david-meldrum

Unremarkable, uninvolving, this is one of those films that exists neutrally for as long as you're watching it ... then it just disappears from your mind. The Bad Guys are going straight, with a plot for which the Maguffin is (and I'm not joking here) something called Maguffinite. As some point they end up on a rocket going into space because ... reasons. The rocket is owned by a company called MoonX. Yes, MoonX. There are a handful of half-decent jokes, but other than that there's little to remember. My daughter (16 y/o) enjoyed, and though it was better than the first one, so what do I know?

Four super-rich tech bros get together for a weekend away in a mountain retreat whilst the world goes to hell in handcart thanks to a social media company owned by one of the four releases a new hyper-realistic AI creation tool. It's from Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Succession, and he's on familiar ground here with this take-down of the super-rich. It's another entry in the eat the rich genre that probably needs a break now; not that the super-rich shouldn't be satirised, but the wave of content on this theme is in danger of distracting us from our own complicity in the world's problems. It's easy to look the other way when we keep saying the real problem is 'them over there'. Anyway, this has its moments; with a good writer and a good cast, it can't not. There are moments of insight, but there is too much tell and not enough - or hardly any - 'show'. Ultimately, it feels like a lot of people here are coasting; and with somewhat pedestrian direction, it never really takes off into the significant satirical piece it wants to be.

A recently bereaved mother (played by Julianne Moore) is thrown into a situation that spirals out of control when her daughter, who is in and out of rehab, turns up on her doorstep desperate for help. What follows is a small-scale thriller that - despite the small canvass - makes the stakes feel significant and ratchets the tension, even if there are ultimately few surprises. What counts in this film's favour is the small cast that's stacked with talent, all of whom are on good form, and a script that brilliantly nails the complex web of issues and emotions that result from being in close relationship with an addict - the nightmarish decisions, in which none of the outcomes are good, the moral compromises, the constantly warring emotions within. It's ultimately an effective, well-crafted genre thriller - and none the worse for all that.