Anora (18)
Directed by Sean Baker
★★★★

 
A WORTHY winner of this year’s Palme d’Or prize at Cannes, Sean Baker’s enthralling drama is a grittier take on Pretty Woman with a Russian twist.

Set in 2018, it follows Anora (an excellent Mikey Madison) a 23-year-old sex worker from Brooklyn who gets swept off her feet by the young, spoilt and free-spending son Ivan (Mark Eidelshtein) of a Russian oligarch.

He hires her to be his exclusive companion for the week for $15,000 and whisks her off to Las Vegas, where they impulsively get married. When his parents find out they immediately head from Russia to New York to get the marriage annulled, having sent their right-hand man and fixer Toros (Karren Karagulian) to sort things out first.

It is audacious, thrilling and laugh-out-loud funny, driven by a mesmerising and dazzling performance by Madison (Scream). The scene where Ani single-handedly takes on Toros’s two goons is hilarious though tense.

Writer-director Baker (The Florida Project, Red Rocket) makes no judgement as he turns his lens on sex workers. The film transforms from a fairytale romance into a non-stop action adventure and ends on a moving and tender note.

This is a must-see film.

In cinemas from Friday.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (12A)
Directed by Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui
★★★★★
 

“EVERYBODY’S looking for a hero. I’m not a hero,” says Christopher Reeve, the man who became synonymous with Superman but who, as this film shows, became a real-life hero to hundreds of thousands of people with quadriplegia who he fought for.

Co-written and co-directed by Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui, this powerful and inspirational documentary chronicles the life and legacy of Reeve 20 years after his death. It examines his rise from unknown actor to global film star and his near fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 which left him paralysed from the neck down.

“You’re still you and I love you,” the words from his remarkable wife Dana that saved his life and spurred him to carry on and become a staunch activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries as well as fighting for disability rights and care.

The film features never-before-seen intimate home movies and personal archive material, along with interviews with Reeve’s three children and A-list Hollywood actors who were his friends and colleagues. They all provide a fascinating insight into this complex man.

The biggest revelation is the close friendship he enjoyed with Robin Williams, who supported and championed him through thick and thin.

The documentary is a warts-and-all portrait of Reeve, particularly his steely determination to keep working after his accident and to find a way to walk again.

It is a heartbreaking yet awe inspiring film that will make you shed a tear. Reeve made a difference through his actions and foundation — in that he was Super/Man.  

In cinemas from Friday.

Blitz (12A)
Directed by Steve McQueen
★★★

 
OPENING this year’s London Film Festival, Steve McQueen’s riveting World War II drama puts you centre stage in London during the blitz.

Written and directed by McQueen, it was inspired by a photograph of a young black boy with a suitcase preparing to be evacuated.

The film follows nine-year-old George (an impressive newcomer, Elliott Heffernan) whose East End mum Rita (Saoirse Ronan in another memorable performance) decides to send him to safety up north by train with dozens of other kids. George, however, jumps off the train and spends the next day or so heading home.

The drama deals with racism, sexism, abandonment and the devastation, realistically depicted, of Nazi bombings of the capital.

Heffernan steals the film with his nuanced portrayal while holding his own opposite Ronan, Paul Weller and Stephen Graham among the stellar ensemble cast.

It is a haunting film which stays with you.

In cinemas from today and on Apple TV+ from November 22.
 

Heretic (15)
Directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods
★★★

HUGH GRANT appears in his most disturbing and evil role to date as a seemingly charming and harmless man who invites two young Mormon missionaries into his creepy home where he challenges their beliefs in this religious horror film.

Grant, on devilish form, is clearly relishing his diabolical turn as Mr Reed who embarks on an intellectual cat and mouse game with the young women played brilliantly by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East, who were brought up as Mormons, adding another rich layer to this thriller.

With razor-sharp and intricate dialogue, Mr Reed’s arguments about religion and all its iterations make logical sense.

Written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the first half is a fascinating critique of the world’s different faiths while the second half is your traditional hair-raising horror film.

Grant, who is a revelation again, has definitely found his new niche.
 
In cinemas from Friday.