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It’s easy to forgive a lot in a romance if the chemistry is strong enough, and for the first couple episodes of Apple TV+’s Liaison, the sparks between Eva Green’s Alison and Vincent Cassel’s Gabriel seem reason enough to forge ahead. It hardly matters if we don’t really understand the international conspiracy that’s reunited these estranged exes, or that we don’t yet understand what transpired between them all those years ago. The smolder between them draws us in, even when all they’re doing is exchanging a wordless gaze through a rain-splattered window.

But without enough fuel to ignite a blaze, smolder is about as far as it gets. By the time Liaison stumbles to a close, whatever flickers of promise it showed early on have long since been stamped out by indifferent storytelling and a bloated run time.

The narrative is simultaneously...

The latest in this pulpy fighting franchise has Chechen refugee Anya punching the patriarchy, refreshingly unencumbered by a love interest

Here is a brutally violent but oddly empowering tale of trafficked women compelled to kick the hell out of each other or else get sent to an Albanian brothel. It is part of a pulpy, under-the-radar film franchise series that revolves around illegal, or semi-legal, fight clubs and mixed martial arts (Mma) bouts that usually pit men against their friends and fellow athletes. Their Usp is hardcore hand-to-hand combat, with lots of crunchy foley work providing the sounds of pounded flesh, while still celebrating athletic prowess, loyalty to friends and family and a kind of gladiatorial honour.

This latest instalment serves up more of the same, but with women doing most of the punching, stabbing and roundhouse kicks to the head; there are also two women in the screenwriter and director’s chairs,...

Stars: Olivia Popica, Tommy Bastow, Brooke Johnston, Michael Bisping, Nitu Chandra Srivasttava, Diana Hoyos, James Faulkner, Hannah Al Rashid, Vanesaa Campos, Raffaello Degruttola, Nicole Sousa, Cameron Jack, Christopher Sciueref, Antonio Bustorff, Andrew Hollingworth, Brian Jansen, Edward Linard | Written by Audrey Arkins | Directed by Kellie Madison

Where did this come from? Some five years after the last entry in the franchise and Thirteen years since the original, here comes Never Back Down: Revolt, a female take on the underground fight story that sees Anya (Olivia Popica), the sister of Mma fighter Aslan (Tommy Bastow), who is forced to compete in elite underground fights after Aslan refuses to throw a his latest illegal fight for promoter Julian (James Faulkner). Now working to pay off the debt Aslan owes for Not losing, Anya takes a trip to Rome to partake in a special fighting event (that she’s promised will clear her brothers...

Exclusive: Kellie Madison will direct the fourthquel Never Back Down: Revolt from a script by Audrey Arkins (Elyse) for Mandalay Pictures, Wonder Street and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. Production is set to start November 23 in and around London.

Never Back Down: Revolt centers on a woman who is kidnapped and forced to compete in elite underground fights and has to battle her way out to freedom. Michael Bisping (Den of Thieves) and Brooke Johnston (Hurricane Heist) star as the antagonists who run the fight trafficking ring. Diana Hoyos (2020 Best Actress winner in Colombia for Enfermeras), Neetu Chandra and James Faulkner round out the supporting cast.

The fourth installment will be produced by Craig Baumgarten of Wonder Street and David Zelon of Mandalay Pictures.

The first Never Back Down released in 2008 starred Amber Heard,...

Stars: Melia Kreiling, Nick Blood, Mark Bonner, Simone Kirby, Olivia Popica, Sophie Harkness, Fergal McElherron, Jemma Obrien, James Lecky | Written and Directed by Luke Hymans

Written and directed by Luke Hymans (Dubplate Drama), this horror film, shot in Belfast, tells the story of American documentary film-makers Georgia (Melia Kreiling – Cold) and Matt (Nick Blood – Spike Island) who head to Exmoor in the south of England in an attempt to catch, on film, the “Beast of Exmoor” which apparently exists somewhere in the remote grassland of that particular part of Devon. There reason for wanting to capture this so-called “beast” on camera? £25,000 from the local newspaper.

Xmoor begins with the two leads looking at a YouTube video that is apparently footage of this “beast”, and Georgia convinces Matt to go to Exmoor with the intention of filming this creature and collecting the cash reward. Our documentarians are greeted early-on, while on their way to their destination,...

Stars: Melia Kreiling, Nick Blood, Mark Bonner, Simone Kirby, Olivia Popica, Sophie Harkness, Fergal McElherron, Jemma Obrien, James Lecky | Written and Directed by Luke Hymans

Written and directed by Luke Hymans (Dubplate Drama), this horror film, shot in Belfast, tells the story of American documentary film-makers Georgia (Melia Kreiling – Cold) and Matt (Nick Blood – Spike Island) who head to Exmoor in the south of England in an attempt to catch, on film, the “Beast of Exmoor” which apparently exists somewhere in the remote grassland of that particular part of Devon. There reason for wanting to capture this so-called “beast” on camera? £25,000 from the local newspaper.

X Moor begins with the two leads looking at a YouTube video that is apparently footage of this “beast”, and Georgia convinces Matt to go to Exmoor with the intention of filming this creature and collecting the cash reward. Our documentarians are greeted early-on, while...

Playing as part of this year's Film4 FrightFest is Luke Hyams' scare-a-thon X Moor, and right now we have the official trailer for you guys to dig on. You don't even have to take a flight across the pond to see it! Enjoy!

Melia Kreiling, Nick Blood, Mark Bonnar, Olivia Popica, and James Lecky star.

Synopsis

With their sights set on a £25,000 reward promoted by a local newspaper, American documentarians Georgia and Matt head to Exmoor in North Devon to film the fabled beast supposedly slinking through the remote terrain. Setting up a forest camp with an old acquaintance, the trio fix cameras to the trees and rocks, linked back to a computer nerve centre where nothing should go unnoticed. But then they discover some putrefying body parts all neatly tied up, and before long they realise they are in the lair of a beast right enough, but certainly...

Falling Skies: Fox, 9pm

Steven Spielberg's post-apocalyptic drama returns for a fourth season.

The Masons and the 2nd Mass are attacked by a new Espheni war machine. Starring Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Drew Roy and Connor Jessup.

Glasgow Girls: BBC Three, 10pm

A musical drama telling the true story of a group of schoolgirls in Scotland whose petition to save their friend from deportation helped change immigration laws.

As 15-year-old Agnesa Murselaj (Olivia Popica) is taken by immigration officers, her friends campaign for her release, lobbying the Home Office, challenging the First Minister of Scotland (Greg Hemphill) and winning the support of their community. Also starring Gary Lewis, Kirstie Steele and Erin Armstrong.

Ray Donovan: Sky Atlantic, 10pm

In the second season premiere, Ray (Liev Schreiber) is ordered by the FBI to bring in Mickey (Jon Voight) over Sully Sullivan's killing. Mickey, however, proves difficult to find.

The line-up for this year's Film4 FrightFest in London has just been announced – and boy, is it a doozy! Sporting a record-breaking 38 UK/European premieres and 11 world premieres, this August is going to be an exciting time in the genre calendar.

Check it all out right here, including lots of new images!

This year Film4 FrightFest will be moving from its previous home at Leicester Square's Empire Cinema to the nearby Vue Cinema (also on Leicester Square), prompting an ingenious reshuffle of the screening arrangements.

All main screen films will be presented at different times across three different screens, with two extra screens reserved for single-slot screenings of the various films hitting this year's Discovery Screens.

Here's the full list of goodies:

Main Screens (5, 6, 7)

Thursday Aug 21

Opening Night Film - The Guest (UK Premiere)

Director: Adam Wingard. Cast: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser. USA 2014. 99 mins.

Film4 FrightFest 2014, returning for its 15th year, unveils its biggest line-up ever. From Thurs 21 August to Monday 25 August, the UK’s leading event for genre fans will be at the Vue West End, Leicester Square, to present sixty-four films plus twenty shorts across five screens. There are sixteen countries representing five continents with a record-breaking thirty-eight UK or European premieres and eleven world premieres.

Are you ready for a monstrous and memorable mayhem of killer claws, cannibalism, cult classics, murderous musicals, chiller thrillers, graphic novel action and sick celluloid masterpieces? Then prepare yourself for the biggest, strongest and most eclectic must-see programme in Film4 FrightFest’s history.

From the opening night turbo-driven thrill-ride The Guest to the UK premiere of the closing night mesmeric sci-fi fantasy The Signal, FrightFest has netted the latest works from genre big-hitters such as Eli Roth (The Green Inferno), Alan Moore and Mitch Jenkins (Show...

Back in March open auditions, advertised on Screenterrier, were held in London and Glasgow for a new BBC drama Glasgow Girls.

Now the cast of the 60-minute factual and musical drama has been announced.

Waterloo Road star Kirstie Steele plays Jennifer, and Shetland star Erin Armstrong plays Emma, two of the local Glasgow teenagers, Roma refugee Agnesa is played by Identity Agency's Olivia Popica, Amal by My Brother The Devil's Letitia Wright, Aruhan Galieva (represented by Sally Hope Associates), a talented singer and musician plays Roza, Ewelina and Toni-Lee are played by newcomers Effie Scott and Kirsty Pickering.

The drama is based on the inspirational true story of a group of schoolgirls whose petition to save their friend from deportation inspired a movement, which would eventually help change immigration practices in Scotland.

When 15-year-old Agnesa Murselaj, a Roma from Kosovo, and pupil at Glasgow’s Drumchapel High, was taken...

BBC Three is to air a fact-based musical drama.

Glasgow Girls will tell the true story of a group of schoolgirls who campaigned to save their friend from deportation, and started a movement that led to a change in immigration laws in Scotland.

The 60-minute drama stars Gary Lewis (Billy Elliot) and Greg Hemphill (Still Game), as well as Kirstie Steele, Erin Armstrong, Letitia Wright, Aruhan Galieva and Olivia Popica.

Brian Welsh (The Escape Artist) is directing from a script he co-wrote with Joe Barton. The drama has been commissioned by the BBC to coincide with its Commonwealth Games programming this summer.

Zai Bennett, Former Controller for BBC Three, said: "Glasgow Girls is a thrilling blend of true story, high drama and musical storytelling. Only a channel like BBC Three would attempt to re-tell a hard hitting immigration story in this way."

Executive producer Colin Barr said: "This true story...