Pick of the week
Hit Man
Ostensibly based on a true story, Richard Linklater’s immensely enjoyable comedy thriller has much more to it than the pretty bizarre facts of the case. Glen Powell – in a star-making turn – plays mild-mannered college teacher Gary, who moonlights doing tech work for the police on sting operations. One day, the undercover cop is unavailable, so Gary steps in to pose as a hit man for hire – and discovers a talent for playing the bad guy. But when he falls for Maddy (Andor’s Adria Arjona), who wants her violent husband bumped off, his mask slips. Powell and Arjona bring a frisson reminiscent of Clooney and Lopez in Out of Sight, their electricity the icing on the cake of a twisty crime caper.
Friday 7 June, Netflix
***
Bones and All
Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino reunites with that film’s breakout star, Timothée Chalamet, for this gripping gothic horror cum Badlands-style road movie romance. Taylor Russell plays a girl struggling with her inate cannibalistic impulses, who sets off to find her long-lost mother and get answers. Chalamet is an itinerant “eater” she falls for, while a chilling Mark Rylance steals the film as a creepy fellow traveller obsessed by her. As they pass through and/or destroy people’s lives, the desire for belonging and stability chafes against their outcast nature.
Sunday 2 June, 10pm, BBC Two
***
Bonus Track
Julia Jackman’s 2006-set teenage romantic comedy has the playful conceit of bedding its scenes in a fictional mixtape playlist from the era. So, Hot Chip’s Boy from School introduces introverted George (Joe Anders), a failing 16-year-old pupil whose sole dream in life is to perform a tune at the end-of-year talent show. Take Me Out and Dry Your Eyes soundtrack his unexpected, tentative relationship with Samuel Small’s new boy Max, the son of a pop star couple. It’s light on jeopardy or lust, but its ordinariness keeps it relatable.
Saturday 1 June, 6.35am, 12.10pm, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
***
Aquarela
He has subsequently made studies of a pig and concrete, but Victor Kossakovsky’s 2018 documentary has a more diffuse subject: water. From ice to ocean, waterfall to hurricane, this near-wordless film is an awestruck paean to the majesty and menace of our blue planet. When humans do appear, they are in peril or overwhelmed – in cars trapped in the ice or on a yacht battling stormy seas; a warning about our relationship with the natural world. But it’s also stunningly beautiful, with waves that look like molten tar and near-abstract blizzards of spray.
Tuesday 4 June, 11.35pm, BBC Four
***
The Blue Caftan
Just like Phantom Thread, Maryam Touzani’s delicate, touching drama uses the craft of dress-making as a metaphor for the intertwined threads of love and desire. Taciturn Moroccan caftan-maker Halim (Saleh Bakri) and his more outgoing wife Mina (an exceptional Lubna Azabal) have a low-key but content life, though he has occasional sex with men in the local hammam. However, this unaddressed state of affairs faces disruption from Ayoub Missioui’s devoted new apprentice and Mina’s declining health.
Tuesday 4 June, 1am, Film4
***
The Watermelon Woman
Cheryl Dunye’s groundbreaking 1996 work, the first feature by a Black lesbian director, is a whole lot more playful – and sexier – than its canonical status would suggest. It’s a mock documentary/drama about Philadelphia video-shop worker and aspiring film-maker Cheryl (played by Dunye), who decides to research the life of a lost Black film actor from the 30s known only for demeaning “mammy” roles. With vox pops, comic digressions, real-life chats with the likes of Camille Paglia and a romantic subplot featuring Guinevere Turner, it’s a freewheeling experience but makes its political points forcefully.
Tuesday 4 June, 2.50am, Channel 4
***
Let the Canary Sing
Before she plays Glastonbury this year, here’s the life story of pop belter Cyndi Lauper. Although she was only at her chart peak for half a decade in the 1980s, songs such as Girls Just Want to Have Fun and True Colors have become part of common musical currency. Alison Ellwood’s documentary highlights her LGBTQ+ activism and Tony award for the musical of Kinky Boots to stake a claim for Lauper as a cultural and feminist figure of note. She’s certainly a terrific interviewee, relating her rise to fame from Brooklyn to Broadway with candour and wit.
Wednesday 5 June, Paramount+
