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| Blue Jean Photo: Courtesy of London Film Festival |
Blue Jean, Netflix, streaming from Tuesday, July 1
Rosy McEwen announced herself as a name to watch in Georgia Oakley's tense tale of a lesbian school teacher set against the backdrop of Thatcher's Britain. PE teacher, Jean (McEwen), is striving hard to reconcile her personal life with her girlfriend Viv (Kerrie Hayes, also exceptionally good) with her closeted professional one. The era of the late Eighties - hanging under the shadow of Section 28, which barred schools from "promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship" - is perfectly evoked. Jean's whole life is riven with conflict, which escalates with the arrival of new girl in class Lois (Lucy Halliday). Shot with a blue-infused colour palette by Oakley, she highlights the destructive nature of denial.
Copa 71, 11.30pm, BBC4, Tuesday, July 1
Now bearing the subtitle “the lost Lionesses” this documentary digs into the Mexican Women’s World Cup of 1971. Whether the women’s story has been as entirely overlooked by history as this film suggests is a matter for debate, but it is nevertheless a welcome dive into the historical moment when women came together on one of the world’s biggest stages. The film doesn’t just focus on English participants, branching out to include representatives of Mexico, Denmark, Argentina, France and Italy, who were also at the tournament. The women’s stories have a lot in common as they discuss the obstacles they faced but also the joy of getting to play and their amazement at suddenly becoming stars overnight in Mexico. Tightly edited, this is an energetic and infectious celebration of the women’s game.
Berberian Sound Studio, 2am, Film4, Tuesday, July 1
There's another cracking central performance in Peter Strickland's psychodrama, which sees a British sound technician (Toby Jones) brought to Italy in the Seventies to work on the sound effects for a gruesome horror film which begins to get under his skin. Strickland makes a virtue of its central character's introspection and the writer/director- who has long had a fascination with autonomous sensory meridian response, which sees some people have a physical response to certain sounds - really knows how to manipulate mood via what we can hear. Sound editor Joakim Sundström (whose name is a great example of nominative determinism) really delivers the goods. If you're a gialli fan, then you'll also get a kick of spotting the various nods to the genre.
Attack The Block, 11.10pm, Film4, Friday, July 4
Looking back now, Joe Cornish aced it when he assembled the cast for his alien invasion debut feature in 2011, which made a name for its star John Boyega, who plays Moses. It also features future Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker - and I wouldn't put it out of the question that she can genuinely time travel as she seems to have barely aged a day since - plus Luke Treadaway and Nick Frost in enjoyable stoner roles. Physical effects take precedence over CGI and I love the fact that Cornish is aware of his limitations of his creature's look and isn't afraid to lean fully into that, so that someone makes a joke about a small dead alien looking like a puppet. Although the gang of kids who take on the alien largely present themselves as a wall of aggression and attitude, Cornish never lets us forget they're still children and the use of two even younger kids emphasises the rite of passage that can present itself to kids on these sorts of estates, with the drug kingpin Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter) representing what Moses could become. In that regard, the film offers a good dose of social commentary. The action flies along, which again helps to stop you dwelling too long on the aliens, while its sense of humour puts it up there with Shaun Of The Dead.
We Live In Time, Netflix, streaming from Saturday, July 5
A textbook case of performances elevating their material, the presence of Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield is what counts in this relationship dramedy. They play chef Almut and sales rep Tobias who find themselves facing a difficult diagnosis. While the timeline shuffling is all a bit spurious and, if anything, undercuts the good work of its stars, their heartfelt performances and smoking chemistry still make this worth a watch. There are also some enjoyable British touches of humour, not least in a dramatic scene which unfolds at a petrol station.
Spy Kids, 2.20pm, ITV2, Sunday, July 6
Jennie Kermode writes: As a kid, it’s easy to get the impression that one’s parents are boring people who have never done anything interesting in their lives. Sometimes that’s true, but then, if they were really undercover secret agents, wouldn’t they be striving to give you exactly that impression? When Carmen and Juni’s parents are kidnapped and the truth about their past emerges, it’s up to the two youngsters to save them, uncovering a dastardly plot in the process. There are exciting vehicles and gadgets galore, with lots of fights and chases. A great supporting cast includes Antonio Banderas and Alan Cumming, plus the kids get a little help from their uncle Machete – yes, that Machete!
The Eagle Huntress, plex.tv, streaming now
With the state of the world at the moment, there's a lot of hard-hitting reportage documentaries around but if you're looking for something more family friendly then this is a perfect watch. Otto Bell's film heads to Mongolia to follow 13-year-old Aisholpan, who is determined to prove that eagle hunting is not just the preserve of men. The skilled pursuit is no mere hobby, with those who catch and train the birds using them to help find food in the tough conditions where they live. A story of both Aisholpan's determination and the fierce bond between her and her equality-minded father, Bell's camera watches as she finds and trains her bird in a bid to win a prize at the male-dominated Golden Eagle Festival, while the camera often takes flight with the eagle itself. The perfect blend of human storytelling and wildlife documentary. Otto Bell - who is currently in post-production on the temptingly named The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu - told us: “Ultimately, it's the story of a dad and a daughter and we can all understand it and access it. I'll love nature so long as it unlocks those sort of human connections for everybody.”
Our short selection has been taking a short break, but it’s back and this week we’ve got a grown up piece of sci-fi for you. Kjersti Helen Rasmussen’s Voyager. She has gone on to make the feature Nightmare, which is available to watch on Shudder.
