Sirat (15)
Directed by Oliver Laxe
★★★★★

SPAIN’s official 2026 Oscar entry is a raw, psychedelic and hallucinatory journey of discovery, and a visual and aural assault delivering shock and awe. 

It opens with a 10-minute-long rave scene which could be straight out of Mad Max: Fury Road as you watch gigantic speakers being set out in the desert in Morocco. Then hundreds of hot sweaty bodies gyrating and dancing with total abandonment to the deafening and pounding sounds of the music being pumped out. It is hypnotic and entrancing as you are reeled in. Not a word is uttered throughout.

The film, co-written and directed by Oliver Laxe and produced by Pedro Almodovar and his brother Augustin, follows Luis (Sergi Lopez), accompanied by his young son (Bruno Nunez Arjona), who is looking for his missing daughter. As they hand out leaflets to revellers, they meet a group of ravers (played by non-actors) who suggest she might be at the next rave being held in the most southern part of the country. So father and son follow them down. 

This is a remarkable and mind-blowing film which nothing will prepare you for. It is set against political unrest which is never explained fully, but it doesn’t matter because Sirat is about the path these characters take and how they are forced to face their own limits. 

Just like the stunning but harsh and unforgiving Moroccan landscape, this is a brutal and tough ride. As they say, it isn’t the destination but the journey and this is one mind-bending and unforgettable trip. Cinema at its best. 
MD
In cinemas February 27

The Testament of Ann Lee (15)
Directed by Mona Fastvold
★★★☆

THIS surreal drama is based on the real-life story of the trailblazing Ann Lee, the first female preacher and the founding leader of the Shaker Movement, who took her followers from Manchester to America in 1774 to spread the word. 

Amanda Seyfried gives an electrifying powerhouse performance as Lee with a pitch-perfect Mancunian accent throughout. She is fearless and unbridled as the chest-beating, shaking and singing religious leader who was hailed as the female version of Christ. 

Co-writer/director Mona Fastvold’s (The Brutalist) sublime and fascinating film follows Lee from her impoverished childhood in Manchester to her religious awakening, and then her life in America. It is a hard watch at times as Lee is beaten, jailed and abused for her beliefs. Yet she continued her work regardless.

Haunting and strangely compelling, with trance inducing musical numbers based on Shaker hymns, this gives the groundbreaking Lee the historical recognition that she deserves. 
MD
In cinemas February 27

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (12A)
Directed by Baz Lurhmann
★★★★☆

DURING the making of Baz Lurhmann’s Elvis, starring Austin Butler, his researchers found 69 boxes of never-before-seen film footage of the King in vaults buried in underground salt mines in Kansas. 

It took two years to painstakingly restore the negatives and, along with interviews of Elvis, he sings and recounts his life story in his own words in Lurhmann’s visionary documentary. 

It gives you a first row seat at his 1970 Las Vegas residency shows. What’s compelling to see is Elvis in rehearsals, and then performing the songs on stage. He also sings iconic covers of works by The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel and The Righteous Brothers amongst others. 

What is also interesting is how he does not mention his wife Priscilla or their marriage though she appears on screen. 

This is a must see for Elvis Presley fans. 
MD
In cinemas February 27

All You Need Is Kill (15)
Directed by Ken’ichiro Akimoto and Yukinori Nakamura
★★★☆☆

THIS is a story about a warrior stuck in a Groundhog Day-style time loop battle against invading aliens, condemned to “die” each time, but inexplicably resurrected until, after innumerable attempts, and improving her martial skills and knowledge each time, she and a “looped” compadre beat death and the aliens.

(Note to self – Death And The Aliens! — much better).

After its inception, the subsequent history of All You Need Is Kill mirrors its plot, with constant reincarnation: the original graphic novel was superseded by a serialised Manga version; followed by a graphic novel resurrection by Americans; which prompted a Hollywood rendition, Edge Of Tomorrow, featuring Tom Cruise, re-titled Live, Die Repeat.

Now, the Japanese have claimed it back. All You Need Is Kill is cleverly animated with little or no recourse to CGI, but more My Neighbour Totoro than Porco Rosso.
MMcG
In cinemas February 27