Perfect Days (15)
Directed by Wim Wenders
★★★★

 
WIM WENDERS returns to fiction for this surprisingly gorgeous and moving study of a Japanese man who cleans toilets and takes great pride in his work. 
 
In a deeply touching performance Koji Yakusho stars as Hirayama, a middle-aged man of few words. In fact, he doesn’t speak until 14 minutes into the film. During that time you watch his daily ritual of getting up, brushing his teeth, shaving, getting a can of coffee from the vending machine outside his house, and then driving into work while listening to his cassette tapes of rock music and iconic 1960s songs such as House of the Rising Sun by The Animals. 
 
It is totally hypnotic and compelling and, when his annoying young colleague who won’t stop talking rocks up late for work you feel Hirayama’s pain. 
 
Written and directed by Wenders, this amusing yet poignant drama is a celebration of the hidden joys and minutiae of Japanese culture as it follows Hirayama leading his modest life, day in, day out. He is completely content as he indulges in his passion for literature, music and taking pictures of the same tree branches on his old Olympus camera. 
 
Characters come and disrupt his routine and they slowly reveal his hidden past, which draws you in even more and makes you invested in this sweet man.
 
Featuring a phenomenal, haunting soundtrack, you will have a greater appreciation of menial workers and toilet cleaners by the end. 

Out in cinemas February 23

Memory (15)
Directed by Michel Franco
★★★★

 
TWO broken middle-aged people find love and solace in writer-director Michel Franco’s taut and heartbreakingly moving drama. 
 
The film opens with social worker Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) celebrating 13 years sober at her AA meeting in front of her teenage daughter (Brooke Timber). Her life is suddenly upended though when she is followed home from a school reunion by the unsettling Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) who she mistakes for someone who made her life hell at school. She learns from his brother (Josh Charles) that he has early onset dementia. 
 
Chastain and Sarsgaard are electrifying together as they brilliantly bring these two troubled souls to life. They become friends and then lovers as the film takes a shocking turn, revealing why Sylvia is the paranoid, alcoholic and overprotective mother that she is. 
 
It is refreshing to see people that society tends to ignore taking centre stage on the big screen and given a hopeful ending. 

Out in cinemas February 23

A Wolfpack Called Ernesto (15)
Directed by Everardo Gonzalez
★★★

 
FACELESS young Mexicans speak frankly and candidly about how they were groomed by gangs as kids to sell guns in Everardo Gonzalez’s shocking new documentary. 
 
The film shines a light on a rarely seen underworld that people turn a blind eye to and know very little about. 
 
Shot from behind the interviewees, both victims and killers are collectively referred to as “Ernesto” by Gonzalez, and some wield handguns for the camera. It is sobering to learn that one person is killed by a firearm every 41 minutes, and the film also explores how gun violence affects Mexican children. 
 
The revelations are staggering. 
 
It isn’t the most cinematic documentary as all you see are the backs of people’s heads but getting them to go on camera is impressive and provides a remarkable insight. 

Out in cinemas February 23

Wicked Little Letters (15)
Directed by Thea Sharrock
★★★ 

 
BASED on a scandalous true story that stunned 1920s England, this comedy crime caper featuring a stellar cast is a non-stop case of women swearing badly.
 
Set in the seaside town of Littlehampton it centres on the pious spinster Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) who receives scores of anonymous poison pen letters full of foul language. She accuses her rowdy and fiery Irish migrant neighbour Rose (Jesse Buckley) of being behind them. But as Rose points out: “Why would I send a letter when I can just say it?”
 
Suspecting Rose is being framed, police officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) begins to investigate of her own accord. 
 
What makes the film worth watching is the dynamic sparring duo of Colman and Buckley, in a film that explores sexism but ignores racism. 
 
The cast seemed to be having a blast in a weirdly toned comedy which seems more made for TV than the big screen.

Out in cinemas February 23