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| Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person |
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, MUBI, streaming now
Played for laughs rather than gore, this French-Canadian coming-of-ager is a (not so) bloody treat. Sasha (Sara Montpetit) is one of the youngest in her family - a mere teenager in vampire years - but she lacks the killer instinct. When Sasha comes across the suicidal Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard), she finds not only a kindred spirit but a potential willing victim but things might not be as easy as they first seemed. First-time Ariane Louis-Seize has an eye for style and an ear for a good one-liner, with most of the parent/child comedy and absurdist humour regarding a vampire that won't bite coming up trumps. Louis-Seize told us: "I like to find those grey areas and play with them". As the film heads into revenge territory, it might be a little predictable but like Sasha, you may find what violence there is, surprisingly satisfying.
In Her Place, Netflix, streaming now
Eternal Memory director Maite Alberdi makes the move from documentary to fiction with this Fifties-set Chilean drama based on a true story. Elisa Zulueta plays Mercedes, a mousy court worker who faces everyday sexism in the workplace before going home to her boisterous sons and husband, who don't lift a finger to help around the house. When a writer, Maria Carolina Geel (Francisca Lewin), shoots her lover in a busy restaurant, Mercedes becomes increasingly obsessed with the case - especially after she is tasked with fetching clothes from the killer's home. Mercedes sees an opportunity to try on the other woman's life for size and emancipation starts to creep into her life. Although Alberdi's drama could interrogate its feminist themes somewhat more deeply than it does, this is nevertheless a well acted and elegantly mounted production that generates a surprising amount of tension from its straightforward premise.
The Good, The Bad And The Weird, ITVX, streaming now
This South Korean homage to Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad And The Ugly is the sort of film that ought to be better known, transporting all the spaghetti western tropes you love to the wilds of Manchuria. Whipping off at breakneck speed, it features a trio of unlikely adventurers who clash over a treasure map, which they all think holds the answer to their prayers. Kim Jee-Woon manages to juggle character drama, violence and comedy to anarchic effect. It might not quite have the finesse of Leone but it's still quite a ride.
The Square, 1.45am, Channel4, Wednesday, October 15
Ruben Östlund's satirical sideswipe at everything from capitalism to the art establishment and toxic masculinity is well worth staying up late for. Although sometimes slightly unwieldy in structure, his tale of museum curator Christian (Claes Bang, who will be back on our screens early next year in William Tell), who finds no good deed goes unpunished, carefully skewers modern society by showing what happens when liberal ideals come crashing headlong into reality. With strong visuals, that also major in "squares", strong supporting performances by the likes of Elisabeth Moss and a desert-dry ear of humour, Östlund - who claims "everything should have a monkey in it" - throws so many ideas into the mix it's hard not to be gripped.
Navalny, 10.30pm, BBC4, Wednesday, October 15
Made before Alexei Navalny returned to his Russian homeland and subsequently died as a political prisoner in February this year, Daniel Roher's documentary now stands as a tribute to his bravery. Vladimir Putin’s most famous opponent proves to be a lively and engaging interviewee, whose sense of humour is remarkably undimmed given that, at the time the film was made, he had already been subjected to an assassination attempt by the Russian state. If you are aware of the story of his poisoning and the subsequent wrangle to extract him for treatment to Germany, some of this will be familiar, but it is edited together with verve and Roher does a good job of getting Navalny to open up via interview, while also capturing him alongside his family and fellow activists. Nalvalny's ability to be cool and funny under pressure is impressive - not every man would be able to sustain a 'prank call' to those who attempted to kill him. The film offers an insight into Christo Grozev and the investigative website Bellingcat.
Down Terrace, 11.40pm, Film4, Wednesday, October 16
Kitchen sink drama in the Ken Loach mode is married to psychotic violence and some blackly comic humour in Ben Wheatley's debut. There's suspicion brewing in suburbia as drug dealer Karl and his Dad Big Bill (played by cow-writer Robin Hill and his real-life father Robert), back home after a stretch in jail, contemplate who grassed them up under the watchful eye of matriarch Maggie (Julia Deakin). Absurdity is pushed to the max when visitors start to arrive, including Karl's pregnant ex (Hill's real-life wife Kerry Peacock) and a hitman (Michael Smiley) with his three-year-old kid in tow. Claustrophobic and cutting but also surprisingly funny.
Amulet, 11.45pm, Film4, Sunday, October 20
Atonement actress Romola Garai turns her hand to directing in this horror about a homeless ex-soldier who finds himself in a battlezone of an altogether more psychological kind after agreeing to help a woman and her dying mother. Imelda Staunton has a whole lot of fun as a nun with ulterior motives, who offers PTSD sufferer Tomaz (Alan Secareanu) a room in a suitably creepy house where Magda (Carla Juri) lives. She’s caring for her terminally ill mum (Anah Ruddin) who, in the way of such films, is confined to the attic. While the characterisation is on the flimsy side, Garai creates a strong mood and if the film takes a while to get going, the final third is pedal to the metal fun.
This week's short selection is Gregor Barclay's Bells, about a lone twin struggling with the loss of his sibling.
