Saturday 26/09/26The Moment (2026) *** (Sky Cinema Premiere, 6.35am & 1.30pm)Charli XCX plays a fictionalised version of herself in this mockumentary. It follows the pop star in the wake of her zeitgeist-capturing album Brat, which launched her to a new level of fame. As she prepares to embark on an arena tour, Charli finds herself struggling with superstardom and the pressure to keep ‘Brat summer’ going while she wants to move on artistically. The film is an interesting look at the nature of modern celebrity (including brand deals and social media promotion), and Charli proves to be a compelling screen presence, holding her own among an impressive supporting cast that includes Rosanna Arquette, Jamie Demetriou and Alexander Skarsgård. However, as a satire The Moment could have done with being sharper – and funnier.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) ***** (BBC2, 10.35am)Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s satirical drama generated no end of controversy at the time of its release. The British government weren’t big fans, and the US release was edited. However, it remains one of the duo’s finest works, which is really saying something. It concerns a Home Guard officer serving during the Second World War who is outraged by the disrespect for tradition shown by younger soldiers. He looks back on his military adventures during the Boer War and First World War, as well as his three great loves. Roger Livesey stars with Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook and John Laurie (who would go on to join the Home Guard himself for the much-loved sitcom Dad’s Army).
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) **** (Channel 4, 10.00pm)Tearaway Gary Unwin (Taron Egerton), who is known to friends as Eggsy, lets off steam by joyriding with friends and ends up in a police cell. Dapper secret agent Harry Hart (Colin Firth) secures Eggsy’s release because he believes the young man has untapped potential as a crimefighter. Hart enrols his protege in a gruelling training programme for an elite secret service, where Eggsy shines brighter than the supposed creme de la crème. So, when technological wizard Valentine (Samuel L Jackson) threatens mankind, Eggsy puts his training to the test. Directed at full pelt by Matthew Vaughn, Kingsman: The Secret Service is an outrageous and hugely entertaining James Bond-esque caper.
Legally Blonde (2001) **** (BBC1, 10.45pm)Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell were wrong: gentlemen don’t prefer blondes. At least not young gentlemen like Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis), an aspiring politician who is dating Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon), the most popular girl in her sorority. When Warner gains his place at Harvard Law School, he breaks up with Elle, believing he needs a more serious girlfriend if he is to succeed. Determined to win her man back, Elle works her manicured fingers to the bone to get into Harvard where her razor-sharp skills of reasoning and argument see her chosen to work on a murder case. Legally Blonde is an unashamedly breezy comedy with fashion nous, a sassy attitude, and the pre-Barbie movie message that you can love pink and handbags and still be a force to be reckoned with.
Sunday 27/09/26The Lady Vanishes (1938) ***** (BBC2, 2.05pm)Based on the story The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White, this Alfred Hitchcock classic – one of his earliest sound hits – is still as wonderful today as it was on its cinema release. Several remakes have followed but failed to match it. To pass the time during a journey aboard the Trans-Continental Express, Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood) befriends middle-aged English governess Miss Froy (May Whitty), the woman sitting opposite her in the train compartment. Further down the track, Miss Froy disappears without trace and when other passengers claim they never saw the elusive governess, Iris begins to question her sanity. Soon, Iris and dashing stranger Gilbert Redman (Michael Redgrave) are embroiled in a frantic race against time to expose the truth.
Shrek (2001) **** (BBC1, 2.50pm)Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is a grumpy green ogre whose peace is shattered when the ruler of the realm, Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow), banishes all the fairy-tale folk from his kingdom – and they end up seeking refuge in Shrek’s swamp. Farquaad agrees to remove them if Shrek rescues spirited Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), so the ogre embarks on the quest of his life with motor-mouth donkey (Eddie Murphy, who steals the whole movie) amid colourful visuals and uproarious humour. The animation may have dated a bit since it was released, but the story remains engaging and contains laughs for children and parents as it twists the fairy-tale stereotypes.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026) **** (Sky Cinema Premiere, 9.00pm)Director Nia DaCosta accepts the directorial baton from Danny Boyle to conjure a gore-slathered purgatory for survivors of the deadly rage virus in the second chapter of a bloodthirsty horror trilogy written by Alex Garland. Following the events of 28 Years Later, terrified teenager Spike (Alfie Williams) is separated from his family and fortified island home, and trembles in the grip of Satanist gang leader Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). Meanwhile, Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes, excellent) continues to honour the fallen at his towering memorial of skulls and bones. The iodine-slathered medic forges a curious connection to Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) and continued observation reveals a new glimmer of hope for survivors of the contagion.
Platoon (1986) ***** (BBC2, 10.00pm)Young college dropout Chris (Charlie Sheen) volunteers for service in Vietnam. On his arrival, his colleagues scorn his lack of experience, while his platoon’s two sergeants embark on their own private war – against each other. Following an illegal killing during a raid, Chris’s mental state deteriorates as he finds himself torn between the conflict against the Viet Cong and that going on amongst his fellow soldiers. Harrowing and realistic with a cast that also includes Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger, Oliver Stone’s drama won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Sound and Editing. The director, who served during the Vietnam War, would go on to make two more films, Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven & Earth, about the conflict.
Monday 28/09/26Dead Man’s Shoes (2004) **** (Film4, 10.50pm)Tortured ex-soldier Richard (Paddy Considine) returns to his Derbyshire hometown to find out what happened to his brother Anthony (Toby Kebbell) after he fell in with a group of local drug dealers. As Richard begins taking his revenge against the gang, Anthony’s story starts to emerge. Director Shane Meadows was well on the way to establishing himself as one of the country’s hottest filmmakers after the success of films like Once Upon a Time in the Midlands and A Room for Romeo Brass. This 2004 effort sees co-writer Paddy Considine on top form and, with many of the cast being non-actors and much of the dialogue improvised, there’s a strong sense of realism which makes the violence all the more horrifying.
Nickel Boys (2024) ***** (BBC2, 11.05pm) PremiereNickel Boys is a harrowing drama, skilfully adapted for the screen by director RaMell Ross and co-writer Joslyn Barnes from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which is based on a real-life reform school in Florida. Teenager Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) lives in racially segregated 1962 Tallahassee, where he is wrongly accused of being an accomplice to the theft of a car. As a minor, he is dispatched to Nickel Academy, where sadistic white administrator Spencer (Hamish Linklater) and staff separate the black intake and exploit them as slave labour. Elwood is befriended by another boy, Jack Turner (Brandon Wilson), who explains the ways to escape Nickel: serve time, turn 18, wait for the court to intervene, die, or run and hope the guards don’t shoot you in the back.
Tuesday 29/09/26Malcolm X (1992) **** (BBC1, 10.40pm)Spike Lee’s ambitious biopic of the activist stars a perfectly cast (and Oscar-nominated) Denzel Washington in the title role. The film shows how the future civil rights leader was born Malcolm Little and became a small-time criminal before ending up in prison. While behind bars, he meets a member of the Nation of Islam, who awakens his interest in religion and the systematic racism in US society. When he’s released, he takes the name Malcom X and starts speaking out. Despite a three-hour runtime, this biopic is bracingly energetic, and features an impressive supporting cast, including Angela Bassett, Albert Hall and Delroy Lindo. Lee doesn’t shy away from X’s more controversial pronouncements, and the director’s willingness to draw parallels with the events of 1992, when the movie was released, still feels daring.
Bob Trevino Likes It (2024) **** (Film4, 11.10pm)Director Tracie Laymon’s sweet comedy drama features a charming performance from Barbie Ferreira as Lily Trevino, a put-upon twentysomething who discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her when he sends her a text meant for someone else. She can’t rely on her useless father (French Stewart) for comfort – he only reaches out to her when he’s trying to convince his latest love interest that he’s a good dad. In fact, he’s recently cut Lily off, and when she tries to contact him online, she ends up befriending a stranger with the same name. Could this Bob Trevino (John Leguizamo) be the supportive influence she’s been missing in her life?
Wednesday 30/09/26Bridge of Spies (2015) **** (Film4, 6.15pm)Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is arrested in 1950s New York and labelled a Soviet spy. Lawyer James B Donovan (Tom Hanks) is asked to mount a credible defence for the sake of appearances, even though the odds are stacked against a fair trial. Sure enough, Abel is convicted, but then a US pilot, Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell), is shot down over the Soviet Union. Consequently, Donovan travels to Berlin to broker a covert deal to exchange Abel for Powers. Scripted by Matt Charman and the Coen brothers, Bridge of Spies is a slow-burning tale of intrigue and bluff, and director Steven Spielberg’s fingerprints are evident on each assured set-piece. Hanks brings his natural warmth and likability to Donovan, but it’s his Oscar-winning co-star Rylance who lingers longest in the memory.
Candyman (2021) *** (BBC1, 10.40pm)Visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) has experienced two creatively barren years since he burst on to the scene with his bold, politically conscious paintings. Girlfriend Brianna (Teyonah Parris), director at an art gallery, financially supports them in the heavily gentrified Cabrini Green neighbourhood of Chicago, where the urban legend of Daniel Robitaille (Tony Todd), aka the Candyman, once struck fear into residents’ hearts. Anthony becomes fascinated with the legend and creates a provocative mirrored installation, which invites visitors to summon the Candyman. Death manifests in Cabrini Green and Anthony’s sanity fractures. Nia DaCosta’s horror sequel grounds the myth in social injustice and white police brutality towards an innocent black man.
Thursday 01/10/26The Holdovers (2023) **** (Film4, 9.00pm) PremiereDirector Alexander Payne’s touching comedy drama is a vibrant portrait of schooldays angst in the vein of Dead Poets Society set in a 1970s working-class New England town blanketed by Christmas-time snow. Classics teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) doesn’t tolerate mediocrity from his students at Barton Academy boarding school and incurs the wrath of headmaster Dr Hardy Woodrup (Andrew Garman) by failing the son of a powerful senator. As punishment, Woodrup selects Paul to remain on campus over Christmas to chaperone the boys who won’t be travelling home for the holidays. Fate conspires to reduce the Yuletide stragglers to Paul, head cook Mary Lamb (an Oscar-winning Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and his student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa). This unholy trinity thaws out common ground in frozen seclusion.
Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) **** (BBC2, 11.05pm)Amateur operatic soprano Florence Foster Jenkins became a cause celebre in 1930s and 1940s New York precisely because she was unable to hold a note during her infamous recitals. This real-life story of triumph against sniggering cynicism provides rich inspiration for Stephen Frears’ rollicking comedy drama, anchored by tour-de-force performances from Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant. Florence (Streep) is determined to further her musical ambitions with the help of her second husband and doting companion, St Clair (Grant). Cosme McMoon (Simon Helberg) lands the position of Florence’s pianist and gradually falls under his employer’s spell, acknowledging that she is just following her dream. But when Florence decides to perform at the world-famous Carnegie Hall, will the rest of audience be as willing to humour her?
Friday 02/10/26The Substance (2024) **** (BBC2, 10.00pm) PremiereHollywood star Elisabeth Sparkle (an Oscar-nominated Demi Moore) has found a new calling as a Jane Fonda-esque home fitness guru in a skin-tight leotard and leg warmers. Then odious TV executive Harvey (Dennis Quaid) cancels her contract, claiming consumers “always demand something new” and that isn’t 50-year-old Elisabeth. The crestfallen star is encouraged to try a self-administered medical procedure called The Substance. One injection promises to unlock Elisabeth’s DNA and release a younger, fresher version of herself, called Sue (Margaret Qualley), but there are potential drawbacks… The Substance spares neither characters nor us as Elisabeth’s ill-fated quest for longevity descends into stomach-churning delirium. Moore and Qualley are fearless as they explore each unflattering facet of their mirror images.
The Wicker Man (1973) ***** (BBC2, 12.15am)Christopher Lee delivers one of his finest performances in Robin Hardy’s seminal 1973 horror, which remains among the glittering gems of the genre, inspiring numerous imitators and a disastrous 2006 remake starring Nicolas Cage. Inexperienced police officer Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote Scottish island to locate a missing girl called Rowan Morrison. He discovers a close-knit community devoted to strange Pagan practices, which clashes with Howie’s Christian sensibilities. The community’s creepy leader, Lord Summerisle (Lee), the girl’s mother (Irene Sunter) and other locals hamper Howie’s investigation by denying the girl’s existence. As the case unfolds during preparations for the island’s harvest festival, Howie stumbles unwittingly towards the jaws of death.
