Pick of the week
The Testament of Ann Lee<\/p>\n
Mona Fastvold\u2019s astonishing drama about the founder of the Shakers Christian sect in the 18th century defies simple classification \u2013 which may be why it was unjustly shunned during awards season. At heart it\u2019s a historical biopic: Manchester cotton worker Ann Lee (a performance of great intensity from Amanda Seyfried) joins the Quakers, then forms her own group founded on celibacy, and ends up migrating to America to seek religious freedom. It\u2019s also a highly choreographed folk musical, centred on the Shakers\u2019 ecstatic singing and dancing. And it\u2019s a fascinating tale of female\u00a0empowerment in an age when the obstacles to self-determination were vast.
Out now, Disney+<\/p>\n
The Teachers\u2019 LoungeLearning lessons \u2026 Leonie Benesch stirs things up in The Teacher\u2019s Lounge. Photograph: Sony Pictures Classics<\/p>\n
The conceit of the school as a microcosm of wider society is used brilliantly in \u0130lker \u00c7atak\u2019s German drama. Leonie Benesch plays new teacher Carla, who investigates after thefts from the staff room. Issues of racism, surveillance, trust and the delicate power balance between educators, pupils and parents crop up as her discoveries throw the entire institution into turmoil \u2013 much of it focused on her favourite pupil, Oskar (Leonard Stettnisch). The excellent Benesch exudes empathy, as Carla strives to do the right thing while events overwhelm her.
Saturday 16 May, 9pm, BBC Four<\/p>\n
God\u2019s CreaturesCan a mother forgive? \u2026 Emily Watson and Paul Mescal in God\u2019s Creatures. Photograph: Enda Bowe\/Courtesy of A24<\/p>\n
How much can a mother\u2019s love forgive? That\u2019s the life-changing question facing Emily Watson\u2019s Aileen after her prodigal son, Brian (Paul Mescal), returns home from Australia to their Irish fishing village. When Sarah (Aisling Franciosi), her young colleague at the seafood processing factory, is raped and accuses Brian, Aileen is quick to give him a false alibi. Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer\u2019s claustrophobic drama shows how a tight-knit community\u2019s first instinct when challenged is denial and exclusion \u2013 and how it\u2019s the women who invariably lose out.
Sunday 17 May, 10.40pm, BBC Three<\/p>\n
BrotherHeartfelt \u2026 Lamar Johnson and Aaron Pierre in Brother. Photograph: Collection Christophel\/Alamy<\/p>\n
Tragedy is baked in to Clement Virgo\u2019s heartfelt sibling drama about the long reach of trauma. We first meet Lamar Johnson\u2019s young Jamaican-Canadian Michael as he ekes out an existence with his grief-numbed single mother, Ruth (Marsha Stephanie Blake), on their urban estate. In a parallel timeline, the teenage Michael is guided to adulthood by his older brother, Francis (Aaron Pierre), a charismatic would-be hip-hop musician who struggles to rise above the police racism, gang violence and homophobia that surround them.
Sunday 17 May, 10.50pm, BBC Two<\/p>\n
DestroyerHer most convincing work in years \u2026 Nicole Kidman in Destroyer. Photograph: null\/Lionsgate\/Allstar<\/p>\n
It is ironic that Nicole Kidman hiding her face behind layers of bad-skin makeup led to some of her most convincing film work in years. Karyn Kusama\u2019s gripping 2018 crime thriller follows Erin Bell \u2013 alcoholic cop, bad mother \u2013 as she is forced to revisit a 17-year-old undercover FBI operation into bank robbers that went wrong. The plot teases us with cause and effect, as the persistent Bell pursues escaped lead criminal Silas (Toby Kebbell) with little regard to procedure or personal safety.
Monday 18 May, 11.45pm, BBC Two<\/p>\n
GloryA bloody tale of heroism and freedom \u2026 Morgan Freeman in Glory. Photograph: Sportsphoto\/Allstar<\/p>\n
The film that bagged Denzel Washington his first Oscar brings a necessary spotlight on the history of the 54th Massachusetts infantry regiment \u2013 one of the first Black Union army units of the civil war. It\u2019s unfortunate that Edward Zwick\u2019s drama is told through the eyes, and letters home, of its white commander, Col Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick). But there is valuable time given to the African American enlisted men, with Washington as the prickly recruit Trip and Morgan Freeman as his wiser sergeant major Rawlins, the pick in a bloody tale of bigotry, heroism and freedom.
Thursday 21 May, 11.40pm, Film4<\/p>\n
The Bride!A riot from start to finish \u2026 Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley in The Bride! Photograph: Niko Tavenise\/AP<\/p>\n
An unholy splicing of Bonnie and Clyde and Baz Luhrmann (with a knowing wink to Mel Brooks), Maggie Gyllenhaal\u2019s 1930s-set gothic horror is a riot from start to finish. Chicago gangster\u2019s cohort Ida (a stupendously energetic Jessie Buckley) is possessed by the spirit of Mary Shelley, then dies and is resurrected \u2013 at the behest of Frankenstein\u2019s monster, Frank (Christian Bale) \u2013 as a punky rebel. Frank\u2019s love of film musicals is the thread that ties together a wild fantasy of girl power rage and outsider romance.
Friday 22 May, 9.50am, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pick of the weekThe Testament of Ann Lee Mona Fastvold\u2019s astonishing drama about the founder of the Shakers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":961170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,3943,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-961169","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116577701225407254","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=961169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/961170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=961169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=961169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=961169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}