The Ceremony (15)
Directed by Jack King
★★★★

JACK KING’s debut feature opens with an impressive piece of compressed storytelling. The screen is black. We hear a clicking car indicator, a gently revving engine and shouted instructions. Cut to a shadowy figure, viewed through a windscreen and blurred by water and suds. Suddenly, we’re confronted with the chaos, ethnic prejudice and grinding toil of a Bradford car wash, where survival means staying on the right side of Zully, its despotic owner.

Shot in glorious black and white, the film fuses social realism and visual poetry. The impact of King’s laconic script is augmented by cinematographer Robbie Bryant’s artful framing of the human face and austere hills of the Yorkshire Dales.

Following a worker’s suicide, Zully’s assistant-cum-enforcer, a young Romanian called Cristi, decides reporting the death might provoke scrutiny of their migrant workforce. Cristi orders Yusef, an older Kurdish worker, to help him bury the body in the Dales. A partnership is forged by necessity but jeopardised by prejudice and a clash of values: Yusef wants to bury the body with Muslim rites, while Cristi insists on disposing of it as quickly as possible. The central performances by Tudor Cucu-Dumitrescu and Erdal Yildiz are quietly compelling.

In its final 30 minutes, the story lurches from Ken Loach territory into a North Yorkshire dreamtime. The visionary elements — which include a magical ram — break the mood established in the first hour but introduce a fascinating hint of ambiguity to this perceptive exploration of displacement, exploitation and the psychological impact of place.      
AH
In cinemas August 22.

Eddington (15)
Directed by Ari Aster
★★★

WRITER/DIRECTOR Ari Aster takes us on a journey down memory lane to the horrors of the pandemic in this bizarre, modern-style Western drama centred on a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal). 

Set in May 2020 in the fictional town of Eddington in New Mexico, Joe Cross (Phoenix)  refuses to wear a mask in public believing it is against his civil liberties, while Ted Garcia (Pascal) insists that he and everyone in the community have to mask up by law to prevent Covid-19 spreading and to save lives. 

Their showdown sparks a fuse which sees neighbour pitted against neighbour. 

The film explores the conspiracy theories being spread on social media at the time, voiced by Cross’s mother-in-law (Deirdre O’Connell), while his wife (Emma Stone) is slowly shutting down mentally. 

It also examines the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the protests it sparked, and where the US was at that time and where it is today. 

There is a lot to unpack here and it may prove very polarising for some and very triggering for others. 
MD
In cinemas August 22.

The Life of Chuck (15)
Directed by Mike Flanagan
★★★★

HAUNTING, magical and featuring a head-turning dance number by Tom Hiddleston, this thought-provoking drama by writer-director Mike Flanagan takes a profound yet uplifting look at love, life and death and the multitudes contained in us. 

It is based on one of Stephen King’s most optimistic works, and is divided into three acts told in reverse order as it follows the life of an ordinary man named Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Hiddleston). 

It is very surreal, and the non-linear structure is difficult to get your heard around at first as the film opens with end of days, no internet and the world is being destroyed by earthquakes and other natural disasters. It is seen through the eyes of schooteacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his ex-wife, a nurse (Karen Gillan) who keeps spotting adverts for the mysterious Chuck, thanking him for his 39 great years. 

It isn’t until the end that it all makes perfect sense as this beautiful film makes you think about your own existence, telling you to grab life by the balls and live it to the max. 
MD
In cinemas now.

The Thursday Murder Club (12A)
Directed by Chris Columbus
★★★★

FOUR unrelenting retirees, who spend their time solving cold cases, find themselves at the centre of a real-life whodunnit while fighting to keep their homes in this delightfully entertaining murder mystery. Think Agatha Christie meets Only Murders In The Building with an equally stellar cast. 

Based on TV presenter Richard Osman’s best-selling debut novel, it follows a former head of MI6 (Helen Mirren channelling DCI Jane Tennison and the late Queen), a prominent union leader (Pierce Brosnan), a psychiatrist (Ben Kingsley), and an ex-nurse (Celia Imrie) as they investigate the killing of one of the co-owners of their retirement village. 

They befriend PC Donna de Freitas (Naomi Ackie) to help them, while Brosnan’s Red Ron rallies the elderly residents together to stage protests to stop the avaricious and ruthless second co-owner (David Tennant) from selling the place and the land to developers to build luxury flats. 

Stylishly shot and beautifully acted, it is neither twee nor patronising to the elderly as the main characters are savvy and whip smart, and living life to the full. 
MD
In select cinemas August 22 and on Netflix from August 28.