Desperate Journey (15)
Directed by Annabel Jankel
★★★

THIS powerful and harrowing drama is based on the true story of Freddie Knoller, a young Austrian Jew who was forced to flee Vienna when the Nazis invaded the city. 

The film opens with him in a concentration camp with scores of other Jewish prisoners being herded out by German soldiers as the allies are closing in. Then it flashes back to 1938 and the start of his desperate journey out of Austria to England. His parents were only able to obtain one visa for the US so they sent his younger brother. 

He headed off to Britain but only got as far as Paris where he reinvented himself and, due to his fluent German, obtained a job in a burlesque club that was very popular with Nazis. 

Lucas Lynggaard Tonnesen gives an outstanding portrayal as the charming yet earnest Knoller, who was told by his father to do whatever it took to survive. 

There are some bone-chilling moments in the film including a scene in which a Nazi officer boasts how he can identify a Jew by feeling his head, as he shows Knoller even though he liked him and despite his position as a favourite among the Nazi clientele. 

It is a difficult film to watch as it shows Jews being beaten and rounded up, while others are thrown from balconies to their deaths. It is another stark reminder of the Nazis’ lack of humanity and how monstrous they were. More importantly, it is another story of survival against such horrendous odds.   

In cinemas November 28.

Blue Moon (15)
Directed by Richard Linklater
★★★★

WHILE Rogers and Hammerstein are synonymous with revolutionising musical theatre, Rogers and Hart’s partnership seems to have been forgotten, even though they wrote Blue Moon, My Funny Valentine and Isn’t It Romantic, among others. 

Richard Linklater’s beautiful but heartbreaking film attempts to pay homage to the legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke). It is inspired by letters written between Hart and a Yale University student called Elizabeth (Margaret Qualley). 

It unfolds on the opening night of Hart’s former collaborator Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) groundbreaking hit Oklahoma! Hart is in Sardi’s bar, where Rodgers’ opening night party is being held, as he dissects the demise of his own career and personal life with the barman (Bobby Cannavale). 

Despite looking and sounding like a play, Hawke delivers one razor-sharp, funny and whip-smart monologue after another, written by Robert Kaplow, in a career-defining performance. It is a masterclass in acting as Hart, battling alcoholism, holds court from beginning to end. 

Slick and terribly stylish, it is a reminder of what a great and talented lyricist Hart was. 

In cinemas November 28.

Pillion (18)
Directed by Harry Lighton
★★★★

FROM writer-director Harry Lighton comes an impressive debut feature and deliciously dark yet tender unconventional romantic comedy. 

Based on Adam Mars-Jones’ novel Box Hill, it follows a shy young traffic warden, Colin (Harry Melling), who is swept off his feet by a sexy and Adonis-like biker, Ray (Alexander Skarsgard), who takes him on as his submissive. Think a gay Fifty Shades of Grey set in the English suburbs and minus the glamour. What ensues are painfully funny yet terribly awkward moments, including one meeting Colin’s supportive terminally ill mother and father. 

Melling and Skarsgard are phenomenal and totally captivating as submissive and dominant respectively, as they commit fully to this sexually graphic drama. The problem comes when this dom-sub arrangement isn’t enough for Colin who wants more from the silent and enigmatic Ray who he is falling for. 

It is bold yet touching and totally surreal. 

In cinemas November 28.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (12A)
Directed by Rian Johnson
★★★★

THE church, along with spirituality and faith, come under the critical spotlight in writer-director Rian Johnson’s third Knives Out Mystery — his darkest and best to date. 

Daniel Craig also returns as Benoit Blanc, who turns up at a tiny parish in upstate New York to solve an impossible murder. This is Josh O’Connor’s film as a young and troubled former boxer turned priest who is sent to this godforsaken community as punishment. He is ordered to assist the charismatic and larger than life Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). O’Connor steals this thriller with a nuanced and quietly powerful performance. 

Featuring another stellar cast, which includes Glenn Close, this is more Gothic and grounded in look and tone and the antithesis to Glass Onion. 

Full of myriad twists and turns, this is a wonderfully entertaining whodunnit.  

In cinemas now and on Netflix from December 12.