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| Ema Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute |
Actress Mariana Di Girolamo is a Chilean name to watch as she brings chameleon-like qualities to roles like this and, a year later, Leonardo Medel's La Veronica. Here, she plays reggaeton dancer Ema, one half of a couple (alongside Gael Garcia Bernal's choreographer Gaston) whose adoption of a young boy has turned sour along with their relationship. Blazing with contradiction, we see Ema trying on personas for size - mother, wife, sexually liberated fly-by-night - with Di Girolamo bringing a magnetic intensity to each, as her character begins to show she wants to get the child back, no matter what the cost. Beyond the performances, the dance choreography embedded in Pablo Larrain's film and fiercely colour-coded cinematography from Sergio Armstrong are stunning.
ET: The Extra-terrestrial, 2.30pm, ITV2, Easter Monday
If you're looking for something all the family can catch this Bank Holiday afternoon this Steven Spielberg classic is a tough act to beat. His tale of the little lost alien who is trying to get home and who befriends a neighbourhood kid (Henry Thomas) along the way. Many of the hallmarks of Spielberg's back catalogue are in full view, including an ability to generate spectacle and an ability to get down to a child's level of understanding. He does this by ensuring the camera gets down to their height as they take on a world of, largely uncaring, adults. The message of peace, love and understanding is surprisingly sugar-free thanks to Melinda Mathison's snappy script that shows a sharp ear for the knockabout interaction between the children.
Blade Runner 2049, BBC3, Easter Monday
There's plenty of spectacle on show in Denis Villeneuve's sequel to Ridley Scott's classic too - although this one is for adults. Unfolding three decades after Harrison Ford's Deckard went on the lam, a younger blade runner (Ryan Gosling) is out to find him, complete with his own set of emotional baggage, leading to an encounter that blends the optimistic with the tragic to heady effect. Every frame, from breathtaking action scenes to the stunning skylines, oozes visual class, as the film finally netted Roger Deakins the Oscar for cinematography he had long deserved after 13 previous nominations. Like Scott's original, Blade Runner 2049 has existential themes at heart, though you don't need to have seen Ridley's film to enjoy this as a stand-alone spectacle. Read our interview with screenwriter Hampton Fancher.
Galaxy Quest, 6.45pm, Film4, Tuesday, April 11
Jennie Kermode writes: Aliens passing for human at a science fiction convention is an old idea, so if you're going to do it, you have to do it well. Dean Parisot turns the tables by having his aliens, in turn, mistake the cast of a Star Trek-like TV series for genuine space adventurers, and that's where the fun begins. Key to the film's success is the fact that he's also understood it needs to be more than just a spoof, so whilst it's built upon a beautifully observed and immediately recognisable framework, it has a strong story of its own and fully rounded characters. There's a plum role for Alan Rickman as the British thesp who hates the fact that he's best known for playing an alien with a twee catchphrase, and Sigourney Weaver has fun playing against type as the actress confined to the role of dizzy blonde communications officer who repeats what the computer says. The result is a lively adventure with lots of heart, leavened with deadpan comedy and the occasional moment of serious strangeness.
Dawn Of The Planet of the Apes, 7.30pm, ITV2, Saturday, April 15
There's no doubt the Covid pandemic has brought an extra layer of horror to this tale of humanity brought to the brink of extinction by a lab-created strain of simian flu - but if you're looking for an intelligent film that shows how distrust, as much as outright aggression, can lead to conflict, this is for you. Matt Reeves' film has all the action you would expect from a summer blockbuster and is lent a real sense of life by superior CGI and incredible vocal and physical performances by Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell as first and second in command, Caesar and Koba. Its appeal goes beyond the visual, as Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver's script explores the tragedy of war, and all the little things that can fuel it, from rogue elements to 'fear of the other', while holding up tribalism to the light.
Border, 1am, Film4, Sunday, April 16
Whenever this crops up in the schedules I find it almost irresistible not to include it because Ali Abbasi's film is so deliciously odd. Perhaps that's because its because its an adaptation of a book by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who wrote the equally distinctive source material for Let The Right One In. The Danish-Iranian director, who co-wrote the screenplay with Isabella Eklöf and Lindqvist, mixes the fantastical with the everyday in a surprisingly concrete and often disturbing way. The story follows border guard Tina (Eve Melander, giving a hell of a performance beneath a motherlode of make-up), whose sense of smell makes her an asset when it comes to catching smugglers. A chance encounter with a man called Vore (Eero Milonof, also putting in sterling work) begins to open a world of secrets and the past to Tina. To say too much more would be to spoil the surprising strangeness of Abbasi's off-beat and beautifully shot film. The sort of unusual film the phrase "cult classic" was made for.
Queen And Slim, 11.30pm, BBC1, Sunday, April 16
A blind date goes south fast after a young couple (Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya) - who are most certainly not your usual outlaw types - are pulled over by a racist cop in Melina Matsoukas' twist on couple on the run classics. Far from having a mind for crime, the pair find themselves on the run by accident - although Matsoukas shows clearly how the odds of this happening are stoked heavily by ingrained systemic racism. Turner-Smith - who makes a big impression in her first feature - and Kaluuya are magnetic as the unlikely couple. The tone is sometimes a bit slippery but this is nevertheless a compelling debut from Matsoukas that doesn't pull its punches.
This week's short selection is star-studded BAFTA nominee Bouncer - featuring Ray Winstone and Paddy Considine. The director Michael Baig-Clifford is back in bouncer territory with his latest Bardo: A Rogue And Peasant Slave, which you can watch the trailer for here.
