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HANDSOME DEVIL Cert 15, 95 mins by Charlotte O’Sullivan A MOVING IMAGE HEAL THE LIVING Cert 15, 74 mins Cert 12A, 104 mins
THIS Irish coming-of-age comedy is so adorable I wanted to chuck it under the chin. Imagine Gregory’s Girl infected by the knowingness of Lindsay Anderson’s if… Nerdy Ned (Fionn O’Shea), a pupil at a homophobic, rugby-obsessed private school, has his life changed by an energetic English teacher (Andrew Scott) and a sensitive, sporty roommate (Nicholas Galitzine).
Writer/director John Butler over-uses Ned’s voiceover and the split-screen but gets just about everything else right. A talent show involves someone talented. Scott’s performance is truly touching (he draws attention to how self-conscious and awkward the “cool” prof really is). Meanwhile, Galitzine is so plausibly charismatic (and devilishly pretty) that even the rugby games are fun. SHOLA Amoo’s gentrification drama takes a while to heat up. An arty mix of fact and fiction (and even CGI), it’s about charming, kale-eating buppie Nina (Tanya Fear, right), who decides she wants to document the changing face of Brixton only to realise lise she’s part of the problem.
The lovely surprise is that at Nina (as well as the locals)) contains many shades of grey. Stealthy ethnic cleansing is no laughing matter and Amoo seems well aware that his own film could, and possibly will be, labelled an irrelevance. The big test iss whether (non-privileged) audiences will be moved by this narrative. As the film makes clear, we’re all in this together. A FRENCH drama with an opening sequence so fine it makes your heart skip. Katell Quillévéré’s starting point is a surfing trip that inadvertently leads to tragedy. In order to fold us into the life of blonde teen Simon (Gabin VeVerdet) the director uses giddy pop music, incisive ediedits and visceral imagery (a driver, instead of prosaic tarmac, suddenly sees rolling wwaves ahead).
What follows is both heheart-rending, lo-fi, proprovocative and surreal. EmmEmmanuelle Seigner is affecting as Simon’s mother, while Anne Dorval is deceptively mousey as the middle-aged musician who may or may not profit from his death.