Far and away the most intriguing and impressive new release of the week is lynn lucy, the feature debut from writer fyzal boulifa. You know in school there was a lot of rumours about you two. Like that you were lesbians. Screen newcomer roxanne scrimshaw joins seasoned professional Nichola Burley in the respective title roles as friends who became inseparable at school and now live in houses opposite each other. We love this song. This is our song. Sorry, tim. Having raised a ten year old daughter, lynn is delighted when lucy has a child of her own. An event which seems to bring them closer together. But when terrible tragedy befalls lucys new family, lynn finds himself torn between loyalty to her friend and the suspicions of locals looking for an easy scapegoat. We have to talk about what happened. Is lynn right to suspect her former best friend of being a bad mother . Or is she simply taking the chance to increase her own standing to emerge from lucys shadow . People should know what youve been through. Originally inspired from a real life news story, this is an extremely powerful film that approaches a provocative subject with tact, insight, and sensitivity. Have a look in there. Interesting. Described by its creator as a tale of absolute judgement made in a world of ambiguity, it is an entirely convincing portrait of characters trapped by circumstance, turning against each other in times of crisis. A very contemporary subject. You know what they use to call you at school . The pig. Having won numerous plaudits for his short films, boulifa establishes himself as a major new voice in british cinema. Astonishing too that this is roxannes first role. A role she took on after having been scouted through facebook. On this evidence we can expect to see much more of both roxanne and boulifa in the future. I see a decent person. Lynn lucy is on bfi player now along with other platforms and i recommend you check it out as soon as possible. It is shaping up as one of my favourite films of the year. From britain to tokyo, with a new movie by german film maker werner herzog, Family Romance llc. A stranger than fiction tale of a Japanese Company who hire out surrogate friends and relatives for weddings, parties, funerals, and perhaps something more. We open with a meeting between a young girl and her estranged father. Actually the real life chief of the Real Life Company on whom the film is based. During the course of the drama which looks weirdly like a documentary, we see this chameleon like character pretending to be a Railway Station employee in order to take on the shame of a worker who let a train leave early and organising for a Lottery Winner to reexperience the joy of her windfall by orchestrating a repeat performance of her finest hour. Through it all, our central protagonist starts to wonder how real these performances are, an issue which the strange hybrid form of herzogs films seem to mirror. Ive been a devoted fan of herzog since the days of fitzcarraldo and aguire, the wrath of god, with the fearless film maker always pushing himself and cast to the limits. Nobody cares about my films. For example. In 2005 when i was interviewing herzog about his documentary grizzly man, he barely blinked when he got shot with an air rifle on camera, insisting that we continue our conversation since this was not a significant bullet. It is not an everyday thing but it doesnt surprise me to be shot at. It is arguable that Family Romance llc is not a significant herzog film. Balance whimsically between fact and fiction as it worries away at a world in which personal relationships have become commodified business transactions. Even at a slender 89 minutes, the film seems rather overstretched, but i will be honest, i will watch anything with herzogs name on it for better or worse. You can find Family Romance llc on movie. Mummy, i missed you. British actor and model Alex Pettyfer first made movie headlines as the star of stormbreaker, the not very well received adaptation of anthony horwitzs alex rider novels, and since then hes featured in hits like magic mike and misses like the 2014 remake of endless love. Now he makes his directorial debut with back roads, a broiling twisted psychodrama from the novel by tawni odell, who also co wrote the screenplay. The taxes are due in two weeks. I dont have any of it. What are you talking about . I cant afford it. What part did you not understand . Alex is harley, a troubled soul whose dreams of going to college are dashed when his mother, played by juliette lewis, killed his abusive father. Leaving him to care for Three Sisters young jody, troubled misty and 16 year old firebrand amber, portrayed with manic energy by nicola peltz. It is a tough life made tougher by the fact that harley has fallen for an older married woman, yet cannot escape the incestuous ties of a family whose relationships are, to put it kindly, labyrinthine. If you know something about anyone, tell me. Why . Set in rural pennsylvania, shot in louisiana, back roads was first developed as the project for fatal attraction director adrian lyne who now shares screenplay credits. It is interesting to wonder what lyne would have made of it, whether he wouldve brought a more mainstream gloss to what is now and earnestly overought exercise in doom laden sub gothic melodrama. Like the fall of the house of usher but with fewer laughs. Alex plays every scene with a look of a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, clearly relishing the opportunity to put his pretty boy reputation behind him and dig his fingers into something darker, if not necessarily deeper. You are so upset. Ijust wanted to help. To his credit, pettyfer does a serviceable job of directing although the script which leaves no plot twist unturned remains simultaneously overcooked and underwhelming. A few weeks ago saw the uk streaming release of the county, a terrific icelandic drama that blended jet black comedy with tragedy and triumph. Now we have the digital release of a white white day, which was icelands entry for the International Feature film category at the 92nd academy awards. Ingvar sigurosson is a mesmerizing presence as the police chief traumatised by the death of his wife who becomes vengefully obsessed by the discovery that she may have been having an affair. Seemingly channeling his grief into the construction of a house in which his daughter and granddaughter may someday live, our increasingly bedraggled antihero wrestles with the pent up emotions that he refuses to reveal during supposed therapy sessions. Instead, he becomes filled with rage and suspicion, lashing out in unexpected ways that alarm his friends and colleagues alike. This is gripping if not wholly satisfying stuff, effective in chilly isolation, but like its central character, rather hard to embrace emotionally. Thanks be to thee for this food before us. Door knocks. Enter. The wanderers return. Equally peculiar is fannie lye deliverd, the 17th century oddity that plays out in cromwell as england in the years following the beheading charles the first. The beheading of charles the first. Charles dance and maxine peake star as the shropshire farmers whose home is turned upside down by the arrival of strangers spouting radical mantras about personal and sexual freedom. With chaotic results. I can explain. Let him speak, sir. Writer director thomas clay, whose debut the great ecstasy of Robert Carmichael provoked walk out at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005, described this movie as a puritan western inspired by the ideas of Christopher Hills book the world turned upside down and heavens gate. Having spent three years in post production, it is technically impressive, boosted by an atmospheric score by the director himself which draws us deep into the strange and changing world. It may not be quite the masterpiece that clay intended, but for all its flaws it is a film with a vision, albeit a vision that not everybody will want to see. I will leave you with news of two films which have recently arrived on dvd and blu ray. If you want to chase people avoiding tax, why not go after the big boys . Look at apple and amazon, starbucks. Why are you chasing me . It is not them. I suggest google. How much tax did google pay . Not very much. This is nick. He is chronically in my life. From director michael winterbottom, comes greed, a broad stroke comedy with nods towards greek tragedy inspired by the real life antics of philip green. Steve coogan is slimy rag trade mogul richard mccready, a portrait of indulgence, planning a lavish Birthday Celebration on the island of mykonos. Shes in your face. I want it in my face. The film is an uneasy mix of farce and global politics, not one of winterbottoms best but worth it for coogans wall tooth performance. Jackson. Use it to get some food, maybe a room. Youre going to offer me money and then tell me what to do with it . More low key is the public, the thought provoking drama directed by leading man Emilio Estevez about a library that becomes the centre of a homelessness protest. Overlooked at cinemas, it deserves to find a wider audience on disc. That is it for this week. Thank you for watching the film review. Stay safe and i will be back next week with more cinema treats. How bad is it . Cleavage click bait. It said im the tit this time. Hello, the first half of the weekend was great and breezy for most of us. The second half, thoroughly windy, unusually so for the time of year. Expecting gales in places through the day ahead. It should be a bit of sunshine but also some showers. This looks more autumnal than summer. Lots of white lines you can see on the chart, isobars, with the winds strong throughout the day. A frontal system bringing patchy rain and cloud into the south east first then, which will clear quickly, and then a fair amount of sunshine. Some showers as well, some of those really heavy. Particularly across parts of northern england, Northern Ireland and scotland. The odd flash of lightning, the rumble of thunder mixed in. You can expect the windiest weather of all across parts of ireland, scotland. Maybe a stronger wind to the east of the pennines. Disruption to travel for high sided vehicles. It will feel relatively cool. As we head through sunday night, you can see further showers in the forecast, particularly across the northern half of the uk. Stays fairly windy. I think the winds will ease a little as we head into the first part of monday. Going to be a slightly cooler, fresher night. Temperatures getting down into single figures in a few spots. On monday, low pressure sliding away towards scandinavia. High pressure starting to build in from the south west, between the two, still fairly brisk winds across the country. These winds coming down from the north west. That is never going to be a particularly warm wind direction. As you can see, not as many showers through the day on monday. A fair amount of dry weather and some spells of sunshine. As temperatures, 16 20 celsius, just a touch below what we might expect at this point injuly. Tuesday, a dry day for most. Patchy rain in the far north of scotland, otherwise a fair amount of dry weather but it looks like more rain will work in from the west as we head towards the afternoon and evening. As temperatures again on the low side, 1421dc. Through the middle part of the week, wednesday into thursday, some further outbreaks of rain at times. Those temperatures just a bit below par. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Independence day in the us is overshadowed by another big increase in coronavirus cases, but President Trump insists the country is fighting back. 200,000 people are back in lockdown in part of spains catalonia region after a spike in Coronavirus Infections there. A major easing of the coronavirus lockdown is in effect in england with pubs, restaurants, hotels, and cinemas all able to re open. Also coming up, the National Gallery will be the first major museum in the uk to re open its doors next week, after the easing of lockdown restrictions and it will be a whole new type of experience