Pick of the week
Avatar: The Way of Water
Not a man to do things by halves, world-builder James Cameron is back with the first of four sequels to his 2009 fantasy behemoth. Sam Worthington returns as ex-human soldier Jake, now a Na’vi clan chief on the eco-friendly moon Pandora, alongside Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), with whom he has two children. However, Earth sends another military expedition, forcing the family to flee to a coastal tribe. The subsequent coming-of-age tale involving the kids is by the book, but it’s in the oceanic scenes that Cameron’s bravura imagination and technical genius come to the fore. From the undersea wildlife to the deep-dive set-pieces, it’s an impressively immersive experience.
Wednesday 7 June, Disney+
* * *
Let Him Go
Thomas Bezucha’s elegiac modern western is centred on Diane Lane and Kevin Costner’s wholly convincing performances as an ageing couple. After Montana farmers Margaret and George’s adult son dies in an accident, their grandson and his mother are spirited away to his violent stepdad’s clan in North Dakota. Fearing for the boy’s safety, Margaret sets out on a rescue mission and George reluctantly joins her. With a chilling Lesley Manville as another strong-willed matriarch, it’s clear that women are the real powers in this world.
Saturday 3 June, 9pm, Film4
* * *
Picnic at Hanging Rock
“A dream within a dream.” From the sun-dappled imagery and woozy pan pipe soundtrack to its spurious claim to being fact-based, Peter Weir’s 1975 Australian drama is a beguiling, intoxicating experience. On Valentine’s Day in 1900, three boarding-school girls and a teacher vanish at a beauty spot in rural Victoria. The mystery of this elemental place bewitches and frustrates those left behind, with the fallout for pupils and staff, particularly Rachel Roberts’s headteacher, increasingly traumatic.
Saturday 3 June, 9.30pm, Talking Pictures TV
* * *
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
What a remarkable life Nan Goldin has had. In this superb documentary, Laura Poitras lays out the photographer’s chequered history – from family tragedy as a child to involvement in Boston and New York’s creative and LGBTQ+ underclass, which Goldin captured in intimate, often stark images. This is interspersed with her activism, currently focused on making the wealthy Sackler family accountable for the wave of addiction caused by their painkiller OxyContin, which Goldin herself was once hooked on. A great insight into a great artist.
Sunday 4 June, 10pm, BBC Two
* * *
Woman at War
Extinction Rebellion probably shouldn’t take tips from Icelandic eco-warrior Halla. In Benedikt Erlingsson’s delightful comic caper, the choir director has a secret life sabotaging power lines to halt Chinese investment in aluminium smelting. To confuse matters, she is also due to adopt a four-year-old Ukrainian orphan girl. In a dual role (Halla is an identical twin), Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir is a force of nature while, quirkily, the soundtrack musicians pop up on screen and join in with the action.
Sunday 4 June, 1.40am, Film4
* * *
Living
As a British adaptation of the 1952 Kurosawa classic Ikiru, Oliver Hermanus’s recent drama has its work cut out to emulate the original. That it succeeds is largely down to Bill Nighy’s finely graded performance. His 1950s civil servant, Mr Williams, finds a glimmer of redemption and joy in an empty, staid life when he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. As he abandons his nine-to-five to deal with the news, Williams is brought out of his moroseness by a young colleague (Aimee Lou Wood) and a writer (Tom Burke). A touching tale about the ways we give meaning to our existence.
Wednesday 7 June, Prime Video
* * *
The Roads Not Taken
Film-maker Sally Potter and her Ginger & Rosa star Elle Fanning reunited for this poignant 2020 drama about the pain of remembering. Fanning plays Molly, visiting her father, Mexican writer Leo (Javier Bardem), in his New York flat. But he has a dementia-like condition that means he keeps drifting off into thoughts (or are they inventions?) of his past, which include mourning a loss with Salma Hayek’s Dolores and an encounter with Milena Tscharntke’s tourist in Greece. There’s a deep sadness to Leo as we piece together his life from these evocative fragments. SW
Friday 9 June, 11.05pm, BBC Two
