JOYRIDE


Dir: Emer Reynolds (15) (90 mins)


A road movie set in Ireland about a woman giving away a newborn baby, with documentary maker Emer Reynolds making her narrative debut at its helm, Joyride sounds like a gritty drama, but is shot through with humour and heart. Olivia Colman plays Joy, the middle-aged woman with the child she fears herself unable to deal with: a rich, complex character for Colman to sink her teeth into after her equally excellent and layered lead in The Lost Daughter. She finds herself on her road trip with cheeky teenage street urchin Mully, played by newcomer Charlie Reid, and the two of them form an unlikely bond as their adventure haphazardly takes them across Ireland. Joy is a force of nature to be reckoned with, chaotic and unkempt and bursting with life in what should be an unlikely character-led road movie packed with charm.


Out Fri 1 July


MCENROE


Dir: Barney Douglas (15) (104 mins)


The bad boy of the tennis world tells his own side of the story of his glittering, turbulent life on and off the court in this revealing documentary. Back in the 1980s John McEnroe was part of the zeitgeist: an incredible tennis player, prone to angry outbursts and shouting at the umpire. He even spawned a pop hit which samples his famous, furious “you cannot be serious!” catchphrase. This documentary – including stock footage, interviews with tennis contemporaries like Billie Jean King and Björn Borg, and frank revelations from McEnroe himself – should provide plenty of insight on the enfant terrible of the court. There was sporting prowess mixed with rock’n’roll hedonism. His obsessive perfectionism, his dwelling on every mistake made in his matches, his encounters with psychiatrists and his relationship with his equally perfectionist father fill in the reasoning behind the often off-kilter personality with the headband and frizzy hair who became a global punchline. Frank and illuminating, this should be better than Wimbledon.


Out Fri 15 July


MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS Dir: Anthony Fabian


(PG) (92 mins)


A crowdpleasing period comedy drama based on Paul Gallico’s bestselling book, previously incarnated by Gracie Fields back in 1958, this feelgood confection has Lesley Manville as the titular Mrs Harris, who does indeed go to Paris. A widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London, an invisible woman making everything tidy for her employers, she thinks her life may be over. Yet she finds herself falling in love with fashion, in particular a Christian Dior dress, and – after scrimping, saving and the financial windfall of a war widows pension – she sets off for Paris to buy one. Once there, having dealt with haughty French fashionista types like Isabelle Huppert at the House Of Dior, Mrs Harris helps a young French couple find love and starts to make her own dresses herself, with upbeat results. This will be like a mashup of The Devil Wears Prada and a nice cup of tea.


Out Fri 15 July


THE RAILWAY CHILDREN RETURN Dir: Morgan Matthews


(PG) (100 mins)


A belated sequel to the classic children’s film from 1970, itself based on the E. Nesbit novel, which dealt with children living in the Yorkshire countryside after falling on hard times and their father being sent to prison for treason. The original adaption saw the young Jenny Agutter and Sally Thomsett avert a railway disaster and chase and wave at steam trains, until “daddy, oh my daddy” returns amidst lumps in throats. This follow-on also stars Agutter – reprising her role as the now grown-up Bobbie and looking after children evacuated from wartorn London, introducing them to country life with the help of Sheridan Smith and Game Of Thrones’ John Bradley. Cue chicken-chasing, stargazing and countryside shock for the London evacuees and many heartwarming moments – hopefully not cloying enough to destroy a cherished, if rather slight, hit from some 52 years earlier. Toot toot!


Out Fri 15 July


THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER Dir: Taika Watiti


(12A) (120 mins)


After the barnstorming Ragnarok reclaimed Thor as an interesting character following the lacklustre Thor: The Dark World, and crucially, introduced humour and fun to the Asgardian god, director Taika Watiti has been allowed back for another bash at the Man Of Thunder. This time out, Chris Hemsworth loses his dad bod and battles Christian Bale’s Gorr The God Butcher needing the help of the Guardians Of The Galaxy, Watiti-voiced rock monster Korg, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie and – most excitingly – Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, returning pumped-up and superhero-like herself, wielding the hammer Mjolnir. She thereby honours another strand of Asgardian comic lore as the gender-flipped Mighty Thor. Expect much in the way of dizzying spectacle, offbeat humour and soft rock, with Bale hopefully bringing major villain vibes and Portman creating an instant internet-breaking hero. Bring the thunder – and also the romance.


Out Fri 8 July


WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING Dir: Olivia Newman


(15) (102 mins)


Delia Owen’s best-selling novel gets its big screen adaptation with a leading role for Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones. Set in the 1950s, Jones plays Kya, the Marsh Girl, who has raised herself in the swamps of the Deep South after her parents abandoned her. A feral child who lives on the outskirts of society, possessing few friends but a real link with nature, Kya nevertheless finds herself caught in a love triangle with town heartthrob Chase (Harris Dickinson) and the more sensitive Tate (Taylor John Smith). When Chase turns up dead, all eyes fall on Kya as his killer, but what really happened? Prejudices surface, and the gap between rich and poor made plain and exacerbated. If …Crawdads can live up to the book, it should make a gripping, moving romantic legal drama, with Edgar-Jones having the acting chops to make the heroine mysterious and compelling. A crawdad is a freshwater crayfish by the way… so like river prawns. Where The River Prawns Sing: not so catchy a title.


Out Fri 15 July 27


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