Films on TV — ones to watch

(2017) (Film4, 11.55pm)

The Florida Project ✰✰✰✰

Single mother Halley (Bria Vinaite) sells designer fragrances to wealthy theme park visitors, aided by her precocious six-year-old daughter Moonee (Brooklynn Prince). It’s a struggle to raise the rent for a single room at the Magic Castle Motel and placate long-suffering manager Bobby (Willem Dafoe). During the day, little Moonee goes on adventures with other children. Their escapades drive Bobby to distraction, and an increasingly volatile Halley resorts to desperate measures to evade social services. The Florida Project is an exuberant portrait of families living hand-to-mouth in the shadow of Disney World. It’s an emotionally raw and unflinching character study, but the film softens the impact with earthy humour and humanity.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) ✰✰✰✰ (ITV4, 11.10pm) Director Kathryn Bigelow’s gripping follow-up to the Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker follows ballsy CIA officer Maya (Jessica Chastain) as she accepts a posting to Islamabad under Station Chief Joseph Bradley (Kyle Chandler). CIA operative Dan (Jason Clarke) worries the newcomer might not be up to the task at hand, but Maya imposes herself on the team, which initially creates friction with colleagues Jessica (Jennifer Ehle), Larry (Edgar Ramirez) and Steve (Mark Duplass). Over the next eight years, Maya dedicates her life to every scrap of intelligence which might lead her to Osama bin Laden. Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti (Tushaar Mehra), who reportedly operates as bin Laden’s personal courier, becomes her focus and the CIA tracks him to a heavily guarded compound in Abbottabad.