FILM
SUMMERLAND (Cert 12, 99 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK Ltd, Drama/Romance/War, available now on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, available from October 12 on DVD £19.99)
ALICE Lamb (Gemma Arterton) lives alone in a remote cottage in a close-knit community not far from the white cliffs of Dover, where anyone who dares to set themselves apart from the gossip-mongering crowd risks being labelled a Nazi spy.
She devotes her waking hours to investigating the fata morgana optical illusion, which causes mirages of islands and cities to shimmer in the sky.
Alice is rudely dragged away from her thesis by the unexpected arrival of rosy-cheeked London Blitz evacuee Frank (Lucas Bond) as part of Operation Pied Piper.
The boy’s sense of wonder, untainted by cynicism or grief, slowly penetrates Alice’s prickly exterior and reawakens her sense of adventure.
She dares to unlock bittersweet memories of studying history in Oxford alongside the luminous Vera Wilbond (Gugu Mbatha-Raw).
Summerland is an elegantly constructed drama set on the Kent coast under threat from the Luftwaffe, which takes its title from Norse mythology’s notion of heaven as an astral plane where souls linger invisibly after they depart the mortal realm.
Plot machinations in the film’s tear-drenched final third skirt perilously close to emotionally manipulative contrivance but writer-director Jessica Swale retains a firm grip on the rudder to chart a satisfying course back to calmer emotional waters.
Still waters run deep in Arterton’s purse-lipped curmudgeon. She catalyses simmering on-screen chemistry with Mbatha-Raw and Swale reflects discriminatory behaviour towards the couple in gentle brush strokes without labouring the point.
LEGACY OF LIES (Cert 15, 101 mins, Signature Entertainment, Action/Thriller/Romance, available from October 12 on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, also available from October 12 on DVD £9.99)
MI6 agent Martin Baxter (Scott Adkins) turns his back on the spy game after a covert mission in Kiev results in the death of his sweetheart.
Twelve years later, he is working as a London nightclub bouncer and earns extra cash by bruising his knuckles on the underground fight club scene.
The deaths of two Russian nationals on American soil as a result of a Novichok nerve agent attack are an uncomfortable reminder of the past.
Former CIA contact Trevor (Martin McDougall) and CIA counterpart John Edwards (Leon Sua) forcibly pressure Martin into helping them procure incriminating intelligence from renegade Ukrainian journalist Sacha (Yuliia Sobol).
The KGB, led by cold-hearted operative Suzanne (Andrea Vasiliou), retaliates by kidnapping Martin’s spunky daughter, Lisa (Honor Kneafsey), and the hard man’s allegiances are torn.
Written and directed by Adrian Bol, Legacy Of Lies is a solid spy caper which confirms martial artist Adkins as heir apparent to Jason Statham’s action man crown on this side of the Atlantic.
Fight sequences are choreographed at a breathless pace to showcase the leading man’s rugged physicality. However, a police car chase barely shifts out of first gear compared to the turbo-charged Bourne franchise.
THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION (Cert 15, 124 mins, streaming from October 9 exclusively on Netflix, Comedy/Drama/Musical)
SHOT in black and white 35mm, writer-director Radha Blank’s debut feature is a deeply personal story of triumph against adversity, which collected the coveted Directing Prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
New York playwright Radha (Blank) is careening at speed towards 40 as she struggles to achieve her creative breakthrough.
She follows the advice of agent Archie (Peter Kim) to work closely with theatre producer Josh Whitman (Reed Birney), who is in preparing a musical about Harriet Tubman.
When success eludes Radha’s grasp, she takes the bold step of reinventing herself as a rapper called RadhaMUSPrime.
She works closely with musician D (Oswin Benjamin) to hone her lyrical rhymes and find her place in a new setting.
A BABYSITTER’S GUIDE TO MONSTER HUNTING (Cert 12, 98 mins, streaming from October 9 exclusively on Netflix, Comedy/Fantasy/Adventure)
JOE Ballarini published the spooky children’s book A Babysitter’s Guide To Monster Hunting in 2017 and has released two further adventures in the series.
He adapts his own work for the screen, bringing to life his plucky literary heroine: high school student Kelly Ferguson (Tamara Smart).
On Halloween, she agrees to babysit Jacob Zellman (Ian Ho), unaware that she will be recruited by a secret society of babysitters dedicated to protecting gifted children from monsters including the menacing Grand Guignol (Tom Felton) and witch Peggy Drood (Indya Moore).
Kelly is guided on her perilous quest by society chapter Vice President Liz Lerue (Oona Laurence), potions master Curtis Critter (Ty Consiglio), technical genius Berna Vincent (Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson) and creature expert Cassie Zhen (Lynn Masako Cheng).
BOX SETS
RIVIERA – SEASON 3 (8 episodes, starts streaming from October 15 exclusively on NOW TV, Thriller/Action/Romance)
THE punishment fits the crime when Julia Stiles reprises her role as American art curator Georgia Clios in the cloak-and-dagger thriller Riviera, which returns to Sky Atlantic this week and streams exclusively on NOW TV.
For the third series, the morally flawed heroine changes her name to Georgina Ryland and abandons the sun-baked playground of the wealthy and fabulous for adventures aboard.
Accompanied by Gabriel Hirsh (Rupert Graves), she hopes to uncover stolen artworks in Argentina and Italy.
Alas, sins of the past continue to haunt Georgina including the unwelcome return of Daphne Eltham (Poppy Delevingne) and her brother Nico (Jack Fox).
As her world falls apart, Georgina stumbles upon a deadly political cover-up in the blackened heart of Buenos Aires connected to the city’s mayor, Victor Alsina Suarez (Gabriel Corrado).
THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (9 episodes, streaming from October 9 exclusively on Netflix, Horror/Thriller)
MIKE Flanagan, creator of TV series The Haunting Of Hill House, conjures more supernatural tricks and treats with the next chapter of the anthology series, which transplants the horror to 1980s England.
Drawing inspiration from the work of Henry James, the story centres on Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas), who lives in Bly Manor with his orphaned niece Flora (Amelie Bea Smith) and nephew Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth).
The estate’s staff includes housekeeper Mrs Grose (T’Nia Miller), groundskeeper Jamie (Amelia Eve) and chef Owen (Rahul Kohli).
When the children’s au pair passes away suddenly, American nanny Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) arrives to take charge of the youngsters in their time of grief.
Dani quick discovers that the Wingraves’ gothic property is home to chilling secrets.
THE RIGHT STUFF (8 episodes, starts streaming from October 9 exclusively on Disney+, Drama/Romance)
Eight-part Disney+ drama The Right Stuff blasts off with Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book to chart the formative years of the space race between America and the Soviet Union when newly formed Nasa faced the seemingly insurmountable task of putting a man into space.
The Eisenhower administration gives Nasa two years to realise Project Mercury and return a man safely to Earth after a period in orbit.
Seven of the military’s best pilots are hand-picked as poster boys for the mission including Scott Carpenter (James Lafferty), Gordon Cooper (Colin O’Donoghue), John Glenn (Patrick J Adams), Gus Grissom (Michael Trotter), Wally Schirra (Aaron Staton), Alan Shepard (Jake McDorman) and Deke Slayton (Micah Stock).
Two of these men – Major Glenn and Lieutenant Commander Shepard – emerge as frontrunners.
Their home lives come under intense scrutiny, propelling the men’s wives Annie (Nora Zehetner) and Louise (Shannon Lucio) into the spotlight.
