Cert – N/A, Run-time – 1 hour 31 minutes, Directors – Brandon Scott Smith, Derek Sullivan Smith

A team from Nuuk travel to take part in Greenland’s annual major football tournament, where conditions mean that training and gameplay are confined to three months.

The score to No Place For Football, often lead by some simple guitar, brings to mind moments from Ted Lasso. After first thinking this the players of team B67 from Nuuk, Greenland point out the similar looks of one of their key players and Jason Sudeikis’ titular coach from the hit series. Indeed, ‘Believe’ is a key point of this documentary following the team training and making their way towards the annual tournament that brings together eight of Greenland’s biggest teams at the end of the three month season, just before the snow returns – icebergs and snowy peaks sit directly next to a number of pitches in quaint, colourful towns and villages.

Yet, directors Brandon Scott Smith and Derek Sullivan Smith don’t view the team as underdogs. They have a chance and are going to fight for it, particularly against their biggest rivals. Successes and losses are viewed with support and cheers from behind the camera as a story of teamwork and perseverance is naturally formed through the outlooks and attitudes of the team. Even amongst the worry that the tournament will go on with or without them, it’s an uncertain boat or plane journey to get there and cancellations are common.

Beyond B67 there’s a view of football in Greenland as a whole. Once described by Sepp Blatter as being no place for football due to the weather conditions the players of various teams are adamant to show how good Greenland can be, and that it has a place on the world stage. While we hear of the rivalries between Greenlandic teams there’s a unity to their broader push to the rest of the world.

Regardless of world standings, or even if losing as local teams, there’s a celebration to the documentary of simply going out and having fun. Whether playing or watching, a spirit of competition is present; passion fills many of the themes and conversations during the brief 91-minutes we spend in the company of B67 and Greenland’s three-month football season. The on-screen environment, even though allowing for a grassy pitch, may suggest a chill but there’s plenty of warmth emitting from the attitudes of the central team.

I’ve likely mentioned in previous reviews that my knowledge of football, and sport in general, is paper thin; but, as with many great films and documentaries, that doesn’t matter in the case of No Place Like Football. It’s about the heart and determination of those on screen, what they want to prove and achieve. The team at the centre of the film are all likable and their story of perseverance, going out and enjoying playing and indeed the light touch of Ted Lasso style belief, see things through with admirable passion and spirit.

A look at national and team-based pride and perseverance, alongside the joy of simply getting out and playing, No Place For Football is a warm, welcoming look at determination, not without its Ted Lasso-esque beats.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 50 minutes, Director – Kane Parsons

After falling through a wall in his furniture store, Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) explores an endless maze of almost empty office-like rooms, bringing more people in as the few unexplained contents, and creatures, start to attack.

YouTube channel Kane Pixels’ viral series The Backrooms played into the internet’s fascination with liminal spaces. An extending space, quiet in content and atmosphere which captures a sense of calmness, yet unease growing behind you; as if anything could creep out from around a corner and lurch its way towards you as you’re stuck in the static of the often dim, grainy image. In feature form, the director and story creator, credited under real name Kane Parsons, strides with the most confidence of the extended scenes roaming around the extensive series of almost empty office-like rooms.

Having fallen through a wall in the basement of his struggling furniture store, Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), explores the never-ending titular space with fascination and perplexity. Signs and sofas similar to those in his store appear to glitch through the floor and ceiling, there’s a feeling that the backrooms are alive, trying to copy the world on the other side, and eventually itself. It’s mentioned that its behaviour is like trying to draw a picture of a dog having only had someone describe one to you, another comparison would be to the off-kilter confused repetition of AI.

Parsons leans into the psychological both narratively, with screenplay written by Will Soodik, and stylistically. Diving into a world that seems so familiar but doesn’t make any sense. Haunting and unsettling, with an equally uneasy score by himself and Edo Van Breeman. It starts to leak into the real-world scenes, an emptiness and feeling of repetition to the streets and houses we see, think 2019’s trippy entrapment horror Vivarium. Mocked by the set-up of the various stages of the Backrooms themselves. It’s a point brought up in the unfolding narrative, largely in the final stages after Clark has dragged more people (including his therapist, Mary (Renate Reinsve) into the Backrooms, often confronting the suspenseful creatures shrouded in shadows yet still striking plenty of fear.

The wrap-up may not prove satisfying to everyone, especially with how brief it might seem, although it certainly sticks in the mind afterwards and when reflecting there’s a good deal going on thematically beyond the style and upfront horror at hand. Making the most of uncertainty in the wake of what should be familiar – wonderfully captured by both Reinsve and Ejiofor. The feeling that there’s something lurking around the corner, or in the centre of the frame – one of the first incidents in a dark, angle-shifting room seems to show a head (real or mannequin) buried amongst a pile of clothing. Parsons excels in these moments, letting the environment speak for itself and play with the audiences’ minds at the same time. Pushing our quiet, unsettled interested in liminal spaces by expanding them in the same endless maze of rooms.

Experiment or not, Backrooms is at its most unsettling when pushing through the off-kilter liminal spaces of the titular world. Perhaps thematically strongest afterwards, the ending might divide, but there’s plenty of successful fear and suspense beforehand in a living world of confused repetition and possible monsters.

Cert – 12, Run-time – 2 hours 12 minutes, Director – Jon Favreau

In order to capture a former Galactic Empire commander, bounty hunter The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu must rescue the fight-pit-champion son of Jabba The Hutt (Jeremy Allen White).

After seven years away the return of Star Wars to the big screen has been made to seem less and less big the nearer it’s gotten. Despite a range of TV series, with varying receptions, there’s uncertainty as to how this feature outing for one of the first and most successful of those series will perform, or if there’s even appetite for it. The film itself certainly feels less grand than initial expectations may have expected, screenwriters Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor changed plans for a fourth series of The Mandalorian and adapted them into this adventure for Pedro Pascal’s titular bounty hunter and young apprentice Grogu (a delightful bit of practical puppeteering whenever on screen).

Indeed, the feeling of a condensed series is present throughout much of The Mandalorian And Grogu from the base plot of obtaining information about a target by fulfilling a demand by another group. The points in question see The Mandalorian sent to find a mysterious former Galactic Empire commander, the whereabouts of whom are unknown apart from by the Hutt clan who are willing to hand over information for the return of Jabbas son Rotta (a fight pit champion voiced by Jeremy Allen White). Along the way additional tasks crop up and you can see the divide between segments that would almost end and start each episode in a series.

There are certainly stronger moments and sequences throughout, the action varies and while some moments can feel full of spectacle others can feel a bit messy – Mando claims multiple times to the Colonel who sends him on missions (played by Sigourney Weaver, who appears to be enjoying being in a Star Wars film as much as we do seeing her in one) that the job got messy. In the early stages the sound and visuals are fantastic. Ships and AT-ATs blowing up, cliff-edge fights; there’s a reminder of just how great Star Wars can look. Both in the sense of the finale of Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi and the costumes and sets of the original trilogy. Especially in the fluid action-based opener which sees the two leads at work, however as things developed and the narrative from Point A to Point B via Point C and D and the consequences of Point C it became apparent that what I was focusing on more were the visuals over the story at hand.

Even as the climax is being built towards, the stages of the battle at hand started to draw out and test the run-time. At around 2 hours, not including credits, the film feels much closer to two-and-a-half. There may be plenty of sights and genuinely unsettling creatures; the likes of which I don’t remember seeing in a Star Wars film before, made for the big screen but there’s only so far such things can take you, especially when what these visuals collect into can seem quite dull. An extended sequence focusing on Grogu going off on his own slight tangent seems to rely on the appeal the character has and the occasional exhales of amusement he provides, it’s ineffective as a bigger point for a prolonged amount of time and simply feels like, unfortunately, unnecessary padding.

I’ve seen the TV series labelled a number of times as a space western, if so there’s not as much of that tone here as certainly there’s an attempt for a film that’ll work for more casual viewers, and slots into a slightly familiar Star Wars tone – although with some differences, largely courtesy of Ludwig Göransson’s score which captures some traditional John Williams-esque tones while bringing in a couple of intriguing techno-style tracks; especially when visiting a metropolitan city, featuring an amusing role for Martin Scorsese. Perhaps that tonal change is the biggest one made for this filmic adventure for the likable lead pairing, aside from making trims to a series outline to fit into a 2-hour feature. For a film that has so much to impress visually, much of what’s around it often feels, while amusing, dully lax.

While it has a good number of solid action sequences and leans into the likability of the titular pair, The Mandalorian And Grogu has drawn out periods of disconnect within its condensed series narrative that not even the visual spectacle and detail can bring excitement to.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 28 minutes, Director – Ben Wheatley

A temporary sheriff (Bob Odenkirk) finds it difficult to leave a small, peaceful town as he found it when it seems the population is hiding a deadly secret.

As temporary sheriff Ulysses Richardson (Bob Odenkirk) tell us in his opening monologue that he plans to leave the sleepy town of Normal, Minnesota exactly as he found it you know exactly what kind of film you’re in for. Thus begins Nobody meets Hot Fuzz. Screenwriter Derek Kolstad had conversations about Normal with Odenkirk, who receives a story credit alongside the writer, before production on Nobody and there are similarities between Ulysses and Hutch Mansell. However, Ulysses truly doesn’t have special, military-trained skills and finds it best to keep out of things as much as possible. A parking ticket is less a fine and more a note telling someone to park better.

It’s the kind of law enforcement that fits in in Normal, at least on the surface. It isn’t long until Ulysses discovers a secret the town is hiding, and it seems everyone is helping to cover it up and protect it. The unveiling comes in the form of a bank robbery, from there the action is almost non-stop as Ulysses investigates Normal’s Yakuza links and fights off the people trying to defend it.

The action has the improvised nature of Nobody, although without John Wick-esque skills and swiftness. There’s a well-tracked messiness to the scraps and weapons used as part of them. Gelling with the main character, and the town at hand, yet Odenkirk still sells himself as a, perhaps still unconventional, action star. One who’s consistently entertaining and pushes the action and the humour found within it. In the director’s chair, Ben Wheatley gives a knowing nod to the oblivious, although growingly suspicious, outsider in a small town humour, of course with feelings of Hot Fuzz throughout.

There’s a familiar but still amusing nature to the first half build-up, but once things truly kick off and we’re faced with various stages of fights – with both the police station’s armoury, equipped with C-4 explosives (apparently purchased after a budget allowance following 9/11), and a nearby kitchen coming in handy. It’s pure entertainment and moves quickly through its narrative, clocking in at just 88-minutes including credits – much like Nobody, getting in and out with very little fluff. There’s a self-awareness to the film, both in regards to its humour and how Ulysses is presented as an almost reluctant, but dutiful, hero and as the pure entertainment actioner that it is. Not trying to hide its influences for both screenwriter and director there’s a fun time with plenty of thrills, spills and winces that feel perfectly in place with the style of the film and, thanks to a Yakuza opening, an avoidance of over-escalation as the threats grow and shift.

A fun, self-aware actioner in the vein of Hot Fuzz and Nobody, Normal leans into Odenkirk’s action and comedic abilities with plenty of spark and entertaining fights and weapons leading its short run-time to fly by, even amongst the familiar beats of the first half, which hold their own light enjoyment.

Cert – 18, Run-time – 1 hour 49 minutes, Director – Curry Barker

After using what he believes to be a novelty item to wish that his friend will love him more than anyone else in the world, Bear (Michael Johnston) finds himself trapped by Nikki’s (Inde Navarrette) desperate, increasingly manic, love.

Inde Navarrette’s turn in Obsession will undoubtedly be this year’s performance that we all point to as being undeservingly ignored and snubbed across the awards board simply because it’s in a horror film. Her character Nikki’s pained, manic devotion to Michael Johnston’s Bear grows into a red, jealous rage. Jealousy of anyone who gets the opportunity to speak, or even look, at him, and fury that he’s somehow able to not love her as much as she does him.

Her screams become more frequent and louder, creating a deafening fear throughout the room which echoes into the silences after. They’re often directed towards Bear, a consequence of him wishing on a One Wish Willow that his friend would love him more than anyone else in the world. However, what he believed to be a novelty product has real effects and takes over Nikki, who we see him struggling to ask out in the film’s opening stages, into a figure only recognisable on the outside – although, not to him; this is what he wished for, initially.

Bear’s own creepiness is somewhat intermittent. It’s certainly present as he falls into the control that his wish has taken over Nikki, and at various stages throughout where he appears more relaxed, but it perhaps isn’t as prominent as the film might want it to be – although themes of abuse and control are certainly present throughout. Much of the terror, however, comes from Nikki. The more intense her displays of love are, or it seems the real Nikki makes a brief appearance back in her own body, the more Navarrette dials her performance beyond eleven.

Yet, it’s also through this focus that Obsession’s biggest problem lies. It still has an effect, and works well – if I did half star ratings it would be a perfect example of a three-and-a-half star film – but after a while can start to feel slightly samey when it comes to how it views the central relationship, taking a while to properly start to escalate them, although doing so rather well in Bear’s third act panic. There’s less a feeling of repetition or cycling from the narrative and more that it’s at risk of becoming stagnant for a good chunk of the second act – with occasional unsettling bursts coming along to break out of this, although not entirely sustained.

It’s a shame because when Obsession strikes with its intensity, largely courtesy of Navarrette and the dark, looming score behind a number of her most sinister moments. There’s a loudness to Curry Barker’s film in terms of volume, intensity and just how it throws itself at you with a lot of intentionally in-your-face fear. Trapping you in a corner on a number of occasions with its frenzy. I just wish that those moments sometimes lasted a bit longer or leaked into the next moment, largely during the mid-section, slightly paddle-balling, but really popping at you after rebounding.

A film with truly fearful intensity, largely thanks to Inde Navarrette’s fantastically manic performance, Obsession may threaten to become stagnant around the middle, but still has bursts of threat and terror, and the tension of its ramped-up ending.

Release Date – 29th May 2026, Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 47 minutes, Director – Daniel Roher

Piano tuner Niki’s (Leo Woodall) sensitive hearing condition comes in use for unlocking safes, especially when needing to raise money for his boss’ (Dustin Hoffman) hospital bills, however it leads to trouble with a gang of thieves.

The trailer for Tuner has been played in front of almost every non-horror (and even then some horror) film I’ve seen for much of this year (and that’s no exaggeration). Whether it’s cinemas believing it has mass appeal or Black Bear trying to give a big push after the dismal box office of last year’s Christy – a film with some tonal surprises that deserved better financially – there’s a clear attempt to make people aware of the film’s existence. And indeed there should be plenty of appeal in the traditional tones and leanings of the thriller narrative at hand.

Even the presence of Dustin Hoffman as the father-figure boss, Harry, of Leo Woodall’s Niki brings more to those ‘traditional’ stylings. Hoffman’s presence is largely confined to the first 15-20 minutes, bringing a good handful of chuckles with him, as he and Woodall travel between lavish homes tuning largely unused pianos. However, Harry hasn’t raised his prices in 30 years and can’t afford sudden hospital bills after collapsing in a diner. Niki, who discovers early on that his sensitive hearing condition can help with unlocking safes, takes it upon himself to raise funds after helping a gang of thieves with their job so he can finish a solo job one evening.

The group become reliant on Niki, who continues in order to help Harry – and eventually his relationship with student composer Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu) – but the more reliant they become the tenser the situation gets. Director Daniel Roher and Robert Ramsey’s screenplay is uncomplicated but certainly packs in the thrills, alongside a pure entertainment factor. From the opening stages to almost the very end I sat with a big smile spread across my face from the pure enjoyment there is to be had from the slickness of the narrative.

There may be a slight stretching feeling in the final stages as the film wraps up each of its elements, but for the majority of the run-time there’s a simply entertaining film here. One that’s sold by the cast, particularly Woodall in the lead role, who keep up with the pacing of both the film and its music. The compositions which crop up throughout, by Marius De Vries – with score by Will Bates – have their own engaging nature that gets across the connection with sound, music and the simple piano that a number of the characters have. In fact, one of the climactic sequences, acting as one of the film’s tensest, is made all the more so by the music which both backs and is cut into it. Music and piano also highlight a different aspect of Niki’s condition, captured in a number of moments with strong sound design.

With Tuner there’s an attempt to make a film as smooth as possible and there’s a general success. It may not quite glide like some of the hands we see across the keys of a piano, but for the most part there are a good number of fast-paced thrills to be found. A traditionally told and feeling story with a good handful of chuckles along the way, it’s hard not to be entertained by it.

A traditional story that holds plenty to enjoy in its music, sound design and tension, Tuner is pure, uncomplicated entertainment with a good handful of chuckles along the way.

Cert – 12, Run-time – 1 hour 54 minutes, Directors – James Cameron, Billie Eilish

Concert film of Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft tour, featuring interviews with Eilish about who she wants to be as an artist and behind the scenes details during the gig.

Billie Eilish’s music may generally not be for me, but I understand that it is for many people. I know that even more now having seen the concert film of her Hit Me Hard And Soft tour which appears to be less about Eilish and more about the audience. The camera is almost fascinated by them, giving us plenty of close-ups and glides across the audience members crying and singing along during the gig. During one particular ballad I could understand the camera showing the emotional connection of fans, many with tears running down their faces, but for most of the tracks I questioned the reason and effect. Additionally, on a number of occasions the sound mix appears to make them louder than the artist that they, and those in the cinema, have paid to see.

The audience seems to be one of James Cameron’s biggest interests here, co-directing with Eilish who makes her want for her creative vision to come through in her gigs clear in a brief pre-show conversation with Cameron. She says how the lighting of each song is meant to be specific to mood and theme, what colour matches what song? Cameron captures an individual nature to each song by treating each song as its own moment. While this eases the more the concert goes on, for the first few tracks it feels as if the songs, even when performed one after the other, are very separate. The decision to treat them as scenes rather than songs that flow somewhat backfires.

Yet, there’s no denying that technically there are a good number of things to like about how things have been captured and come across on the big screen. The 3D – the only format in which the film seems to be available in for its cinema release – is utterly useless, but what brings us in to the concert isn’t the insistence on placing us in the screaming audience, but the behind the scenes details. The way the camera goes into the pits with the musicians and backing singers – at one point Eilish runs amongst them with a handheld camera – or seeing how she arrives to the stage crouched in a box for equipment, or takes a quick break below during a song or interlude. A simple wave effect created on the edge of the stage as Eilish runs around it during one song struck me as quite cool. It’s these moments which somehow capture the best sense of energy in the room – a want for a good kind of sensory overload is mentioned but doesn’t quite come across in the cinema where you can feel the control of the editing and view of each song.

But, there’s no denying that as a concert film Hit Me Hard And Soft is perfectly fine. As with most concert films it does largely come down to your relationship with the artist and their music, there are glimpses of interviews with Eilish before and after the concert and although brief there are one or two interesting details in them. The bulk of the film, once past a stop-start nature between songs and interviews or behind the scenes details which begin to be better woven in as things go on (as is the case with much of the film), is taken up by the songs.

For fans, there’s almost certainly a more than worthwhile time when it comes to seeing the film, as it is for the gig. As for those outside of Eilish’s music there’s still plenty to like beyond just technical aspects as there is a mildly rumbling energy to keep things moving, alongside likable behind the scenes glimpses and details during the gig itself. But, you may not feel a full part of the audience, no matter how present, sometimes overly so, they may be in the film.

Once things even out, dropping treating the songs like scenes and flowing between them better, Hit Me Hard And Soft is a solid concert film with some fun behind the scenes details during the gig. Although for outsiders there can sometimes feel a disconnecting visual and audible focus on the audience over the work on stage.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 56 minutes, Director – Simon McQuoid

When in need of a new member to fight in a tournament that will determine the fate of the Earthrealm, its defenders bring in washed-up action movie star Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) to take part in Mortal Kombat.

What I appreciate about the violence of these recent Mortal Kombat films is that they’re not gory just for the sake of being gory, neither for edginess or just to show off an R rating. Instead, it’s there with a grin from behind the camera as it’s simply the way those making the film have seen it fit to be. Because they believe that there should be some effects to the violence of a film adaptation of a game all about not just fighting but Mortal Kombat.

And there’s plenty of amusing CG splatter on display, more than some recent slasher movies, as the narrative links fight to fight over the course of a tournament that will determine the fate of the Earthrealm. Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) seeks to destroy just this, with the help of an amulet that will grant him immortality, and so challenges the Earthrealm defenders to face him and his team in various stages. However, in need of a fifth team member they recruit, having been chosen by the gods, washed-up 90s action movie star Johnny Cage (Karl Urban), think Steven Seagal but with self-awareness.

The fights are jumped straight into with little build-up and that’s just the way the film wants it to be. Why waste time with exposition when you can have people throwing fire at each other or getting close to caving heads in? The exposition, and indeed narrative linking the stages of the Mortal Kombat tournament, are undeniably thin, but the entertainment factor helps to get away from this. Both in regards to fight sequences – even with some occasionally distracting heavy green screen – and humour scattered throughout, particularly coming from Urban’s Cage, who the film fluctuates as to whether he’s the main character or part of a core team, and Josh Lawson’s returning Kano, complete with Deadpool style quips and insults.

You could easily poke at this film and some of its structure, throwing characters around and sending them wherever via portal for whichever fight for the easiest reason but it’s made as a pure entertainment flick and does a pretty good job at being that. There’s fun, and some audible winces, to be had when it comes to the powers and weapons on display, and the eventual effects that they have. A nod to the video games and just what they can allow without feeling like you’re watching over someone’s shoulder while they play. Splattery, funny and certainly not taking itself too seriously, whilst being made with both seriousness and a grin it may, like the first instalment, be forgotten quickly after viewing, but for just under two hours it’s perfectly good action entertainment.

Another entertaining action flick, Mortal Kombat II may be thin on plot and exposition, but its enough to link together the heavy-CG violence which makes the most of both splatter and the powers that cause it.

Release Date – 8th May 2026, Cert – PG, Run-time – 1 hour 49 minutes, Director – Kyle Balda

When their shepherd (Hugh Jackman) is found dead, his flock of sheep take it upon themselves to investigate his murder.

For anyone who may have wrongly doubted it, the power of Emma Thompson is very much still alive and well. She walks into The Sheep Detectives around half an hour in through and somehow manages to completely turn things around. A lacklustre, on-the-nose murder mystery suddenly gains its laughs in the biggest portion of her brief appearances as the lawyer of shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman). After he was found murdered she’s present to read his will, and reveal one of the possible motives for the gathered few in the village of Denbrook, where George had some secrets and rivalries.

However, the police (Nicholas Braun with not too shabby English accent) are struggling in their investigation and so the sheep still grazing in George’s meadow take it upon themselves to try and work out who the murderer is, inspired by the murder-mystery stories he would read aloud to them each night. Once past a series of cartoon behaviour which produces little but bland and faltering jokes we see smartest sheep Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) take the lead alongside never-forgetting Mopple (Chris O’Dowd). The story isn’t so much about the mystery; that’s kept fairly simple and straightforward, but about the central sheep, with tinges of details about grief and remembering rather than choosing to forget.

There’s intentionally a film made that should work rather well for all ages, broader than the traditional family labelling. It’s playing for a very wide audience and should generally have something to appeal to everyone, especially once it properly kicks in with the aforementioned arrival of Emma Thompson who brings about the bigger narrative focus and push for the sheep and actual chuckles – definitely a strong tonal shift for writer Craig Mazin, adapting Leonie Swann’s novel Three Bags Full, having spent the last few years working on TV projects Chernobyl and The Last Of Us (having written films in the Scary Movie and Hangover series before that).

The impact of this film may not be quite as striking, or memorable. In fact, it’s likely that it’ll be hard to remember much of it shortly after it’s finished. But, for its run-time there’s enough to like and be amused by, especially once the narrative factors are in play for the sheep to investigate. This is a solid slice of likable amusement for all ages.

It might take some time to properly get going, but once past some lacklustre build-up and properly focusing on the sheep investigating there’s solid, if forgettable, amusement to be found in The Sheep Detectives with a good deal of chuckles once the titular flock turn away from being cartoons.