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The idea of a mother doing anything for her son is pushed to extremes in the Snowpiercer director’s 2009 film, which is dropping on the streaming service this week along with Barking Dogs Never Bite and Memories Of Murder. Twenty-seven-year-old Yoon Do-joon is easily led and becomes the chief suspect after a schoolgirl is murdered. His long-suffering mum (Kim Hye-ja, magnetic and playing against her usual motherly type at the time) becomes determined to go to any lengths to prove his innocence. The shifting tone, from black comedy to thriller to melodrama, isn’t quite as on point as in his subsequent films but Hye-ja’s understated performance keeps things on track.
Modern Times, 8.30am, wedotv Movies (Freeview channel 275), Wednesday, September 16
Jennie Kermode writes: The Nazis weren’t known for their liberal attitude to the arts but even for them, banning Charlie Chaplin’s delightful slapstick satire about life in an industrialised workplace for promoting Communism – when even the Americans were cool with it – was a bit of a stretch. The more likely reason why Germans at the time were not allowed to see it was Adolf Hitler’s personal resentment of the popular comedian, whose impressions of him reportedly caused him great distress and have a lingering effect to this day. The film remains as entertaining as ever.
Io Capitano, 11.25pm, Film4, Thursday, September 17
Matteo Garrone offers a fairy-tale flavoured examination of the migrant crisis in this Oscar-nominated drama. His focus is a pair of cousins, Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall), who are convinced they will find their own happily ever after in Europe. Their hopefulness is palpable as they leave Senegal with their savings but soon their dreams slam up against a reality of exploitation and violence. Garrone doesn't shy away from the brutality the boys face – all the more hard hitting in the face of the open-hearted performances from Sarr and Fall. Like every fairy tale, this one comes complete with a host of heroes, villains and life lessons, while asking us what sort of ending we think we should offer people like Seydou and Moussa. Read what Matteo Garrone told us about fairy tales and his film.
The Innocents, 2am, Channel 4, Friday, September 18
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 from Eskil Vogt showing his range.
Moonage Daydream, 1.20am, Channel 4, Saturday, September 19
One of the best documentaries of the past five years, Brett Morgan's immersive consideration of David Bowie's music is a kaleidoscopic joy. The documentarian brings the musician's life and canny knack of reinvention alive thanks to a well-assembled archive that includes plenty of observations from the man himself. While not giving the music short shrift, the film also opens out into a consideration of Bowie's other artistic endeavours. Although there's no doubt the showmanship is a little reduced by the transfer from the big to small screen this is a cracker that allows Bowie to tell his own story, while illustrating it beautifully.
Penguins Of Madagascar, 3.15pm, ITV2, Saturday, September 19
They may have started out as bit-part players, but everyone knows the Cheezy Dibble-loving penguins were the stars of the original film in this franchise. Here they get their own adventure, taking on the evil Dr Octavius Brine (John Malkovich, having even more fun than you would expect on vocals), who has a plan to turn the penguins into mutants. Along for the ride is super-spy style wolf North Wind (Benedict Cumberbatch, laying the Bond lines on thick) as the action starts at a pace and doesn't let up in its Looney Tunes style quickfire humour. Perfect family viewing.
Slumdog Millionaire, 10pm, BBC2, Sunday, September 20
His latest film, Ink, opened Venice last week, so it’s no surprise that schedulers have decided to dust off Danny Boyle’s earlier hit. As always, he brings every ounce of energy to this tale of a teenager who finds himself under police interrogation after he is poised to win the jackpot on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Jamal Malik (played in the present by Dev Patel and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar and Tanay Hemant Chheda in flashbacks) relates the tale of how he came to know all the answers, as we see his childhood unfold in a blend of romance, humour and, of course, tragedy. Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy keep mainstream audiences firmly in their sights but there's plenty of home truths about the plight of street kids in India beneath its shiny surface.
This week’s short selection is January Jones’ Lone Wolf. Read more about her work on her official site.
