Nightbitch (15)
Directed by Marielle Heller
★★★★ 
 
 

WRITER-DIRECTOR Marielle Heller shows the realities of motherhood in this brutally honest dark comedy horror with a surreal twist which will ring true for many women with young children. 
 
Based on the acclaimed 2021 debut novel by Rachel Yoder, it follows a former artist who put her career on hold to become a stay-at-home mum only to find that she is slowly losing herself and her mind as she transforms into an unrecognisable being. 
 
Amy Adams, in another career-best and defining performance, fearlessly portrays a mother who is slowly drowning because she cannot cope with her toddler son on her own as her husband (Scoot McNairy) is always away with work. 
 
The film opens with a montage of her daily routine with her feral youngster, repeated day in day out, in which she ends up downing ever larger glasses of red wine to cope with the monotony and her lost sense of self and self-worth. Failure isn’t an option, so many women like her suffer in silence, and her husband is no help, just giving her patronising advice. 
 
Nightbitch is a modern feminist fable which explores the pressures society puts on women to be perfect mums. It is a case of learning on the job and, frankly, it takes a village.   
 
Heller delivers a funny and insightful horror film spearheaded by the powerhouse that is Adams. As she states “motherhood is f***ing brutal.”  Isn’t it just.

In cinemas December 6
 

Rumours (15)
Directed by Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson and Guy Maddin
★★★ 

G7 SUMMITS are the butt of the proverbial joke in this bizarre political satire co-written and directed by Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson and Guy Maddin. 
 
Featuring a stellar ensemble cast, headed by Cate Blanchett as the German Chancellor, the film follows the seven leaders of the world’s wealthiest liberal democracies as they meet up for their annual summit to draft a provisional statement regarding a global crisis which is never explained. 
 
And neither is it explained why Charles Dance has a British accent as the US president. When he is asked by another character about this anomaly he is immediately cut off as he tries to explain.
 
After a long boozy lunch the group find themselves abandoned and lost in the woods as it turns dark and foggy where they are threatened by bog people and a mysterious gigantic brain. They slowly crumble from formidable global leaders into scared children. 
 
Rumours pokes fun at these pompous and self-absorbed characters as it explores power and institutional failure in an apocalyptic setting. At times it feels like they are either in purgatory or their own hell. 
 
A total surreal riot, and something of an acquired taste. 

In cinemas December 6

Unstoppable (12A)
Directed by William Goldenberg
★★★ 
 
 

THIS is based on the inspiring true story of wrestler Anthony Robles who was born with one leg but who pursued his dream of being a wrestler regardless in this captivating sports drama which packs an emotional punch. 
 
This is also an impressive debut feature by writer-director William Goldenberg, produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, which stars Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight) as Robles and Jennifer Lopez as his supportive mother Judy. The pair deliver knock out performances in this solid sports biopic — although it isn’t Lopez’s first outing as a working-class Hispanic mum — and Bobby Cannavale is formidable as Robles’s violent stepfather. 
 
The real-life Anthony Robles acts as Jerome’s body double, particularly in the nail-biting wrestling scenes, and the editing is seamless. 
 
At its heart this is about a mother and son overcoming incredible obstacles and their unbreakable bond which helped them triumph and forge a better life for themselves. 
 
It is awe-inspiring and does justice to Roble’s incredible tale. 

In cinemas December 6
 

Porcelain War (15)
Directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev
★★★★ 
 
 

 
THE beauty of nature and art is juxtaposed against the horrors of the Ukrainian war in this haunting documentary in which three artists recount how they took up arms to fight for their country instead of leaving. 
 
Filmed over the course of a year in Kharkiv, nearly all the footage you see was shot by the subjects in the film. It starts with Slava Leontyev placing colourful porcelain figures in the undergrowth, before it cuts to the stark and harrowing images of the death and destruction wreaked by the Russian forces as they invaded Ukraine.   

“The stories we tell through art are also our resistance. This is how we avoid erasure” states Slava, who is a member of the Ukrainian Special Forces and trains other civilians and inexperienced soldiers in weapon use. 

A testament to the resilience of the Ukrainian people, the film is almost surreal in its propagandistic blend of creativity with militarism. While there is one image of dead civilians the documentary steers clear of showing graphic violence.

In cinemas December 6