here. Full review DC