david-meldrum

Four super-rich tech bros get together for a weekend away in a mountain retreat whilst the world goes to hell in handcart thanks to a social media company owned by one of the four releases a new hyper-realistic AI creation tool. It's from Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Succession, and he's on familiar ground here with this take-down of the super-rich. It's another entry in the eat the rich genre that probably needs a break now; not that the super-rich shouldn't be satirised, but the wave of content on this theme is in danger of distracting us from our own complicity in the world's problems. It's easy to look the other way when we keep saying the real problem is 'them over there'. Anyway, this has its moments; with a good writer and a good cast, it can't not. There are moments of insight, but there is too much tell and not enough - or hardly any - 'show'. Ultimately, it feels like a lot of people here are coasting; and with somewhat pedestrian direction, it never really takes off into the significant satirical piece it wants to be.

A recently bereaved mother (played by Julianne Moore) is thrown into a situation that spirals out of control when her daughter, who is in and out of rehab, turns up on her doorstep desperate for help. What follows is a small-scale thriller that - despite the small canvass - makes the stakes feel significant and ratchets the tension, even if there are ultimately few surprises. What counts in this film's favour is the small cast that's stacked with talent, all of whom are on good form, and a script that brilliantly nails the complex web of issues and emotions that result from being in close relationship with an addict - the nightmarish decisions, in which none of the outcomes are good, the moral compromises, the constantly warring emotions within. It's ultimately an effective, well-crafted genre thriller - and none the worse for all that.

This film of Bono's show promoting his memoir is as intimate, confessional, and occasionally startling as the book itself. With a well-designed stage show that takes in new versions of a variety U2 songs, and some imaginative staging of the monologues, it's a show that even at times plays with the idea that Bono may be an unreliable narrator of his own story. It won't convince the die-hard Bono-haters, nor change much the extreme Bono-fans think; but it is shot through with insight, and a good motivation to seek the book out. Andrew Dominik wisely shoots it in black and white, adding to the confessional tone, and the show mostly focuses on Bono's complex relationship with his father. Occasionally both infuriating and thrilling, it's at once what you expect it to be ... and nothing like you expect.