Pick of the week
She Said
The downfall of film producer and rapist Harvey Weinstein, which kickstarted the #MeToo movement, was in large part due to the work of New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. Maria Schrader’s gripping procedural tells the story of their investigation into the sexual predator, and their efforts to persuade his many victims to speak out. We’re thrown into the thrill of the newsroom as Kantor and Twohey (played empathically by Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan) attempt to evade the numerous NDAs and bring the often gut-wrenching facts to light. And a special mention must go to Ashley Judd, one of those affected in real life, for playing herself.
Saturday 19 August, 5.50pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
***
Mulan
Disney’s exploitation of its back catalogue continues with this majestic-looking 2020 live-action version of the 1998 animation. Liu Yifei plays the Chinese folk heroine, an athletic youngster (she has powerful qi, apparently) who poses as a boy to join the emperor’s all-male army and battle northern invader Böri Khan (Jason Scott Lee) and his witch sidekick Xianniang (a wicked Gong Li). Amid invigorating martial arts scenes – including one on precarious bamboo scaffolding – there are sturdy moral lessons, as Mulan shows that anything men can do, she can do better.
Saturday 19 August, 6.40pm, BBC One
***
Walk the Line
Most music biopics struggle to get away from the rise-fall-redemption template. James Mangold’s 2005 movie about country star Johnny Cash doesn’t exactly break the mould, but rolls along entertainingly through the feisty central pairing of Joaquin Phoenix as the Man in Black and the Oscar-winning Reese Witherspoon as his true love June Carter. They also do their own singing on the peerless likes of Ring of Fire, Folsom Prison Blues and Jackson, while Cash’s unhappy childhood, drug addiction and divorce provide meaty dramatic obstacles to be overcome.
Saturday 19 August, 11pm, BBC Two
***
Gagarine
The Cité Gagarine may be one of Paris’s banlieues – often depicted as sinkholes for the country’s social ills – but in Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh’s fine drama it is a hub of community and hope. Named after the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who visited in 1963 soon after it was built, the rundown estate is soon to be demolished. However, astronomy-obsessed teenager Youri (Alséni Bathily) is determined to save it. A touch of magical realism brings beauty to an otherwise downbeat set-up.
Monday 21 August, 2.20am, Channel 4
***
The Moment: How Sports Changed the World
The 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa was a watershed moment in the country’s history, four years after the end of apartheid and one year after the first election in which Black people were able to vote. As this new documentary makes clear, it was the symbol of unity Nelson Mandela was looking for as president of a tentatively multiracial nation. The sport itself is a bit of a footnote in this potted history, though Springboks past and present offer their memories – mostly, it’s a reminder of just what a phenomenal human being Mandela was.
Friday 25 August, Amazon Freevee
***
M3gan
There are seeds of Chucky in this adroit cautionary horror, which takes the demonic doll template and gives it an AI twist. Allison Williams plays toy firm engineer Gemma, who has created M3gan, a fully autonomous robot in the shape of a girl. She has also taken in her newly orphaned niece Cady (Violet McGraw). The robot is programmed to bond with Cady and proves a support as the child grieves – until, that is, the increasingly clever machine gets overly protective of her new pal. Turn on those parental controls now, folks …
Friday 25 August, 9.55am, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
