What does perhaps the most unambiguously summery month have for us in terms of new film releases? Well, going in order of release dates July begins with an Irish drama about impromptu baby adoption and ends with a cartoon about Superman’s dog. Who better to weigh up such things than Keiron Self…
JOYRIDE
A road movie set in Ireland about a woman giving away a newborn baby, with documentary maker Emer Reynolds making her narrative debut at its helm, Joyride sounds like a gritty drama but is shot through with humour and heart. Olivia Colman plays Joy, the middle-aged woman with the child she fears herself unable to deal with: a rich, complex character for Colman to sink her teeth into after her equally excellent and layered lead in The Lost Daughter. She finds herself on her road trip with cheeky teenage street urchin Mully, played by newcomer Charlie Reid, and the two of them form an unlikely bond as their adventure haphazardly takes them across Ireland. Joy is a force of nature to be reckoned with, chaotic and unkempt and bursting with life in what should be an unlikely character-led road movie packed with charm.
Dir: Emer Reynolds (15, 90 mins)
Joyride opens Fri 1 July
NITRAM
A disturbing telling of the terrible events that unfolded in 1996 in Tasmania, when 35 people were massacred by a nihilistic loner, Nitram looks set to provoke and unsettle. Caleb Landry Jones plays Martin Bryant (Nitram being Martin written backwards) – a blank slate and outsider amongst his community, upsetting his mum and dad, a strict Judy Davis and cuddlier Antony LaPaglia. Martin is unable to form friendships until meeting an older heiress, played by Essie Davis. The slowburn drama unfurls under the direction of Justin Kurzel – who also directed Snowtown, a violent drama again based on a real-life string of murders in 90s Australia, and the recent adaptation of Macbeth with Michael Fassbender. Nitram looks set to be an uncompromising glimpse into the mind of a killer that offers no easy answers to the terrible crimes he committed: a grim watch, no doubt, but grippingly told with an award-winning turn from Landry Jones.
Dir: Justin Kurzel (18, 112 mins)
Nitram opens Fri 1 July
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THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
After the barnstorming Ragnarok reclaimed Thor as an interesting character following the lacklustre Thor: The Dark World, and crucially introduced humour and fun to the Asgardian god, director Taika Watiti has been allowed back for another bash at the Man Of Thunder. This time out, Chris Hemsworth loses his dad bod and battles Christian Bale’s Gorr The God Butcher needing the help of the Guardians Of The Galaxy, Watiti-voiced rock monster Korg, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie and – most excitingly – Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, returning pumped-up and superhero-like herself, wielding the hammer Mjolnir. She thereby honours another strand of Asgardian comic lore as the gender-flipped Mighty Thor. Expect much in the way of dizzying spectacle, offbeat humour and soft rock, with Bale hopefully bringing major villain vibes and Portman creating an instant internet-breaking hero. Bring the thunder – and also the romance.
Dir: Taika Watiti (12A, 120 mins)
Thor: Love And Thunder opens Fri 8 July
MCENROE
The bad boy of the tennis world tells his own side of the story of his glittering, turbulent life on and off the court in this revealing documentary. Back in the 1980s, John McEnroe was part of the zeitgeist: an incredible tennis player, prone to angry outbursts and shouting at the umpire. He even spawned a pop hit which samples his famous, furious “you cannot be serious!” catchphrase. This documentary – including stock footage, interviews with tennis contemporaries like Billie Jean King and Björn Borg, and frank revelations from McEnroe himself – should provide plenty of insight on the enfant terrible of the court. There was sporting prowess mixed with rock’n’roll hedonism. His obsessive perfectionism, his dwelling on every mistake made in his matches, his encounters with psychiatrists and his relationship with his equal perfectionist father fill in the reasoning behind the often off-kilter personality with the headband and frizzy hair who became a global punchline. Frank and illuminating, this should be better than Wimbledon.
Dir: Barney Douglas (15, 104 mins)
McEnroe opens Fri 15 July
MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS
A crowd-pleasing period comedy-drama based on Paul Gallico’s bestselling book, previously incarnated by Gracie Fields back in 1958, this feelgood confection has Lesley Manville as the titular Mrs Harris, who does indeed go to Paris. A widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London, an invisible woman making everything tidy for her employers, she thinks her life may be over. Yet she finds herself falling in love with fashion, in particular a Christian Dior dress, and – after scrimping, saving and the financial windfall of a war widow’s pension – she sets off for Paris to buy one. Once there, having dealt with haughty French fashionista types like Isabelle Huppert at the House Of Dior, Mrs Harris helps a young French couple find love and starts to make her own dresses herself, with upbeat results. This will be like a mashup of The Devil Wears Prada and a nice cup of tea.
Dir: Anthony Fabian (PG, 92 mins)
Mrs Harris Goes To Paris opens Fri 15 July
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THE RAILWAY CHILDREN RETURN
A belated sequel to the classic children’s film from 1970, itself based on the E. Nesbit novel, that dealt with children living in the Yorkshire countryside after falling on hard times and their father being sent to prison for treason. The original adaption saw the young Jenny Agutter and Sally Thomsett avert a railway disaster and chase and wave at steam trains, until “daddy, oh my daddy” returns amidst lumps in throats. This follow-on also stars Agutter – reprising her role as the now grown-up Bobbie and looking after children evacuated from war-torn London, introducing them to country life with the help of Sheridan Smith and Game Of Thrones’ John Bradley. Cue chicken-chasing, stargazing and countryside shock for the London evacuees and many heartwarming moments – hopefully not cloying enough to destroy a cherished, if rather slight, hit from some 52 years earlier. Toot toot!
Dir: Morgan Matthews (PG, 100 mins)
The Railway Children Return opens Fri 15 July
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING
Delia Owen’s best-selling novel gets its big-screen adaptation with a leading role for Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones. Set in the 1950s, Jones plays Kya, the Marsh Girl, who has raised herself in the swamps of the Deep South after her parents abandoned her. A feral child who lives on the outskirts of society, possessing few friends but a real link with nature, Kya nevertheless finds herself caught in a love triangle with town heartthrob Chase (Harris Dickinson) and the more sensitive Tate (Taylor John Smith). When Chase turns up dead, all eyes fall on Kya as his killer, but what really happened? Prejudices surface, and the gap between rich and poor is made plain and exacerbated. If …Crawdads can live up to the book, it should make a gripping, moving romantic legal drama, with Edgar-Jones having the acting chops to make the heroine mysterious and compelling. A crawdad is a freshwater crayfish by the way… so like river prawns. Where The River Prawns Sing: not so catchy a title.
Dir: Olivia Newman (15, 102 mins)
Where The Crawdads Sing opens Fri 15 July
NOTRE DAME ON FIRE
The burning of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris in April 2019 shocked the world: history went up in flames and a much-loved landmark was, potentially, lost forever. This film tells the story of the firefighters who went in to do what they could to save the building, and its treasures within, under the eye of renowned filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Name Of The Rose, Seven Years In Tibet, The Bear. Visually, this should stun, with plenty of fiery derring-do from within the building aided by well-placed CGI and the performances of Samuel Labarthe and Chloe Jouannet as they do battle with the smoke and awe. Spires collapse and bells fall with blockbuster vim alongside real footage from the event – curated, by Annaud, from anyone who filmed anything at the time. A prestige piece with French pride very much running through it.
Dir: Jean-Jacques Annaud (12A, 110 mins)
Notre Dame On Fire opens Fri 22 July
DC LEAGUE OF SUPERPETS
Forget the superheroes – now it’s all about their pets in this animated caper that puts animals, rather than brooding dark knights, front and centre. Krypto, voiced by the ubiquitous Dwayne Johnson, is Superman’s pet dog and has to use his own canine superpowers when his master – and the rest of the Justice League – are kidnapped by Lex Luthor (GLOW’s Marc Maron). Krypto is going to need help, so he rounds up some shelter pets who’ve been transformed into super animals themselves following a rogue Krptonite accident – hence Kevin Hart’s superstrong bulldog Ace, PB the size-manipulating pig (Vanessa Bayer), speedy turtle Merton (Natasha Lyonne) and electricity-shooting squirrel Chip (Diego Luna). Keanu Reeves and John Krasinski provide the voices of Batman and Superman respectfully, with Kate Mackinnon on baddie pet duties. A family comedy animation for summer with some superhero satire, this should be caped popcorn fun. Superwoof.
Dir: Jared Stern/Sam Levine (PG, 100 mins)
DC League Of Superpets opens Fri 29 July
words KEIRON SELF