INGRID GOES WEST (Cert 15, 115 mins, Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd, Comedy/Thriller/Romance, available from March 19 on Amazon Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, available from March 26 on DVD £12.99)
In the aftermath of her mother's death, 20-something loner Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) confronts her warped perception of reality in a mental facility.
For years, Ingrid's best friend has been her mobile phone and during her supposed rehabilitation, she develops an obsession with Californian socialite and It girl Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), who documents every facet of her picture-perfect life on Instagram.
Cashing in a $60,000 inheritance, Ingrid moves to Los Angeles to be closer to Sloane and stalks her unsuspecting prey. When an opportunity arises to gatecrash her idol's bohemian chic existence, Ingrid spins a web of lies to impress her.
Ingrid Goes West is a delicious cautionary tale about tech-savvy generations, whose fragile sense of self-worth is determined by connections on social media.
Plaza is blisteringly funny, eliciting sympathy and discomfort in equal measure. Squirm-inducing social awkwardness takes a selfie with jet-black humour in Spicer's script, co-written by David Branson Smith, which straps us in for a rollercoaster ride through Ingrid's twisted psyche.
RATING: ****
BATTLE OF THE SEXES (Cert 12, 120 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Drama/Romance, available from March 19 on Amazon Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, available from March 26 on DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)
Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and her ballsy manager Gladys Heldman (Sarah Silverman) are enraged when Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman), one of the founders of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), announces the prize money for a forthcoming tournament is heavily weighted in favour of male players.
In retaliation, King spearheads the creation of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) with rival Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee). The women-only tour gains popularity and during one layover, Billie Jean meets hairdresser Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough).
The spark of attraction is palpable, even though Billie Jean has an adoring husband. As Billie Jean agonises with her forbidden desires, former champion Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell), issues a challenge to any female player to face him on the court.
Battle Of The Sexes serves-and-volleys a handsome dramatisation of the televised 1973 match, which was billed as a showdown of youth versus experience. Oscar winner Stone turns in a rich, textured and affecting performance – the leads game, set and perfectly matched.
Rating: ****
REQUIEM (Cert 15, 360 mins, Acorn Media, available now on Amazon Video/BBC iPlayer/iTunes and other download and streaming services, available from March 19 on DVD £24.99, Thriller/Drama)
A young woman confronts ghosts of the past she never knew existed in a serpentine psychological thriller from the makers of The Killing.
Gifted cellist Matilda Gray (Lydia Wilson) is poised to embark on a tour of New York with her best friend and accompanist Hal (Joel Fry) when her mother Janice (Joanna Scanlan) inexplicably kills herself.
In the midst of her grief, Matilda discovers a box belonging to her mum, which contains materials relating to the disappearance of a young girl in 1994. Fearful that her mother might be connected to the old case, Matilda travels to the small Welsh village of Penllynith to uncover the truth.
Past and present collide as Matilda exposes long buried secrets that undermine her entire family history.
