THE CURED ★★★
Directed by David Freyne. Starring Sam Keely, Ellen Page, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Paula Malcomson, Stuart Graham, Oscar Nolan, David Herlihy. 16 cert, general release, 95 min
Freyne's impressive debut feature imagines an Ireland in which, following a zombie apocalypse, rehabilitated flesh eaters are integrated back into society. Keely is broken as the damaged hero. Vaughan-Lawlor is charismatic as a rebel. Page is impressively flattened as Keely's sister-in-law. The core action gets a little swamped by import in the closing stages. But this remains an original, thoughtful entertainment that is sure to propel its creator towards still greater things. DC
MARLINA THE MURDERER IN FOUR ACTS ★★★★
Directed by Mouly Surya. Starring Marsha Timothy, Dea Panendra, Egi Fedly, Yoga Pratama, Rita Matu Mona, Vayu Unru, Anggun Priambodo, Safira Ahmad. Club, QFT, Belfast; IFI Dublin, 95 min
Surya's macabre Indonesian comedy is jollied along by extreme patriarchal privilege, machete-violence, deadly culinary skills and the spirit of Sergio Leone. We say Leone: we mean specifically the Dollars trilogy, an allusion that's sounded out by Yudhi Arfani's knowing trumpet soundtrack. Marlina may know how to cook chicken soup, but, excluding survival skills, she has little in common with Once Upon a Time in the West's civilising and sexually-pestered Claudia Cardinale. Mad. Essential. Riveting. Full review TB
NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL ★★★★
Directed by Kathleen Hepburn. Starring Shirley Henderson, Théodore Pellerin, Nicholas Campbell, Jared Abrahamson, Mary Galloway. Club, Triskel, Cork; IFI, Dublin, 112 min
Shirley Henderson gives a career-best performance in Hepburn's remarkably surefooted directorial debut. Judy, a woman living in farflung British Columbia, struggles with debilitating tremors in the later stages of Parkinson's. Every button, every step is a challenge. Her family situation is as precarious as her health. Her carer husband (Campbell) dies suddenly. Her rudderless son, Jamie (Pellerin) is struggling with his own sexuality. A beautiful, wintry, heartfelt film, for which Hepburn has drawn from her own mother's experiences. Full review TB
CUSTODY/JUSQU'À LA GARDE ★★★★★
Directed by Xavier Legrand. Starring Denis Ménochet, Léa Drucker, Thomas Gioria, Mathilde Auneveux, Mathilde Saïkaly, Florence Janas, Saadia Bentaïeb. 15A cert, IFI/Light House, Dublin, 94 min
A young boy copes with weekend visits to an abusive father following his parents' antagonistic separation. The research is rigorous. The performances are consistently strong with Gioria excelling as the cautious terrified child. The result is a film that addresses the worst manifestations of toxic masculinity within the context of a hurtling drama that never allows attention to wander. A stunning debut from a director who just oozes potential. Full review DC
LOVE, SIMON ★★★★
Directed by Greg Berlanti. Starring Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duchamel, Tony Hale. 12A cert, general release, 109 min
Simon Spier is a much-admired high-school senior growing up in a picture-perfect American suburb. His friends are bubbly and gorgeous. His parents are loving and understanding and played by Garner and Duchamel. His younger sister is the opposite of bratty. It shouldn't be a big deal for Simon to come out, and yet it is. None would ever mistake this shiny, glossy movie for the queerer pictures in the Gregg Araki archive, but by going the full John Hughes, it's a landmark LGBTQ movie. Affecting, too. Full review TB
MAKING THE GRADE ★★★★
Directed by Ken Wardrop. G cert, limited release, 87 min
Picking up where 2010 sleeper hit His & Hers left off, Ken Wardrop's third feature depicts the relationships between Irish piano students and their teachers. The film meets and warmly greets some 51 participants – hailing from all over Ireland – as they prepare for their Royal Irish Academy of Music examinations. Using that body's grade structure, Making the Grade opens with five-year-old Harry Keegan climbing on to a stool for his first lesson, and closes with those tackling Rachmaninoff for Grade Eight. Heartwarming. Full review TB
