Hot Milk (15)
Directed by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
★★★★★

THIS has to be my film of the year.

From the first shots it places you inside a world that feels entirely real — a seaside house in Spain, with English characters whose unease at their new surroundings we share. They are a mother and daughter who have come to seek a radical cure for the older woman’s affliction, the inability to walk.

The mother Rose (Fiona Shaw) is Irish, garrulous and controlling, and the daughter she has raised as a single mother, Sofia (Emma Mackey), is, at first, passive and helpless. Through shifting points of view we follow an enormous change in the inner life of Sofia: a growing defiance that becomes understanding, and that becomes action, shocking and Elektra-like, but justified.

Essentially, the film shows how the paralysing stigma of shame spills across into the next generation, becoming their problem. Rose feels stigmatised because of the circumstances of her own birth and the shame has crippled her. The doctor knows that exploring this may liberate her, but also unleash violence and the rejection of his care.

Meanwhile, Sofia’s passage through a lesbian relationship allows her to experience the love she has never has had from her mother, as well as her own sense of shame and betrayal, and this steels her for the final confrontation with the house-bound demons she has to face if she is to liberate herself.

We root for her throughout, and as a portrait of the rite-of-passage from co-dependency to independent womanhood this film is a masterpiece. Don’t miss.
AR
In cinemas, July 4

An Ordinary Case (15)
Directed by Daniel Auteuil
★★★★★

THE film is based on a real life case — recounted by a criminal defence lawyer and blogger Jean-Yves Moyart — in which Nicolas Milik (Gregory Gadebois), a father of five, is charged with murdering his alcoholic wife alongside the local bar owner, and Milik’s best friend. They are both arrested and spend three years on remand.

In a poetic licence departure the setting is moved from northern to southern France, and it is a small town near the Langlois Bridge (popularly referred to as the van Gogh bridge) where the murder took place.

Principled lawyer Jean Monier (Daniel Auteuil himself, in an exquisite performance) takes the case, as a public defence, convinced of Milik’s innocence. It is to be Monier’s first case in 15 years after he successfully defended a killer who, once released, went on to kill again.

The film’s slow pace, intelligent and nuanced script and dialogues make for intimate settings that absorb and intrigue, as does the sensitive cinematography.

In stark contrast to tired Hollywood “entertainment at all cost” formulas that have been desensitising cinema audiences for decades, this film offers genuine intellectual and emotional gratification.

As the court case progresses with an apparent lack of any solid evidence against Milik the dilemas multiply and Monier is reminded by his partner, lawyer Annie Debret (Sidse Babett Knudsen), that he is not Milik’s saviour but his lawyer.

The resolution does not, however, come with the verdict but a series of deferred revelations that offer unexpected perspectives on the trial, Monier and Milik.
MB
On digital platforms, July 7

Heads of State (PG-13)
Directed by Ilya Naishuller 
★★

A MAJOR action film star turned popular US president and an embattled British prime minister are forced to team up despite their animosity to stay alive after an assassination attempt in this predictable but hugely entertaining non-stop action thriller. 

It is set against the backdrop of political intrigue and a key Nato summit in Italy which is about to implode. 

John Cena and Idris Elba, reuniting for the first time since The Suicide Squad, show what a dream comedic double act they are, proving the heart and soul of this film as two flawed leaders who care about their electorates and will do the right thing when push comes to shove. Priyanka Chopra Jonas kicks ass as the CIA agent who comes to their rescue. 

If hilarious, with impressive action scenes, it ends on a surprising political note advocating the importance of Nato and its survival as both heads of state save it from being destroyed by an enemy from within, raising questions about the film’s political agenda.
MD
On Prime Video now 

Jurassic World Rebirth (12A)
Directed by Gareth Edwards
★★

A FORMER superhero, a double Oscar winner and the ever-delightful Jonathan Bailey aren’t enough to save this predictable dinosaurs-by-numbers from extinction which is where this franchise needs to head. 

Set five years after Dominion, Scarlett Johansson leads an expedition, which includes Mahershala Ali and Bailey, to the equatorial regions where the most dangerous prehistoric animals now reside, to extract DNA from three of them for a medical breakthrough. There is a subplot involving a shipwrecked family followed by guess-who-is-going-to-die-next. 

Well acted, but my advice is just rewatch the original Jurassic Park.  
MD
In cinemas now