Pick of the week
Unfrosted
Based on a true story in the same way that Froot Loops are based on fruit, Jerry Seinfeld’s feature directorial debut is another of that new movie genre, the product origin tale – but his take on the birth of Pop-Tarts favours comedy over accuracy. It’s 1963, and Kellogg’s head of development, Bob Cabana (Seinfeld), is vying with rival cereal firm Post – run by Amy Schumer’s Marjorie Post – to create a toastable breakfast snack. He’s aided by ex-Nasa food boffin Donna Stankowski (Melissa McCarthy) but obstacles abound, including that inveterate scene-stealer Hugh Grant as a thwarted thesp stuck playing Tony the Tiger. A film of constant one-liners and cherishable big-name cameos.
Out now, Netflix
***
Senna
The charismatic, risk-taking Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna may be an obvious subject for a documentary, but Asif Kapadia’s film is probably the definitive take on his life – and death. Contemporary and new interviews, and lots of in-car and behind-the-pit-lane footage, reveal a man pushing himself to the limit season after season. The rivalry with Alain Prost – a more political operator known as the Professor – is spicy and dramatic, while Senna’s role as an idol (or opiate) for Brazil’s impoverished masses gives him a wider relevance than just sport. Fascinating and tragic.
Sunday 5 May, 11.20pm, Channel 4
***
City Lights
The channel’s season of Charlie Chaplin films continues with this delightful 1931 work. Released after the advent of the talkies, it has the odd sound effect (gunshots, pianos, whistles) but largely sticks with Chaplin’s tried and trusted silent comedy shtick. This time, his ever-optimistic Tramp falls for a poor, blind flower-seller (Virginia Cherrill) but can’t reveal his own downtrodden life. The pathos overload of that is mitigated by inventive scenes of him in the company of Harry Myers’s drunk millionaire and a slapstick boxing match that is pure genius.
Saturday 4 May, 1pm, Sky Arts
***
Old
M Night Shyamalan’s 2021 thriller has the twists you expect from the Sixth Sense film-maker but there’s also a meditative undercurrent that lasts longer in the memory. Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps play a married couple on holiday with their two kids who are taken to a secret beach by the hotel staff. However, they soon realise that, mysteriously, they can’t leave – and that they and the other guests are ageing rapidly. This is body horror, but it’s the existential fear of getting old – from growing up to losing your faculties – that gives the story its emotional kick.
Saturday 4 May, 9pm, Channel 4
***
Highlander
“There can be only one,” vowed its main character. That Russell Mulcahy’s 1986 fantasy adventure was followed by five films and three TV series rather belies that claim – but stick with the original and you’ll be fine. So, a Frenchman (Christopher Lambert) playing a Scotsman is told by a Scotsman (Sean Connery) playing a Spaniard that he is an Immortal, a race of people destined to fight each other through time. It’s all good fun and never takes itself too seriously, with spirited sword fights, bombastic Queen songs and picturesque Scottish locations.
Saturday 4 May, 11.50pm, BBC One
***
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Lynne Ramsay has made only four films in a career that started with Ratcatcher in 1999, but every one is a treasure. This take on Lionel Shriver’s novel flips back and forth in time, like a repeated nightmare, to tell the story of Eva (Tilda Swinton) and her psychotic/evil son Kevin (played as a teenager by Ezra Miller). There’s a tragedy involving him that we fit together piecemeal from ominous incidents and Swinton’s emotionally drained performance in an arresting, intense drama.
Saturday 4 May, midnight, BBC Two
***
Water & Garri
There is a touch of Shakesperian tragedy to Nigerian-British director Meji Alabi’s debut film. Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage plays Aisha, a US-based fashion designer who returns home to her African coastal city 10 years after her brother’s murder, and is drawn back to her first love, Kay (Andrew Yaw Bunting). He’s now a powerful neighbourhood gangster, so she faces a dilemma about reviving their romance, while he has a dark secret he must hide from her. Alabi, a longtime music video director, brings suppleness and vibrancy to his heavy subject matter.
Friday 10 May, Prime Video
