FILM
HERE ARE THE YOUNG MEN (Cert 15, 96 mins, Signature Entertainment, Drama/Romance, available from April 30 on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, available from May 10 on DVD £19.99)
IN JUNE 2003, Matthew Connolly (Dean-Charles Chapman) leaves school in Dublin with the words of headmaster Mr Landerton (Ralph Ineson) ringing in his ears: “Be careful with your choices”.
The lad responds by breaking into the school with best friends Kearney (Finn Cole) and Rez (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), spray-painting graffiti in one of the classrooms and vandalising the headmaster’s car.
During a final summer of freedom before reality bites, Matthew lusts after free-spirited friend Jen (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Kearney dreams of moving to America to work on a construction site with his older brother Dwayne (Chris Newman): “It’s gonna be deadly, man!”
Meanwhile, Rez pops pills to try to feel something, anything, to lift him out of a nihilistic gloom.
When the three lads witness a senseless tragedy while high on drugs, they tumble down a rabbit hole of violence and self-destruction.
Based on Rob Doyle’s novel, Here Are The Young Men is a gritty coming-of-age story soaked in the testosterone and youthful exuberance of the lead characters.
Frenetic camerawork and nightmarish fantasy sequences involving a maniacal TV presenter (Travis Fimmel) conjure a hallucinogenic waking dream that writer-director Eoin Macken’s script struggles to support with a coherent narrative.
A booming soundtrack of The Chemical Brothers, Joy Division and Primal Scream evokes the era as characters whirl out of control in a thick haze of depression and paranoia.
Taylor-Joy’s spunky go-getter is frequently the only ray of light but director Macken snuffs that out to belabour signposted tragedy.
THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES (Cert PG, 113 mins, streaming from April 30 exclusively on Netflix, Animation/Sci-Fi/Action/Comedy/Romance)
CINEMA nerd Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) can’t wait to begin her first term at California College of Film, creating distance from her father Rick (Danny McBride), whose uncool jokes now grate on teenage nerves.
In a last-ditch effort to repair the relationship, Rick decides to drive Katie to college in the family’s burnt orange 1993 station wagon.
He hastily arranges a Mitchell clan road trip with his wife Linda (Maya Rudolph), dinosaur-obsessed young son Aaron (Mike Rianda) and pet dog Monchi (Doug the Pug).
During the cross-country odyssey, tech company CEO Mark Bowman (Eric Andre) launches his latest creation – robotic personal assistants – and watches in horror as his omnipresent personal assistant software Pal (Olivia Colman) goes rogue and seizes control of the automaton army.
Katie and her dysfunctional kin are mankind’s last hope to avoid extermination.
The Mitchells Vs The Machines is a rip-roaring animated comedy, which explores generational conflict in a world where humans have unwittingly empowered technology to assume control.
Director Jeff Rianda and co-director Jeff Rowe meld realistic 3D visuals with a hand-painted, illustrative scrawl that looks like heroine Katie is scribbling her thoughts directly onto the screen including crude overlays from a popular video sharing website.
Every turbo-charged frame is littered with movie references and Rianda and Rowe’s script embraces the bonkers narrative with gusto.
THE DISCIPLE (Cert 12, 128 mins, streaming from April 30 exclusively on Netflix, Drama/Musical)
BOASTING Oscar winner Alfonso Cuaron as an executive producer, director Chaitanya Tamhane’s Marathi-language drama explores Hindustani music traditions and one man’s quest for perfection.
Twenty-something Indian classical music vocalist Sharad Nerulkar (Aditya Modak) has followed in the footsteps of his father (Kiran Yadnyopavit), studying recordings of mercurial teacher Maai (Sumitra Bhave) to achieve artistic fulfilment.
Sharad’s guru (Dr Arun Dravid) helps his student chase that dream as a Khayal vocalist, which demands total dedication at the expense of personal relationships.
Sharad’s job selling CDs of Hindustani musicians for Kishore (Makarand Mukund) keeps him focused on his craft, to the consternation of his grandmother (Neela Khedkar), who fears that the perfection Sharad seeks is unattainable.
CITY OF LIES (Cert 15, 111 mins, Entertainment One, available from May 3 on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, Thriller)
DIRECTOR Brad Furman’s 2018 crime thriller, based on Randall Sullivan’s non-fiction book LAbyrinth, is finally released in the UK after a turbulent behind-the-scenes history.
Rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. are killed six months apart in drive-by shootings, and Los Angeles detective Russell Poole (Johnny Depp) works the homicide investigation, determined to unmask the perpetrators.
Despite his best efforts, Poole retires from the force unable to solve the cases.
More than two decades after the murders, reporter Jack Jackson (Forest Whitaker) embarks on a crusade to discover the truth about the shootings.
He joins forces with Poole to sift through the evidence and pursue new lines of inquiry.
SERIES / BOX SETS
INTERGALACTIC (8 episodes, streaming from April 30 exclusively on NOW TV, Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Adventure/Romance)
A MALIGNED cop embarks on an intergalactic adventure that will change her life in an eight-part sci-fi drama written by Julie Gearey, which begins on Sky One this week and streams exclusively on NOW TV.
Police officer and galactic pilot Ash Harper (Savannah Steyn) is destined for a glittering future until she stands accused of a crime she did not commit.
Wrongly convicted and sentenced to exile on a distant prison colony, Ash is bundled into a transfer ship with other inmates including a rowdy mob commanded by Tula Quik (Sharon Duncan-Brewster).
They stage a mutiny during the flight, kill the crew and assume control of the vessel.
Ash is the only pilot on board capable of navigating a safe path to the free world of Arcadia.
Her choices will have a ripple effect across the galaxy.
THE MOSQUITO COAST (7 episodes, streaming from April 30 exclusively on Apple TV+, Drama/Thriller/Romance)
A RADICAL idealist drags his family on a dangerous journey in a tense seven-part drama adapted from Paul Theroux’s best-selling novel The Mosquito Coast.
Brilliant inventor Allie Fox (Justin Theroux) lives in California with his wife Margot (Melissa George), daughter Dina (Logan Polish) and son Charlie (Gabriel Bateman).
Fearful of the intoxicating allure of consumerism and the state’s ability to snoop on citizens, Allie attempts to live off the grid with his loved ones until the past resurfaces and the family goes on the run from the US government.
Tracked by two tenacious agents (Kimberly Elise, James LeGros), Allie keeps his kin safe as they uproot to Mexico to evade criminal charges.
Alas, the Foxes unwittingly stumble into the jaws of a powerful Mexican drug cartel on the other side of the border and begin to question if their American dream was such a nightmare.
THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE – Season 3 (10 episodes, streaming from May 2 exclusively on Starzplay, Sci-Fi/Drama/Romance)
In 2016, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh unveiled the anthology series The Girlfriend Experience based on his 2006 film about a high-class escort, who provides the services of a doting girlfriend to wealthy customers.
The third series, written and directed by Anja Marquardt, launches this week on Starzplay and moves the action to London.
Against the backdrop of the capital’s thriving tech scene, neuroscience student Iris (Julia Goldani Telles) becomes embroiled in The Girlfriend Experience because she hopes it will give her an edge in the highly competitive corporate world.
As she amasses loyal clients, Iris questions her actions and tumbles down a rabbit hole in search of answers.
