Film

Six of the best films to see at the cinema this weekend

'It' efficiently delivers the jolts, while mystery 'Wind River' provides more thoughtful fare

Circus of horrors: Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise in It

Donald Clarke
Tara Brady
Fri Sep 8 2017 - 05:00

IT ★★★
Directed by Andy Muschietti. Starring Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgård, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard. 16 cert, general release, 134 min

Tolerable, industry-standard adaptation of Stephen King's bullet stopper concerning a malign spirit – notoriously in the form of a clown – who feeds on the fears of a New England town. The escalating horrors are delivered via a rapid fusillade of discrete episodes that suggest journeys in a clunky, analogue-era ghost train. When all else fails, let's have the mad clown jump loudly from the nearest large box. But it's efficient enough. Review/Trailer DC

WIND RIVER ★★★★
Directed by Taylor Sheridan. Starring Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Jon Bernthal, Julia Jones, Kelsey Chow, Graham Greene, Kelsey Asbille. 16 cert, general release, 107 min

Jeremy Renner and Gil Birmingham in Wind River

Official trailer for the cinema adaption of Stephen King's, It.

Sheridan's script credits include last year's hit neo-western Hell and High Water. Squint through the snowscapes and this procedural could be High Water's wintry cousin. Olsen is an FBI agent dispatched to an Indian reservation to help Renner's parks and fisheries operative with a murder. Weary resilient locals trade in dark, cynical humour. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis's score is as sparse as the frozen horizons. The mystery is very satisfactorily resolved. Very worthwhile. Review TB

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THE WORK ★★★★
Directed by Jairus McLeary, Gethin Aldous. Club, IFI, Dublin, 87 min

There’s something indescribably moving about watching grown men – at least one of whom has tried to cut another man in half – wail and sob

The SXSW documentary competition winner is a fascinating chronicle of catharsis. Every year Folsom Prison, the maximum security institute immortalised in song by Johnny Cash, allows several members of the public through the gates to take part in the "Inside Circle", an intensive four-day group therapy programme. The work of the title refers to the exorcism-like process that occurs during the interactions between society's most hardened offenders, the visiting civilians, and the prison's resident councillors'. Gripping, odd, original. Review TB

GOD'S OWN COUNTRY ★★★★★
Directed by Francis Lee. Starring Josh O'Connor, Alec Secareanu, Gemma Jones, Ian Hart, Patsy Ferren. 16 cert, general release, 105 min

Explosive sexual tension: Josh O’Connor and Alec Secareanu in God’s Own Country

Beautiful, rugged drama concerning the relationship between a young Yorkshire farmer and the Romanian shepherd who arrives to help an lambing time. O'Connor and Secareanu make eye-catching breakthrough turns within a very fine ensemble. Director of photography Joshua James Richards finds bright spots in the bleak midsummer. The interiors, some of which were shot at directgor Lee's own family farm, are authentically distressed and fondly framed. One of the best you'll see this year. Review TB

THE LIMEHOUSE GOLEM ★★★
Directed by Juan Carlos Medina. Starring Bill Nighy, Olivia Cooke, Douglas Booth, Daniel Mays, Sam Reid, María Valverde, Henry Goodman, Morgan Watkins, Eddie Marsan. 16 cert 16, general release, 109 min

Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke in The Limehouse Golem

Oh, what fun. This grand old potboiler starts as it means to go on: by lining up some of the best-looking, most gifted British character actors – Olivia Cooke! Douglas Booth! – as murder suspects. The occasion is a gruesome series of killings, slayings that are not unlike those that will be perpetrated by Jack the Ripper a decade later. Medina's adaptation of a popular Peter Ackroyd novel enjoys its murky atmosphere greatly. Review TB

LOGAN LUCKY ★★★★
Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Starring Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes, Seth MacFarlane. 12A cert, general release, 118 min

Channing Tatum, Riley Keough and Adam Driver in Logan Lucky

Soderbergh emerges from quasi-retirement with a successful heist flick set among blue-collar eccentrics in rural West Virginia. Our assembled oddballs target the cash drops at a racetrack during the biggest Nascar event of the season. Craig is the safecracker. Tatum is the (ahem) mastermind. None of it is very probable, but the stars work the switches and the director's characteristically sharp visual sense remains a delight. More fun than we deserve. Review DC