Theater Camp ★★★★☆
Directed by Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman. Starring Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Jimmy Tatro, Noah Galvin, Patti Harrison, Nathan Lee Graham, Ayo Edebiri, Owen Thiele, Alan Kim. 12A cert, gen release, 92 min
Delightful mockumentary – a hit at Sundance – following a New York state theatre camp as it struggles to get a show up before the bank forecloses. Theater Camp shamelessly apes the structure of a cheesy musical film from the 1950s or 1960s – the sort that might have starred Cliff Richard. It hardly needs to be said the characters are hoping someone in the audience could, if sufficiently impressed, wave a wallet and save the day. But the chutzpah of the cast and the inventive jokes constantly distract from the cliched narrative. Charming. Often hilarious. Applause is deserved. Donald Clarke
The Blackening ★★★☆☆
Directed by Tim Story. Starring Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Dewayne Perkins, Grace Byers, X Mayo, Melvin Gregg, Jermaine Fowler, Yvonne Orji, Jay Pharoah. 15A cert, gen release, 97 min
A bunch of handsome young pals travel to a remote cabin for the Juneteenth holiday. Awful things happen. This African-American horror comedy has something of an identity crisis. Sometimes it seems to be a less broad Scary Movie. Elsewhere, the writers look to be leaning towards the denser racial commentary of Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Are we supposed to be scared or are we supposed to be laughing at the absurdity of it all? It’s all a bit of a muddle, but an entertaining muddle that is not afraid to Scooby-Doo the heck out of its excellent cast. DC
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Afire ★★★★☆
Directed by Christian Petzold. Starring Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs. No cert, limited release, 103 min
Paula Beer, a Christian Petzold regular, has a delicious and deceptive role in this slippery drama, playing Nadja, a Russian maid and ice-cream seller. For Leon (Thomas Schubert), the novelist and windbag at the centre of the film, she’s an object of desire and frustration. Caustic comedy and social awkwardness slowly give way to something like folkloric horror as a vast forest fire descends with Hitchcockian tenacity upon a beachside residence. The unfussy Berlin School style allows Petzold’s script to crackle. Beer, as ever, blazes quietly. Ecological catastrophe, sexual capering: it’s all here in a singular piece of work. Tara Brady
Scrapper ★★★☆☆
Directed by Charlotte Regan. Starring Lola Campbell, Alin Uzun, Cary Crankson, Carys Bowkett, Harris Dickinson, Freya Bell. 12A cert, gen release, 84 min.
Georgie (newcomer Lola Campbell) is a 12-year-old girl crossing through the stages of grief with a fat marker since the death of her mother. Citing “Winston Churchill” as her primary caregiver, she has evaded the authorities and spends her days stealing and fencing bicycles with her best pal. The tricky father-daughter pairing at the centre of Charlotte Regan’s sure-footed debut feature marks Scrapper as the poppier, knockabout cousin of last year’s Aftersun. Lively, fluid camera work by Molly Manning Walker chimes with the lovely two-step between Campbell and Dickinson as her dad. TB
