Pick of the week
Killers of the Flower Moon
Like The Irishman before it, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon comes with a daunting runtime. Now on home release, audiences are free to watch it however they want; either in one big 206-minute sitting or broken into chunks like a miniseries. What’s important, though, is that you do watch it. The subject matter – exploring the real-life murders in the Osage community following the discovery of oil on tribal land – is complex and vital. Lily Gladstone delivers arguably the performance of the year. The soundtrack (Robbie Robertson’s last) is haunting and evocative. And, without spoiling it, the climax is as audacious as anything Scorsese has ever attempted.
Out now, Apple TV+
***
Role Play
The Flight Attendant worked as a near-perfect career reintroduction for Kaley Cuoco, thrusting a generic sitcom star into a challenging Hitchcockian thriller. Role Play, then, is Cuoco’s bid to keep that momentum going. An action comedy with David Oyelowo, this is the story of a stagnant married couple who decide to spice things up, only for the husband to discover he has been married to an international assassin all along. It comes with shades of Mr & Mrs Smith (conveniently about to be remade by Amazon), plus Bill Nighy using his debonair charm for evil.
Out now, Prime Video
***
Decision to Leave
Park Chan-wook is almost single-handedly responsible for revitalising South Korean cinema, first with blockbuster Joint Security Area, and then with all-time classic Oldboy. But this might just be his greatest offering yet. A thrilling noir romance about an insomniac cop and a potential murder suspect, the film is supercharged by dazzling central performances by Tang Wei and Park Hae-il and an ending that will devastate you for months. Later this year, Park will direct Robert Downey Jr in HBO’s The Sympathiser. This is exactly the thing to whet your appetite.
Saturday 13 January, 9pm, BBC Four
***
Hope and Glory
John Boorman’s tale of growing up in London in the second world war raked in award recognition on its release in 1987 (five Oscar nominations, 13 Bafta nominations and a Golden Globe), largely thanks to its ability to juggle two seemingly contrasting tones. One is an unflinching look at the horrors of war. The other is a warm, comic take on the blitz seen through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy, who views the bombs as fireworks and cheers Hitler for bombing a school. Many have tried to strike this same balance, but none have hit the nail as squarely as Boorman does.
Saturday 13 January, 10.30pm, BBC Two
***
In the Earth
In the autumn of 2020, just as the world was starting to fear the return of Covid, the ever-gnomic Ben Wheatley announced that he had just returned from shooting an entire film on the outskirts of Bristol in a fortnight. In the Earth was the result, and it is terrifyingly baffling. Tonally splitting the difference between Kill List and A Field in England, it plunges Joel Fry and Ellora Torchia into a psychedelic folk-horror meltdown, full of spirits and sorcery and amputations and mushrooms.
Saturday 13 January, 11.20pm, Film4
***
The Creator
For a while it looked as if we had lost Gareth Edwards to the franchises. But after a decade making films about Star Wars and Godzilla, Edwards returned to original IP last year with this ambitious AI sci-fi thriller. Set during a war between humanity and artificial intelligence that resulted in Los Angeles being nuked, it stars John David Washington as an ex-special forces operative who must track down a mysterious figure and restore peace. Hobbled slightly on release by last year’s strikes, you suspect that this is where a film as boldly ambitious as The Creator will find its most rabid audience.
Wednesday 17 January, Disney+
***
The Kitchen
Few actors have experienced the sort of meteoric rise that Daniel Kaluuya has had over the past few years, from showy bit-part player to Oscar winner to icon. Now that he’s at the top, it’s time for him to branch off into directing. The Kitchen, co-directed with Kibwe Tavares, is a futuristic sci-fi about a funeral service worker attempting to leave a London favela. The Kitchen is strikingly designed – part Blade Runner, part District 9 – and it brims with rage. If this is Kaluuya’s first attempt at directing, you can only wonder at the heights he’ll hit in years to come.
Friday 19 January, Netflix
