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  Certificate: 15 Running time: 126 minutes  Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback Directed by: Shaka King The story: William O’Neal agrees to a plea deal with the FBI to act as an informant and gather intelligence on Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. The verdict: Judas and the Black Messiah is a film that has been on my radar for awhile and upon seeing the cast for this, I knew that it would undoubtedly feature some terrific performances. Of course that has proven to be true and the film has gotten a myriad of awards’ attention. In particular, the central performances of Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton and Lakeith Stanfield as William O’Neal really stand out and it is easy to see why both actors have earned Oscar nods in the Best Supporting Actor category. Both actors are brilliant and are so in completely different ways. Kaluuya is measured and stoic but has such a powerful presence. Whereas, Sta

  Certificate: PG Running time: 84 minutes  Starring: Sergio Chamy, Romulo Aitken, Marta Olivares Directed by: Maite Alberdi  The story: In Chile, a private investigator hires an elderly man to act as an undercover mole at a retirement home where a client of his suspects that her mother is bring mistreated. The verdict: When this film first begins, it has the look and feel of a spoof noir, and truthfully I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it.  However, The Mole Agent slowly changes into an entirely different film and that film is a film that I think everyone should see.  As Sergio settles into his role as the mole, he meets the retirement home’s other residents and as he gets to know them so does the audience. We are introduced to an amazing group of people, all characters in their own way, and all with fascinating stories.  Soon it becomes clear that this undercover investigation is going to uncover something quite unexpected. I ended up really liking The Mole Agent. What begin

  Certificate: 15 Running time: 242 minutes  Starring: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa Directed by: Zack Snyder  The story: Director Zack Snyder’s cut of his 2017 film Justice League.  The verdict: It all started with a hashtag, #releasethesnydercut, after 2017’s Justice League was released to a lacklustre reception. Zack Snyder had been forced to abandon the film during post production after a family tragedy which led to the studio recruiting Joss Whedon to finish the film. The result was a film that no one was particularly happy with and fans became convinced that there was a much better version of the film, if only Snyder had been allowed to release his version and vision. Fast forward to 2021 and finally the world gets to see the infamous Snyder cut, but is this version better? The answer to that is a categorical yes.  Every change that has been made is for the better, every sequence which differs from the Whedon cut is for the

  Certificate: 18 Running time: 142 minutes  Starring: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo, Michael Rispoli, Jack Reynor Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo The story: A US army veteran turns to crime to support his increasing addiction to drugs. The verdict: Cherry feels like a film that has been a long time coming with embargoed reviews from as early as December last year suggesting that Cherry was not up to scratch. Sadly, upon its general release, it has been the subject of much criticism. With that being said, I consequently approached Cherry with some trepidation, unsure of what to expect and it turned out to be an intriguing experience. I have a weakness for films that chart a character’s life, and I especially love if the character in question is a messy character. Tom Holland’s unnamed protagonist is certainly a lost soul, so along with that and Holland’s extremely likeable screen presence, I immediately felt an empathy for his character.  Cherry is split into different parts, with each

  Certificate: 15 Running time: 126 minutes  Starring: Ruby Rose, Sam Heughan, Hannah John-Kamen, Andy Serkis Directed by: Magnus Martens The story: An SAS operative faces must stop a group of highly trained terrorists when they hijack the Eurostar. The verdict: I have deliberately not looked at any of the reviews for this as I’m going to take a guess and say that they’re probably not going to be great because SAS: Red Notice is a pretty cheesy action flick with an illogical plot and it’s fair share of wooden dialogue. However, all the negatives I have just mentioned are actually some of the reasons why I thoroughly enjoyed it. And unlike the plot, I do have some logic for this.  SAS: Red Notice is a Sky Cinema original film and actually it watches a lot like a feature length episode of a Sky drama. It reminded me a lot of Strike Back, a series which was shown on Sky One and follows the British Secret Intelligence Service. Though, it should be pointed out that the two are not related