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| The Innocents Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival |
There was such a lot of great stuff on telly last week that I didn't get to include this superior Nordic chiller. Good news, then, that it's on Channel 4's streaming service and a perfect film if you're looking for something to watch on Halloween. There's a touch of The Midwich Cuckoos to the kids we encounter on a housing estate, with the sense of oddness only magnified by the bright summery setting. Ida (Rakel Lenora Fløttum) is less than sympathetic to her older sister Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad), who has autism. That makes a friendship with the similarly aged Ben (Sam Ashraf) appealing... especially when he reveals he has special powers. Elsewhere on the estate Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim) also has special abilities - including being able to talk to Anna. All the more disturbing for the maintenance of the children's perspective, this is a subtle spinechiller.
The Road, 11.15pm, Great Movies, Monday, October 28
Future dystopias have rarely been so bleak as John Hillcoat's reimagining of Cormac McCarthy's best-seller for the big screen. Even colour seems to have forsaken the father (Viggo Mortensen) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee, proving his emotionally resonant turn in Romulus, My Father was no flash in the pan) who's progress we follow. Hillcoat may have sheared off a few of McCarthy's more shocking elements, but what remains is a lean and broody consideration of the road we're all travelling to a greater or lesser extent.
Eternal You, 10pm, BBC2, Tuesday, October 29
In recent years, artificial intelligence has been increasingly working its way into our lives - whether it's helping write a document - none of that here, of course! - or suggesting things we might like to watch at the cinema, like Tallinn Black Nights' Film Festival's latest innovation (if you view it that way) Susi. Being dead is also no barrier to an AI makeover as Moritz Riesewieck and Hans Block's troubling documentary shows. Chatbots, called “thanobots”, which use dead loved ones’ online history as a springboard for AI to conduct conversations after death are just the tip of the iceberg as some companies look to provide a sort of digital life after death. As an exploration of the tech it's fascinating but also raises difficult questions of the morality that underpins it and the responsibility the firms have for the living who use their services. At least as disturbing as any of the horror films we're recommending this week. Read
The Omen, 11.05pm, BBC2, Thursday, October 31
Jennie Kermode writes: One of the best horror films of the Seventies and one of the best religious horror films made to date, this story of an American ambassador (Gregory Peck) who inadvertently adopts a baby destined to become the Antichrist is celebrated for its performances, atmosphere and score. Key plot elements hinge on the presence of society photographer Keith Jennings (David Warner), who inadvertently stumbles on an odd photography effect that shows up in pictures of those close to the child and fated to die. When he spots it in an accidental picture of his own reflection, he's prompted to team up with the ambassador in a desperate search for the child's true origins and a means of bringing the evil associated with him to an end. He's just a small player on the film's grand stage and he knows it. For all the anguish of Peck's performance, it's Warner who truly humanises the film and makes it resonate with the audience.
The African Queen, 2pm, BBC2, Saturday, November 2
It doesn't matter how many times you sail away with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in this Oscar-winning classic directed by John Huston it never loses its charm. Bogart and Hepburn play a gin-loving river sailor and a prim missionary who end up on an odd couple river trip to try to sink a German gunboat. The slowburn romantic elements balance beautifully with the film's more comedic moments and its sense of adventure, as Bogart and Hepburn spark off one another - perhaps helped by the fact that Hepburn was a fan of Africa while Bogart was decidedly not. Shot by Jack Cardiff, the cinematographer had a few tricks up his sleeve, including filling a camera lens with feathers to mimic a swarm of flies. It earned Bogart his first and only Oscar and marks the only time the pair were cast together.
Paddington 2, 3.15pm, BBC1, Sunday, November 3
When people talk about great sequels, they usually have the likes of Godfather Part II (which you can catch on Film4 on Saturday) or Aliens. Kids films, however, have a tendency to suffer from the law of diminishing returns... but not in this case. In fact, many consider this to be superior to the first instalment. Our furry Peruvian hero (voiced by Ben Whishaw) spends some time at Her Majesty's pleasure after he is framed for theft, alongside the almost equally furry Brendan Gleeson as the prison chef, a situation that sees them team up to tackle bad guy Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant, in the form of his life). With Paddington in Peru hitting cinemas next month, now is a good time to catch up with his previous adventures.
The Shawshank Redemption, 10pm, BBC2, Sunday, November 3
Jennie Kermode writes: Most Stephen King stories suffer from weak endings. This film, based on one of his novellas, gained cult status because of its ending, and while we don’t wish to spoil it if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth noting that there are little clues to what’s coming all the way through. This is important because there’s also a great deal of brutality, including sexual violence. At the centre of it is Tim Robbins as Andy, a man determined to serve his time usefully, trying to improve conditions for his fellow prisoners and slowly, very slowly, setting in motion an elaborate plan to bring abusive members of the staff to justice. The questions that director Frank Darabont ultimately wants you to ask is why he didn’t escape sooner, and that’s when you need to drop some of the assumptions that people make about the central character and take another look at the title. There’s more than one kind of nightmare that Andy needs to break free from.
It seems appropriate to include a horror short this week, so check out Chris Barfoot and Robert Clother's vampiric The Reckoning.
