LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Dir: Edgar Wright (15, 114 mins)


Edgar Wright makes his first straight-out horror film in this grimy hymn to the swinging 60s. Thomasin McKenzie plays Ellie, a wannabe fashionista who leaves Cornwall for the bright lights of London. The glamour proves to be a shabby bedsit and an ability to disappear back to Soho in its sordid 1960s heyday, as she becomes Anya Taylor-Joy’s wannabe singer Sandie, a Cilla Black-esque fresh face in a city with a dark undertow. These ‘dreams’ that McKenzie has start feeding into her waking reality, as the past and present blur and evils start to rise. Mckenzie and Taylor-Joy are Wright’s first female leads, but the film is also peopled with proper 60s icons like Terence Stamp, the late Diana Rigg and Rita Tushingham. Looking to turn from a historical snapshot to something far darker, this has Wright’s tricksy camera work elevated by cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung and fanboy nods to the era Wright obviously loves. Out Fri 29 Oct


NO TIME TO DIE Dir: Cary Joji Fukunaga (12A, 163 mins)


After the plodding disappointment of Spectre, Daniel Craig is hoping to recover his secret agent mojo in this long-delayed 25th Bond outing: Craig’s fifth and final crack at 007 as he bows out in a near-three-hour adventure. Bond has a worthy adversary in the shape of Rami Malek’s masked villain Safin, and There’s a returning Lea Seydoux, last seen roaring off into the sunset with Bond in an Aston Martin, while Lashana Lynch takes over Bond’s duties after his appar- ent retirement. As Bond relaxes in Jamaica, old compatriot Felix Leiter, played again by Jeffrey Wright, enlists his help to rescue a kidnapped sci- entist. The script has had a polish from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with Cary Joji Fukunaga an inter- estingly arthouse choice to direct. The set pieces will be spectacular and the stakes higher as Craig waves goodbye to his iteration of Fleming’s mi- sogynist spy. Out (finally) Thurs 30 Sept


THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS Dir: Tom McGrath (PG, 107 mins)


Alec Baldwin’s voice returns as the corporate baby in a sequel to the surprisingly enjoyable Boss Baby, in which an infant learned about the importance of family. This second take, loosely based on Marla Frazee’s books, follows brothers Tim and Ted Templeton, played by James Marsden and Baldwin. Tim is a family man, Ted a CEO who prefers to dole out lavish gifts than spend time with his brood. Tim has two daughters: sensible Tabitha and tiny Tina (Amy Sedaris), who seems to be exhibiting Boss Baby traits. She needs help from them and BabyCorp to deal with a suspicious school headmaster (Jeff Goldblum) and via a secret formula turns the adults back to babies for more diaper-related hijinks. Hardly rocket science, this still provides a few chuckles courtesy of Baldwin, the comedy chops of Sedaris and Goldblum’s trademark eccentricities; the ‘family’ message hammered home amidst the capers. Out Fri 22 Oct


THE FRENCH DISPATCH Dir: Wes Anderson (15, 103 mins)


Wes Anderson, master of the stylized, composed frame, returns with another arch, star-packed compendium of mannered celluloid in this anthology film, dedicated to journalists and inspired by the New Yorker. Set sometime in the mid-20th century, the Dispatch itself is an offshoot of an American newspaper with an outpost in a fictional French town, Ennui-sur- Blasé. Bill Murray is the editor, with Elisabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson working with him. There’s the likes of Frances McDormand’s war reporter falling for Timothee Chalamet’s revolutionary; Tilda Swinton’s art critic who encounters art dealer Adrien Brody and imprisoned artist Benicio Del Toro; Jeffrey Wright’s gay food writer who attempts to interview a policeman who procures food for his men. It’s all very light and funny, but a wave of wistful sadness pervades, yearning for a more romantic kind of journalism that revealed much about the world. Out Fri 22 Oct


THE LAST DUEL Dir: Ridley Scott (15, 152 mins)


A chronicle of the last legally sanctioned duel in France, this has a pleasing symmetry for director Ridley Scott – whose debut film, in 1977, was titled The Duellists. Now in his 80s and prolific as ever, Scott returns to a historical piece with some sword play. Based on Eric Jager’s book, this follows Jodie Comer’s Marguerite de Carrouges, who claims she has been raped by her husband’s best friend. Matt Damon plays husband and knight, Jean de Carrouges; Adam Driver the accused, his friend and squire Jacques Le Gris. Damon and Ben Affleck, who also stars, have crafted the screenplay: their first writing gig together since Good Will Hunting, along with indie writer/director Nicole Holofcener. The pedigree is high, with Comer on magnificent form as the wronged woman. A top-notch cast, dodgy accents, CGI period detail recreation and gritty, gory battles: en garde indeed. Out Fri 15 Oct


VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE Dir: Andy Serkis (12A, 120 mins)


Tom Hardy’s symbiote returns after the very underwhelming Venom, which may have been a blockbuster but was far from satisfying with its overreliance on chaotic CGI and formulaic storytelling. This looks set to be more of the same, with Hardy carrying on his Jekyll and Hyde schtick as journalist Eddie Brock and doing a funny voice as his man-eating CGI alter ego. This time, however, they are pitted against scenery-chewing Woody Harrelson as serial killer Cletus Kasady – who, after biting Brock on a prison visit, ingests his blood and becomes another symbiote alien, but a red one this time. Cue more monsters fighting each other and being all big mouths and teeth. Michelle Williams returns as Brock’s now ex-girlfriend and Naomie Harris joins the fray as banshee-esque mutant Shriek. Gollum himself, Andy Serkis, takes over the directorial duties, so hopefully the CGI will be more believable than its messy predecessor, likewise the character beats. Out Fri 1 Oct


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