Sunny Dancer (15)
Directed by George Jaques
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

THE words uplifting and joyous are not synonymous with cancer, and yet writer-director George Jaques’ coming-of-age comedy drama about youngsters surviving cancer is both, as well as surprisingly hilarious and sweet. 

Shot in Scotland, it follows 17-year-old Ivy (Bella Ramsey), in remission for 10 months, whose parents (James Norton and Jessica Gunning), to her horror, sign her up to what she calls “chemo camp” for the summer. There she makes friends with a group of misfits, returning regulars, who change her life. Meanwhile its director and founder, played brilliantly by Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), is annoyingly chipper and uber positive, to her dismay. 

Jaques provides a refreshing and unique look at cancer. There are no hospital scenes or bald children undergoing treatment. Just teenagers who have beaten it dealing with normal teenage issues and insecurities such as angst, falling in love, and having sex for the first time as they embrace life to the full. It is razor sharp and funny, but heartbreaking too. 

Ivy is exceedingly angry and carries a great deal of shame and guilt at having survived, and as she says, “We are part of this club that no-one wants to be in.” 

But she slowly allows people in, starting with Jake (an impressive Daniel Quinn Toye, Sterling Point) who she falls for in tender scenes, and her exuberant roommate Ella (Ruby Stokes, Bridgerton). 

Ramsey (Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) is extraordinary and totally captivating, and she leads an outstanding young cast of up-and-coming British actors. The moments when they all let rip are real joy. 

It’s the cancer film you never knew you needed.   
MD
In cinemas August 14.

Tony (15)
Directed by Matt Johnson
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

DESCRIBED as the original “rock star of the culinary world” this coming-of-age biopic gives you a taste of how Anthony Bourdain fell in love with cooking and became a chef.

Set in the summer of 1975 it follows a 19-year-old Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) as he heads to Provincetown in Cape Cod in pursuit of his high-school crush Nancy (Emilia Jones) whom he later married. A would-be writer, he lies about obtaining a prestigious writing fellowship and ends up as a dishwasher at a local restaurant run by Antonio Banderas who befriends and mentors him. 

The film is based in part on Bourdain’s bestselling 2000 memoir Kitchen Confidential and shows the volatile working conditions he was exposed to. Sessa is sublime as the narcissistic yet flawed Bourdain who gets his ass kicked constantly, while Banderas delivers a standout performance as Chef, who is an amalgamation of several chefs who mentored Bourdain. But it is Leo Woodall who is the greatest revelation, stealing every scene he is in as Bourdain’s violent co-worker. 

Funny and gripping, it shows how Bourdain joined the CIA (the Culinary Institute of America) and the rest is history. Though it fails to state how he died. 
MD
In cinemas August 14.

Songs of Forgotten Trees (15)
Directed by Anuparna Roy
⭑⭑⭑☆☆

THIS tale of female flatmates struggling to thrive in their adoptive city of Mumbai earned Anuparna Roy an award for best upcoming director at the Venice film festival.

It’s easy to guess what the jury admired: sympathetic characters; convincing and affecting performances; and a carefully crafted sense of young women under siege — economically, emotionally and sexually.

Aspiring actor and part-time sex worker Thooya (Naaz Shaikh) sublets a room to Shweta (Sumi Baghel), a quiet and cautious telesales worker.

Pretence and identity are key themes. Thooya acts in showreels, drama classes and excruciating encounters with needy and demanding men. Shweta performs as “Lisa” in her sales calls. The employment of both women is subject to the whims of men with an overwhelming sense of entitlement.

A powerful bond develops between Thooya and Shweta. Fuelled by moments of tenderness and concern, it’s the only non-transactional relationship in the film. 

Roy excels at portraying the loneliness and precarity of urban life, but there are problems. There is a lack of character development; over-reliance on a clunky, quasi-therapeutic roleplay to drive the narrative; and limited contextualisation of the iniquities and power imbalances at the heart of the story,

A promising but flawed debut feature. 
AH
In cinemas August 14.
 

The End of Oak Street (12A)
Directed by David Robert Mitchell
⭑⭑⭑☆☆

THE less you know about this survival thriller before you see it the better, although it feels like the film Steven Spielberg never made, his influence is so palpable. 

Set in the 1980s when kids rode bikes and played outside, people visited the library for information and your house was a safe space from school bullies, this is a very nostalgic looking sci-fi from writer director David Robert Mitchell (It Follows). It centres on the Platt family who wake up one day in their mundane suburb to find dinosaurs roaming the streets. 

Anne Hathaway (fresh from The Odyssey) gives 100 per cent as a mother fiercely trying to save her two children from the unthinkable as her marriage to Ewan McGregor is slowly imploding. 

While totally ridiculous, this is a fun and bonkers ride. 
MD
In cinemas August 14.