Renfield ★★★☆☆
Directed by Chris McKay. Starring Nicolas Cage, Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo. 16 cert, gen release, 93 min
Hoult is the eponymous insect-scoffing factotum to Cage’s Dracula in a spirited, if unsophisticated, comedy romp that leaves no corner of New Orleans free of blood. There are good comic-punch ups. There is amusing blunt satire of therapy culture. Cage literally guzzle the guts of passersby. All of which is perfectly good fun. But one can’t shake the sense that this 93-minute film has lost a deal of its secondary plotting along the way to release. Schwartz and Aghdashloo are wasted as the villains in a crime sub-strand that barely gets to clear its throat. Full review DC
Suzume ★★★★☆
Directed by Makoto Shinkai. Voices of Nanoka Hara, Hokuto Matsumura, Eri Fukatsu, Shota Sometani. 12A cert, limited release, 122 min
Shinkai, director of the much-loved Your Name, is fast taking on near-legendary status in his native Japan and with animation enthusiasts throughout the world. His latest follows a young girl as, in tandem with a handsome wanderer transformed into a three-legged chair (really), she sets out to save the country from apocalypse. The score from Radwimps and Kazuma Jinnouchi takes in pop, orchestral sweep and playful jazz as the images drag us up and down the endangered archipelago. The jokes are funny and weird. At its heart is a story worth caring about. Another essential work from a modern master. Full review DC
Cairo Conspiracy ★★★★☆
Directed by Tarik Saleh. Starring Tawfeek Barhom, Fares Fares, Mohammad Bakri, Makram J Khoury, Mehdi Dehbi. 12A cert, gen release, 121 min
Set inside Cairo’s Al-Azhar University (Istanbul’s Süleymanye Mosque makes a suitably grand stand-in), Cairo Conspiracy chronicles the skulduggery behind the election of a grand imam. Strip away the Sunni setting and it could be a John le Carré thriller. Visibly, strikingly, this is man’s-man’s world and all the worse for it. A deserving winner of the best screenplay at Cannes last year, this nail-biting drama is offset by Barhom’s terrific wide-eyed performance. The gorgon’s knot of political and religious machinations add distinctive hues to a genre piece with shades of All the President’s Men. Full review TB
One Fine Morning/Un Beau Matin ★★★☆☆
Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve. Starring Léa Seydoux, Pascal Greggory, Melvil Poupaud, Nicole Garcia. 15A cert, Mubi/limited release, 112 min
Seydoux’s Sandra is a widowed mother with a preteen daughter. She is juggling motherhood, work as a translator, and healthcare decisions for her father (Greggory), as he succumbs to Benson’s disorder, a neurodegenerative disorder that causes loss of sight and memory. Seydoux’s sadness is palpable even when the whirl of random scenes around her fail to connect with each other or, indeed, the viewer. The film also excels as a chronicle of a lived-in Paris, a place where such tourist spots as Sacré-Cœur Basilica’s butte make for meaningful family strolls. Full review TB
