THE BLACK PHONE Dir: Scott Derrickson


(15) (102 mins)


A very scarily-masked Ethan Hawke looks set to induce nightmares in this 70s-set horror about a child serial killer called the Grabber. Mason Thames plays Finney, a bullied 13-year-old with a harder-nosed sister (Madeleine McGraw). He becomes the newest victim, bundled into a van by the black balloon-bearing psychopath and placed in a soundproof basement with a disconnected black phone on the wall. Believing all is lost, Finney hears the phone suddenly ring: it offers him a supernatural conduit to speak to the Grabber’s previous victims, whom he also sees in visions along with his sister. Soon, he is plotting an escape as the authorities flounder in their search for the missing children. Creepily directed by Doctor Strange director Derrickson, with Hawke looking to be on truly unsettling form, this will be a horror to make you hide behind the cushions.


Out Fri 24 June


BRIAN AND CHARLES Dir: Jim Archer


(15) (90 mins)


Expanded from his winning short film, director Jim Archer’s collaboration with writers and stars David Earl and Chris Hayward looks set to be a droll comedy about loneliness and masculinity. Standup Earl plays Brian, an inventor who has created such wonderful things as a pinecone bag and an egg belt, who is isolated in his rural Welsh community. So he builds a companion, Charles: seven feet tall, boxy, mad professor-looking and charmingly played and voiced by Hayward. Whilst Brian wants him to be his companion, Charles has a thirst for knowledge and embracing the wider world; they end up entering the local community, full of stalwart Welsh character actors like Lynn Hunter and Lowri and Mari Izzard. There he meets Hazel (Louise Brealey) who offers potential romance for Brian, if they can avoid being demonized in the village. The original short film was charming – let’s hope the feature length version retains those gentle quirks.


Out Fri 17 June


DASHCAM Dir: Rob Savage


(15) (77 mins)


Following the breakout lo-fi horror hit of lockdown Host, where a Zoom call gets possessed, innovative British director Savage is back with a bigger budget and another twist on the genre. Controversial vlogger Annie Hardy plays a version of herself – an opinionated anti- vaxxer who, desperate to escape the pandemic in LA, goes to Britain and continues making her livestream programme Band Car, spouting political opinions that rankle as she drives around while getting messages from her followers. In the course of one such stream, she picks up Angela, an apparently sick older woman who has far more to her than meets the eye. Savage continues to push the envelope of what The Blair Witch Project started, building on his technical knowhow in the wake of Host which utterly terrified; Dashcam is bigger budget, but still rough and ready, with more chaotic iPhone camera work, set-pieces and satire thrown into the mix. Brace yourself for something exhaustingly tense, trippy and motion sickness-inducing.


Out Fri 3 June


JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION Dir: Colin Trevorrow


(12A) (146 mins)


The second Jurassic trilogy reaches its climax in massive blockbuster style and a dash of nostalgia. The last entry in the Jurassic World franchise, Fallen Kingdom, was a taut thriller that unleashed dinosaurs into the world, no longer isolated on an island or laboratory. Dominion picks up four years later with dinosaurs now living alongside humans in deeply challenging ways: humanity may no longer be at the top of the pecking order. Under Fallen Kingdom producer Colin Trevorrow’s direction, this reunites the cast of the original Jurassic Park – Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern – with their new trilogy lantern-bearers and Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard’s continuing story, concerning velociraptor Blue and her baby. This spectacle will hopefully build on Fallen Kingdom, offer global dinosaur mayhem – raptor/motorbike chases, planes vs pterodactyls – and an environmental message about the precariousness of humankind. And there’s that little hissy spitty dinosaur in it that terrifies me...


Out Fri 10 June


LIGHTYEAR Dir: Angus MacLane


(PG) (102 mins)


The Toy Story toy who doesn’t think he’s a toy gets an origin movie… of sorts. For this new extension of the Pixar hit universe is the film that inspired the Buzz Lightyear action figure young Andy has in the first Toy Story. Very meta. So we have Chris Evans taking over voice duties from Tim Allen in this iteration of Buzz and a straight- up, spectacle-filled space adventure rather than a parody of the character we’ve grown to know and love. This Buzz is stranded on the far-off planet of T’Kani Prime, needing to find a way to escape, while also battling robots led by the evil Zurg – Toy Story 2 fans rejoice. Plenty of star wattage comes in the supporting cast, Lightyear’s crew including Taika Watiti, Rhys Darby and Keke Palmer – plus there’s baddie James Brolin and a cute robot cat called Sox, amidst a swathe of nostalgia. Another chance to go to infinity and beyond.


Out Fri 17 June


PLEASURE Dir: Ninja Thyberg


(18) (109 mins)


An unflinching look at the American porn industry from


an earlier short film, Pleasure will be an uncomfortable watch. The film follows Sofia Kappel’s Swedish 19-year-old Linnea as she travels from her homeland to make it big in LA’s adult film world. She renames herself Bella Cherry and makes a close group of friends also trying to break into the industry, but to get the attention of top producers you have to go the extra mile. The grim realities of a world where the more degrading and extreme the sexual acts you do the more successful you become are explored, making a raw tale of shattered dreams and unsettling compromise, with very explicit sex. Thyberg’s film is not without humour, however, and has attracted cameos from the real stars of the porn world, giving it a stamp of authenticity and Kappel’s fearless performance has gained critical plaudits. Probably not the best film to take an elderly aunt to, unless she is very broad-minded.


Thyberg, expanding upon Out Fri 17 June 29


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