Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ★★★☆☆
Directed by Peyton Reed. Starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian. 12A cert, gen release, 124 min
This chaotic but often entertaining entry to the Marvel Cinematic Universe begins in sitcom mode before sending Ant-Man and his relatives into the nauseatingly lurid parallel universe we are obliged to call the Quantum Realm. Hectic and not overlong, Quantumania bumbles along amiably enough for the succeeding 90 minutes. Majors, among the best actors of the rising generation, treats the role of Kang the Conqueror with the unnecessary seriousness that Orson Welles and Lord Olivier once brought to their own slumming-it villains. Douglas keeps a straight face. There are worse ways of killing brain cells. Full review DC
The Son ★★★★☆
Directed by Florian Zeller. Starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Hugh Quarshie, Anthony Hopkins. 15A cert, gen release, 123 min
Zeller’s third instalment - and second film - in a cycle that includes The Father (for which Hopkins won best actor at the Oscars) is a muscular, devastating drama that ought to have featured more prominently in the protracted “awards conversation”. Peter (Jackman), a suddenly repentant absent father, frantically juggles competing families, a wounded ex-wife, a vaguely insecure second wife, work demands, and a crippling sense of responsibility. Meanwhile, he clings to the idea that his son is going through a phase. One thundering Chekhovian device aside, Zeller’s drama successfully explores a vast spectrum of depression, guilt, and duty. Full review TB
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Marcel the Shell with Shoes On ★★★★☆
Director Dean Fleischer-Camp. Starring Jenny Slate, Isabella Rossellini, Rosa Salazar, Thomas Mann, Dean Fleischer-Camp, Lesley Stahl. PG cert, gen release, 90 min
Adapted from an improvised series of shorts by Slate, this charming mockumentary finds a film director making friends with, well, a shell with shoes on. He is called Marcel. The film should appeal across all age groups. If you scrunch up your eyes and tilt your head you could imagine yourself watching an avant garde animation at a Brooklyn arthouse. But there is also, about it, something of the charming work that Oliver Postgate did for British children’s television in the 1970s. Deservedly nominated for best animated feature at the Academy Awards. Full review DC
Atomic Hope – Inside the Pro-Nuclear Movement ★★★★☆
Directed by Frankie Fenton. Featuring Madison Czerwinski, Ben Heard, Moto-Yasu Kinoshita, John Kutsch, Gerry Thomas, Iida Ruishalme, Michael Shellenberger. 12A cert, gen release, 83 min
Lucid, informative documentary follows the world’s small but vital pro-nuclear movement. They have their work cut out for them. Activists from countries as far away as Japan and Switzerland are hampered by the same problem: it’s complicated when people can’t differentiate between nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Environmental scientists and activists explain that fears rooted in worst-case scenarios must reasonably be eclipsed by current climate concerns, concerns that simply cannot be matched by wind or solar renewables. The film swims convincingly against the tide. Full review TB
