September 5 ★★★★☆
Directed by Tim Fehlbaum. Starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch, Zinedine Soualem. 12A cert, gen release, 95 min
This tightly assembled, Amerocentric thriller revisits the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis from the vantage of the control room of the ABC television network. Directed by German filmmaker Tim Fehlbaum, who previously helmed the bleak sci-fi features Tides and Hell, this docudrama eschews political context for the thrills and pressures of live television. The lack of geopolitical context is questionable but the filmmaking is sound. Editor Hansjörg Weißbrich maintains a brisk pace. Deftly used snippets of archive footage amplify the documentary realism. Full review TB
The Seed of the Sacred Fig ★★★★☆
Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof. Starring Soheila Golestani, Missagh Zareh, Mahsa Rostami, Setareh Maleki, Niousha Akhshi, Amineh Arani. 15A cert, limited release, 167 min
Gripping drama concerning an Iranian court official whose family becomes overrun with suspicion when he is elevated to investigating judge. Rasoulof, director of There Is No Evil and Manuscripts Don’t Burn, has, despite the forbidding run time, crafted a increasingly taut, always twisty thriller that, if anything, gives in a little too enthusiastically to breathlessness in its closing sections. The anger remains palpable throughout – footage of real-life protesters is woven in with the drama – but so is the desire to keep the audience on edge. Full review DC
Three men hospitalised after being stabbed in attack in Stoneybatter area of Dublin
Fine Gael senator Martin Conway resigns from parliamentary party after being arrested while intoxicated
Husband barred from family home after wife and children flee over alleged abusive behaviour
‘I’m a happier, less stressed person’: Differing opinions on remote-working changes for civil servants
Bring Them Down ★★☆☆☆
Directed by Christoper Andrews. Starring Christopher Abbott, Barry Keoghan, Colm Meaney, Nora-Jane Noone, Paul Ready, Susan Lynch. 15A cert, limited release, 106 min
Or Bring Me the Head of Alfred O’Garcia, perhaps. This professionally made but ultimately monotonous drama of long distilled hostilities counts as one of too many films that long to be considered displaced westerns. Two sets of remote homesteaders stare angrily across the wilderness. Tough women dry their hands at open doors while waiting for the violence to erupt (or, more often here, desist). The atmosphere is well maintained, but the plot is repetitive and much of the casting – Keoghan as Noone’s son? – makes no sense at all. Some will find the cruelty to animals hard to bear. Full review DC
The Fire Inside ★★★☆☆
Directed by Rachel Morrison. Starring Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry, Oluniké Adeliyi, De’Adre Aziza, Adam Clark. 12A cert, gen release, 109 min
Claressa “T-Rex” Shields is an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist, widely regarded as one of the greatest female boxers ever. She deserves a fine biopic and on paper, at least, The Fire Inside promises a genre classic, but doesn’t wholly deliver. Destiny brings form to the central role; cinematographer and Taylor Swift collaborator Rina Yang finds classic lines; and Brian Tyree Henry (replacing Ice Cube after a troubled production history) is gruffly charming. Unfortunately, the nuts-and-bolts script lacks innovation and the pacing neither bobs nor weaves. Full review TB
