New releases
Raya and the Last Dragon Dir: Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada (1hr 54mins) (PG)
★★★
The heroine of this “sizzlingly enjoyable” animation is in many respects a traditional Disney princess, said Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph – but hand her a sword and she’ll show you some moves that would make Rapunzel’s hair stand on end. Orphaned martial arts expert Raya has the task of restoring harmony to the kingdom of Kumandra, whose people have been divided by an ancient curse. To do this she enlists the help of a dragon called Sisu, among other animal allies. They’re charming enough, but it’s the Southeast Asian kingdom itself – a beautiful and “teemingly strange” world of temple cities and bamboo forests – that really bursts with personality and colour. Driving the plot is Raya’s rivalry with another princess, Namaari, who shifts from standard villain to something more enigmatic. This is “a feast of a film”.
There’s a lot of back story, said Ben Travis in Empire, but the screenplay is “pacy and propulsive”, and the complex mythology gives Kumandra an epic feel. Visually, the film is often breathtaking, with every part of the kingdom given its own “gorgeously realised” identity. Raya is fierce and funny, with “a dash of relatable awkwardness”, said Clarisse Loughrey in The Independent. Kelly Marie Tran, who voices her, manages to capture the character’s edges both hard and soft, while Sisu – voiced by Awkwafina – is a reliable comedic presence who also shines in the more dramatic moments. All in all, this is Disney doing what it does best, said Benjamin Lee in The Guardian – transporting us to a beautifully crafted universe to tell a story that’s “both involving and, vitally, fresh”. Available on Disney+.
My Donkey, My Lover & I
Dir: Caroline Vignal (1hr 37mins) (No cert)
★★★
This easygoing comedy is one of “unparalleled Frenchness”, said Cath Clarke in The Guardian.
Teacher Antoinette (Laure Calamy) is having an affair with a pupil’s father, but their plan for a week alone together is upended when his wife surprises him with a donkey-trekking holiday in the Cévennes. Impulsively, Antoinette books a place on the same trip – only to find herself in charge of a very stubborn animal, with her lover nowhere in sight. But as she and her donkey bond, the film switches from a gentle farce into a journey of emotional growth: “You might call it Eat Bray Love – except it’s European, so there’s less pseudo-spiritual self-discovery and more drunken snogging.” Calamy (Noémie in
Call My Agent!) holds the film together with a funny, generous performance.
The trekking route follows that of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels with a Donkey, said Edward Porter in The Sunday Times, and the film acts as a comforting evocation of “wistful Gallic leisure” in enticing landscapes. The mountain views certainly infuse an element of “holiday porn” into this sweet comedy, said Kevin Maher in The Times, while Calamy gives a “winning, ingenuous” performance as a seemingly desperate singleton with echoes of Bridget Jones. There are tiny echoes, too, of Reese Witherspoon in Wild, as she learns to accept herself in the silence that her four-legged companion provides, and to recognise that the journey is more important than the destination. Yes, it’s cheesy – “but in the nicest possible way”. Available on Curzon Home Cinema.