Film digest

THE CLIMB (15)

Bookmarked into seven wry and touching chapters, The Climb is a quirky ode to male friendship under duress, infused with the dry wit and warmth of writers and stars Michael Angelo Corvino and Kyle Marvin.

They possess an easy-going charm drawn from their reallife friendship, hitting various bromantic beats to perfection as bumps in the road throw one of their characters out of the saddle.

Corvino’s direction is impressive, orchestrating elaborate unbroken shots including a fraught opening sequence filmed on the ascent of a hill, and a Christmas party shot looking into a light-bedecked house as eggnog-soaked revellers move from room to room.

Characters’ pain is lightly salved by offbeat humour, punctuated by moments of genuine sincerity that seldom unfold as expected.

ALL MY LIFE (12)

Based on a heart-breaking true story that demands more than one sniffle into a tissue before the end credits, All My Life hits the requisite emotional beats without straying too far from predictability.

Harry Shum Jr and Jessica Rothe are an attractive onscreen pairing and they catalyse winning chemistry in rosetinted early scenes of a 20-something couple falling head over heels in love and setting up home together before terminal illness gatecrashes the fairytale.

Rothe carries the greatest burden of syrupy dialogue that threatens to nudge Marc Meyers’ film into the realms of mawkishness.

When reality bites, the teeth marks are barely noticeable in Todd Rosenberg’s script but sincerity ultimately trumps elegance.

COME AWAY (PG)

Recounted in flashback, Come Away is a fantastical coming-of-age story, which melds elements of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and Peter And Wendy.

Characters and imagery from Lewis Carroll’s and JM Barrie’s novels, published almost 50 years apart, soften narrative blows of bereavement, abandonment and abuse which are woven into a tonally uneven script that imagines a sibling bond between the children who inspired the books.

Totems from the literary classics are scattered liberally throughout a freewheeling plot: a chirruping pawnbroker (Clarke Peters) who is as mad as a hatter, a mother’s gift of a tiny silver bell made by a tinker, an older brother poised to leave for school telling his sister “I’ll leave my shadow behind”.

David Oyelowo and Angelina Jolie catalyse lukewarm screen chemistry as doting parents.

When their clan fractures under the weight of grief, our emotional tethers to the characters quickly come loose.

POSSESSOR (18)

Writer-director Brandon Cronenberg’s hallucinogenic sci-fi thriller gives new meaning to the concept of a hostile takeover, starring Andrea Riseborough as a corporate assassin who takes control of other people’s bodies using brain-implant technology.

The Canadian film-maker shares some of the gore-slathered fascinations of his father, body horror trailblazer David Cronenberg, with wince-inducing close-ups of needles and various sharp objects puncturing human flesh.

Blood cascades freely over expertly lit frames, which possess a woozy, nightmarish quality thanks to cinematographer Karim Hussain’s visual stylings.

While the script is infuriatingly ambiguous in its intentions, the performances of Riseborough and Christopher Abbott as her unsuspecting target are consistently discomfiting since we are never entirely sure who is in control of his actions as the plot spirals sickeningly out of control. You’ll need a very strong stomach when Cronenberg serves just desserts.

23 WALKS (12)

Romance strolls casually into view in a gently paced drama written and directed by Paul Morrison, which explores vacillations of the heart for sexagenarian dog owners who have been dealt losing hands in love.

Filmed on location in London and Hertfordshire, 23 Walks initially adheres to the promise of its title, captioning successive strolls on which the characters trade anecdotes and seek comfort.

There is a pleasing rhythm to dialogue in Morrison’s script and he occasionally mines a poetic one-liner during heart-tohearts, like when one of the 60-somethings ruminates on dealing with grief: “It’s best to invite it in, make it your friend.”

Stand-up comedian Dave Johns, so magnificent in Ken Loach’s award-winning film I, Daniel Blake, and Alison Steadman bring these free-flowing confessionals to life with sincerity and conviction, hinting at the pain that could bind their lonely singletons.

When Morrison eventually discloses the sources of their anguish, his film surrenders some of its easy-going charm and plausibility to contrivance and emotional manipulation.

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