RESPECT ★★★☆☆
Directed by Liesl Tommy. Starring Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Mary J Blige. 12A cert, gen release, 145 min
The latest by-the-numbers musical biopic casts Hudson as Aretha Franklin. Just as these films have become loaded with cliches, the reviews have too often lazily argued that "[Lead Actor X] just about saves the day". Well, here we are again. Hudson has the good sense not to go for a formal impersonation, but rather layers elements of her own persona in with subtle inclinations towards the Queen of Soul. The interactions with jealous hangers-on we have seen before, but Respect takes flight in its musical interludes. A grand gospel finale just about helps us forget the ho-hum drama that has come before. Full review DC
HERSELF ★★★★☆
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd. Starring Clare Dunne, Harriet Walter, Conleth Hill, Ian Lloyd Anderson, Molly McCann, Ruby Rose O'Hara. 15A cert, gen release, 97 min
An abused mother (Dunne), unable to find accommodation in contemporary Dublin, elects to build her own house at the bottom of a friend's garden. Lloyd's film is a reasonably well integrated blend of hard realism and gentle fantasy. The former hangs around some gruelling domestic violence. The latter offers the protagonist an unlikely – though mot impossible – route out of her current crisis. The script, written by Dunne and Malcolm Campbell, packs too much plot in its final 10 minutes, but it hits the emotional beats with gusto throughout. The actors are all excellent. Full review DC
SWEET THING ★★★★☆
Directed by Alexandre Rockwell. Starring Lana Rockwell, Nico Rockwell, Jabari Watkins, Will Patton, Karyn Parsons. Digital platforms, 91 min
This lively coming-of-age fable featuring director Rockwell's family – including wife and former Fresh Prince star Karyn Parsons, his daughter Lana and son Nico – has been described by Quentin Tarantino as one of the most powerful new films in years. It's certainly memorable. Look askance and Sweet Thing occupies the same lesser-spotted America as Sean Baker's beguiling chronicles of breadline living: Tangerine, The Florida Project and the incoming Red Rocket. Look again, and it's a charming, uplifting fable. Full review TB
COPILOT ★★★☆☆
Directed by Anne Zohra Berrached. Starring Canan Kir, Roger Azar, Darina Al Joundi, Hans Jürgen Alf. Limited release, 121 min
Berrached's follow-up to her Berlinale-shortlisted 24 Weeks initially plays like a tale of young love before shifting gear to become a fictionalised, carefully researched and partly improvised chronicle of the relationship between one of the 9/11 terrorists and his wife. Specifically, the film dramatises aspects from the life of the United 93 hijacker, Lebanon-born Ziad Jarrah, renamed here as Saeed (Azar). There is a welcome internationalism in a film that flits between Rostock, Beirut, Hamburg and Miama and contains significant scenes in German, English, Arabic and Turkish. Full review TB
