Backlash: The Murder of George Floyd (15)
Directed by Kwabena Oppong
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IT is almost five years since the murder of Geoge Floyd by a white police officer which sparked a major wave of protests across the world and inspired the global movement “Black Lives Matter”.

As the fifth anniversary approaches comes a powerful and detailed documentary by Kwabena Oppong which examines George Floyd’s death and the impact the video showing exactly how he died had, including his last words “I can’t breathe.” 

The film opens with the footage which is heart-stopping and difficult to watch. It  includes groundbreaking interviews with some of the key players involved including members of George Floyd’s family and Chief Medaria Arradondo, the Minneapolis Police Chief who sacked the officers who arrested Floyd and then testified against one of them in court. Boris Johnson’s closest adviser on race Samuel Kasumu is also featured alongside musician Che Lingo, Nathalie Emmanuel and  broadcasters Andi and Miquita Oliver, to name a few. 

It shows how Floyd’s murder was a moment of reckoning in Britain too as the police were accused of being institutionally racist, which they denied at the time. It highlights the cases of Julian Cole, left paralysed and brain damaged after being arrested outside a Bedford nightclub and footballer Dalian Atkinson who died after being tasered and kicked in the head by a police officer.  

Actor John Boyega’s impassioned and moving address at a Black Lives Matter rally in Hyde Park following Floyd’s murder captured the mood and feeling of outrage at that time. 

The film also analyses the backlash to the Black Lives Matter movement with far right wing groups adopting “All Lives Matter” and asks what has changed five years on. 

It is an insightful and thought-provoking documentary and a much-needed reminder that Black Lives Matter. 

MD

In cinemas Friday

The Uninvited (15)
Directed by Nadia Conners
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AN elderly woman crashes a Hollywood party sparking a comedy of errors in this humorous drama which critiques Tinsel Town’s obsession with youth and beauty.  

Written and directed by Nadia Conners it centres on former actress Rose (Elizabeth Reaser), a stay-at-home mum who is preparing her house to host a party for her husband’s (Walter Coggins, Conners’s real-life husband) job. As she is getting ready an elderly stranger named Helen (a mesmerising Lois Smith) arrives claiming she has returned home. 

At times feeling like you are watching a play, this proves a masterclass in acting as the stellar cast which also includes Pedro Pascal and Rufus Sewell all bring their A game. 

Conners delivers an impressive debut feature which explores motherhood, the passing of time and the cancellation of women of a certain age. It is as entertaining as it is on point. 

MD

In cinemas Friday

The Surfer (15)
Directed by Lorcan Finnegan
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NICHOLAS CAGE is on earnest and manic form as he confronts toxic masculinity in this surreal and intense psychological thriller set in Western Australia. 

Directed by Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium) and written by Thomas Martin, the film, which was shot on a remote beach and car park in Yallingup, follows a surfer (Cage) who returns to his childhood hometown aiming to reconnect with his son (Finn Little) by taking him out on the waves. Unfortunately he is faced by belligerent locals who hate outsiders and tell him: “Don’t live here, don’t surf.” The fact he grew up there makes no difference. 

It is a psychologically unsettling drama which feels like a strange fevered dream as you watch Cage’s character slowly unravel and suffer a mental breakdown as he is forced to eat a dead rat and drink from a putrid puddle. The scorching sun adds to the mounting tension as Cage delivers another memorable performance, although it ends on a head-scratching note. 

MD

In cinemas Friday

Motel Destino (PG)
Directed by Karim Ainouz
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A DESTITUTE Heraldo’s buyout of a gang in a costal town in north-eastern Brazil is to kill, with his brother, a gang’s debtor. But swindled by his one-night stand at a local love motel he’s late for the job and finds his brother shot dead.

On the run from the gang he asks for asylum at the said Motel Destino and a sexual triangle ensues between the owner Elias (Fabio Assuncao), his partner Dayana (Nataly Rocha) and Heraldo (Iago Xavier). Commendable performances by all three despite the vacuous, overextended narrative.

The flamboyant visual excess feels ornamental, while the social backgrounds of the protagonists remain unexplored apart for a brief soul-baring by Heraldo to Dayana.

It all culminates when a hallucinating Elias attempts to kill a naked Heraldo and Dayana. They leg it to later find him killed by a white horse thrown through the windscreen as he runs it over.

Dayana now wears a Mona Lisa smile. Her destiny finally hers - free from Elias she takes over the motel. Yawn.

MB

In cinemas Friday