Young Woman and the Sea (PG)
Directed by Joachim Ronning
★★★★

THIS film tells the little known but extraordinary true story of the trailblazing American Trudy Ederle who became the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926, revolutionising sport for all women. 

Like Mercedes Gleitze, the first British woman to successfully swim from France to England in 1927, she too was the daughter of German immigrants but born in New York. She also fought against the animosity of the sexist and oppressive patriarchy of the time to pursue competitive swimming with the support of her sister (Tilda Chobham-Hervey), also a swimmer. 
 
Ederle (Daisy Ridley) overcame measles, which left her hard of hearing, and her traditionalist butcher father’s (Kim Bodnia) reluctance to let her learn to swim to go onto break at least four world records before competing in the 1924 Paris Olympics.  
 
Directed by Joachim Ronning and written by Jeff Nathanson, the film is based on Glenn Stout’s book “Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel” and features a stellar cast led by Ridley, also an executive producer, and which includes Christopher Ecclestone and Stephen Graham as her coaches. 
 
Ridley, who trained for three months with a former Olympic swimmer, delivers a powerhouse performance as this remarkable young woman who faced poisoning and swimming through jellyfish to achieve her dream in this riveting and gorgeously shot drama. Full of humour and nail-biting tension, underscored by a poignant music score, you cannot help but root for Ederle and feel incensed by the outrageous misogynistic treatment she received. 
 
Unlike Vindication Swim (about Gleitze) this film does do justice to Ederle’s inspirational tale about the triumph of the human spirit and will finally give her the recognition that she deserves. 

Out in cinemas May 31

The Beast (15)
Directed by Bertrand Bonello
★★★

 
LEA SEYDOUX meanders through her past, present and future to relive and eradicate her previous romance with George MacKay in Bertrand Bonello’s grandiose period and dystopian sci-fi drama which could prove to be marmite. 
 
Is it a cinematic masterpiece, or just pretentious art and two and a half hours (almost) that you will never get back? 
 
Well... it is certainly intriguing and Seydoux and MacKay keep you invested with their captivating performances as their characters meet up in 1910, 2014 and 2044 (when artificial intelligence has solved humanity’s problems and is in control, and Seydoux’s character is having her DNA cleansed of all past traumas and the love of her life Louis, aka MacKay).
 
Loosely based on Henry James’s novella “The Beast in the Jungle” it is hard to know what Bonello is trying to say. Is AI bad (the theme du jour)? 
 
I found the period drama set in 1910 Paris the most interesting. The rest is a visual assault on the senses as Bonello throws everything at the screen. I cannot help thinking that David Lynch would have done it with more panache, and it might have made some sense. 
 
This requires stamina. 

Out in cinemas 31 May 

Hard Miles (12A)
Directed by RJ Daniel Hanna
★★★★

 
THIS gentle but inspirational coming-of-age sports drama is based on the true story of social worker and coach Greg Townsend who took a group of young convicts on a 762-mile bike ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon. 
 
Matthew Modine (Stranger Things) is phenomenal as the long-suffering Townsend, who believed he could inspire an unlikely bunch of incarcerated students at a medium-security correctional facility in Colorado, to work together and give them purpose by getting them to participate in this gruelling cycling trip. It is a race against time as the unit is being threatened with closure. 
 
Directed and co-written by RJ Daniel Hanna you feel every single mile alongside Townsend and his crew as it proves an uphill struggle. The young cast delivers a solid ride holding their own opposite Modine, while the cinematography is stunning with breathtaking vistas. 
 
Wonderfully uplifting, the film is a reminder of the importance of rehabilitation and giving youngsters in detention centres a sense of direction, achievement and the will to chase their dreams. 

Out in cinemas May 31.

Sting (15)
Directed by Kiah Roache-Turner
★★★

 
IF you hate spiders walk away from this movie! And I say that as an arachnophobe who took one for the team. And you are welcome.
 
That said this is a surprisingly entertaining yet frightening horror flick about Charlotte (Alyla Browne who played Young Furiosa), a rebellious 12-year -ld whose secret pet spider, Sting, turns into a giant flesh eating monster with scary skills. 
 
Written and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner the film, which is full of nods to Alien, also revolves around a family in crisis living in a rundown apartment building in New York. Charlotte has a troubled relationship with her stepfather (Ryan Corr) and feels sidelined by her new baby brother. 
 
Browne gives another impressive performance as a moody, smart-mouthed tween, while Germaine Fowler provides the light relief as Frank the exterminator who keeps being called in by Charlotte’s gran who doesn’t remember due to her dementia. 
 
Full of genuine jump scares and laughs, you are kept waiting for the sting in the tale. 

Out in cinemas May 31