Little Trouble Girls (15)
Directed by Urska Djukic
★★★

A SHY and introverted 16-year-old Slovenian schoolgirl is plagued by Catholic guilt as she experiences her sexual awakening in this haunting and impressive debut feature by writer-director Urska Djukic. 

The film follows Lucia (captivating newcomer Jara Sofija Ostan) as she joins her Catholic school’s all girls choir and befriends fellow student Ana-Maria (Mina Svajger) who lives life on her own terms. She wears red lipstick and is flirtatious and bold. She is everything the unassuming Lucia aspires to be. 

When the choir heads to a countryside convent for a weekend of intensive rehearsals their relationship takes a fascinating turn. Lucia has to deal with her confusing feelings for Ana-Maria along with those for one of the male construction workers at the convent. 

The film is full of religious imagery and opens with an illustration of Christ’s wound which resembles a vulva as it examines how sex is still taboo in some areas. 

Ostan’s soulful eyes draw you in as they speak volumes and show Lucia’s struggle with her faith as she explores her bisexuality. She also has to contend with her music teacher who bullies her during practice as he singles her out and humiliates her in front of the rest of the choir in a scene which is very uncomfortable to watch. Yet the singing is angelic and terribly moving. 

Djukic shows exciting promise and it will be interesting to see what she tackles next. 
MD
In cinemas August 29

Big Boys (12A)
Directed by Corey Sherman
★★★★

Corey Sherman’s Big Boys, a tender coming-of-age debut, follows 14-year-old Jamie (Isaac Krasner) on a camping trip where his unexpected crush on his cousin’s boyfriend Dan (David Johnson III) becomes the emotional core.

Set against the lush backdrop of California’s San Bernardino Mountains, the film delicately pairs natural beauty with Jamie’s awakening desires. Sherman captures the confusion and thrill of first love with sensitivity, especially in a standout forest scene where Jamie and Dan’s vulnerability quietly surfaces.

At its best, the film is dreamlike, with sequences of Jamie’s imagination pushing uncontained desire into sharp relief. Krasner delivers a quietly affecting performance, embodying teenage awkwardness and longing without sentimentality.

Yet, for all its sweetness, Big Boys occasionally leans too heavily on its gentle pacing, risking moments of inertia. Still, Sherman’s unassuming debut finds poetry in small gestures, crafting a brilliant queer coming-of-age story that feels both deeply specific and universally tender.
LB
In cinemas August 29

The Roses (15)
Directed by Jay Roach 
★★

THIS is a remake of the 1989 classic film “The War of the Roses,” based on Warren Adler’s novel, brought up to date although it is still a study of a marriage descending into bitterness and revenge. 

Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch play the loving couple. Theo is a highflying successful architect and Ivy is a chef when they move from Britain to the US with their two  children. Once there, his career takes a nosedive and he becomes a stay-at-home dad while her new restaurant turns into an overnight success. As the power dynamic shifts the resentment begins to set in. To counter that Theo designs and builds Ivy their perfect home financed by her business. 

Unlike the 1989 version which was brutal and savage this one is terribly English in the way Ivy and Theo exchange barbed, snidey and sarcastic comments. It is all very restrained and polite until the final act. 

Colman and Cumberbatch make a formidable and joyous team delivering five-star performances in, sadly, a two-star film. 
MD
In cinemas August 29 
 

Caught Stealing (15)
Directed by Darren Aronofsky 
★★★

SET in 1990s New York this darkly humorous psychological crime thriller is a stark departure for Darren Aronofsky who isn’t known for making fun or light-hearted films.   

This is based on  Charlie Huston’s novel which he has adapted for the big screen. Austin Butler (not sounding like Elvis for once) plays an ex-baseball player who is fighting for survival when he reluctantly looks after his neighbour Russ’s (a scener-stealing Matt Smith sporting a Mohawk) vicious cat.  He is soon pursued by dangerous gangsters wanting to find Russ.

This is a tense, ultra violent, nonstop action-packed drama which is Tarantinoesque in style but isn’t as smart or as ingenious. 

Interestingly when Butler gets beaten up the injuries are serious and long-lasting as in real life. Though a sex scene with Zoe Kravitz, who plays his girlfriend, seemed gratuitously long and was clearly shot from the male gaze. 

Full of twists, this was surprisingly fun. 
MD
In cinemas August 29