Orlando, My Political Biography (15)
Directed by Paul B. Preciado
★★★★ 

 
BOLD, and totally fascinating, acclaimed Spanish writer and activist Paul B Preciado’s directorial debut documentary explores and celebrates trans identity through Virginia Woolf’s iconic novel Orlando. 

It is an innovative exploration of Woolf’s novel in which the hero mysteriously changes gender from a man to a woman while living for three hundred years. I cannot help thinking this will prove a great educational aid for those studying Orlando in schools. 
 
Analysing and reciting the text are more than 20 trans and non-binary individuals of all ages who Preciado casts as Orlando. They perform interpretations of scenes from Woolf’s work while interweaving their own experiences of identity and transition. It is surreal but very enlightening. 
 
A 15-year-old youngster explains his story and insists on being referred to as a trans boy so that his journey won’t be erased; Kori Angelis Brown recounts how she had to leave Venezuela because of the persecution there of trans people; while another person, when asked if they have a penis, says they have a female penis which throws a different light on their perspective. 
 
Trans people also reveal the difficulties they face particularly in being prescribed hormone treatment. They are kept waiting a long time while non trans women have no such issues in obtaining hormone prescriptions straight away.
 
The film, which won four awards at last year’s Berlin Film Festival and in which Preciado also appears, questions the relevance of Orlando in the continuing fight against anti-trans ideologies and in the battle for global trans rights. 

In cinemas July 5

The Nature of Love (15)
Directed by Monia Chokri
★★★★

 
WHILE opposites attract can they last? Can love overcome social, intellectual and class differences?
 
Those are the questions at the heart of this smart and sexy rom com from French Canadian writer director Monia Chokri. 
 
Set in Canada, the film follows Sophia (Magalie Leine Blondeau), a 40-year-old philosophy professor, who comes from a wealthy family and has been in a stable but passionless relationship with like-minded Xavier (Francis-William Rheaume) for a decade. When she meets hunky builder Sylvain (Pierre-Yves Cardinal), who is renovating her new chalet, sparks fly. They embark on a passionate affair and all is well while they are in their sex-fuelled bubble. 
 
However when she meets his working-class family, and then she introduces him to her elitist and snobby friends, she begins to question their compatibility. 
 
He does not fit in with her crowd who poke fun at his lack of book smarts and holiday choices, even though he is kind and thoughtful. 
 
Beautifully acted, this is a captivating film which ends on an intriguing note. 

In cinemas July 5

What Remains (15)
Directed by Ran Huang
★★

 
INSPIRED by the true story of Sweden’s most infamous serial killer, this Scandi noir thriller starring father and son Stellan Skarsgard and Gustaf Skarsgard does not really do it justice. 
 
It is a family affair - Stellan’s wife Megan Everett-Skarsgard co-wrote the script with the film’s director Ran Huang. 
 
However, given its bleak washed-out look and painfully slow pace neither Stellan, Gustaf or their co-star Andrea Riseborough can breathe life into this drama despite their pitch-perfect performances. 
 
Set in the 1990s Gustaf plays Mads Lake, a long-term inmate at a Scandinavian mental clinic who confesses to a series of murders on the eve of his release; Stellan portrays the cop who is desperate to find the bodies, and Riseborough is Lake’s therapist.  
 
They are all troubled and so was I at the film’s snail’s pace which made it a slog to get through. 

In cinemas 5 July and on Digital and OnDemand from July 9
 

Kill (18)
Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
★★★ 

 
HAILED as India’s goriest and most violent film to date, this is a relentless white-knuckle-ride rail journey involving star-crossed lovers, train robbers and one hell of a high body count. 
 
Co-written and directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, it is inspired by the real-life criminals known as “dacoits” who rob passengers on Indian trains.
 
It follows army commandos Amrit (impressive newcomer Lakshya) and his friend Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan) who board the Rajdhani Express bound for New Delhi to rescue Amrit’s secret love Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) from being married off by her parents. The friends are then faced by an army of blade-wielding bandits led by the charismatic but ruthless Fani (Raghav Juyal). Lakshya proves to be an action star in the making as a one-man Jason Statham-style killing machine. 
 
While the romantic moments are hilariously cheesy, the fight scenes are brutal and graphic. It is exceedingly claustrophobic and reminiscent of Bullet Train and Snow Piercer. 
 
My one gripe is that once again it takes a woman being fridged to propel the action and up the kill mode. 

In cinemas July 5