Even Jodie isn’t enough to check out this stylised hotel thriller...
The great Jodie Foster doesn’t make a lot of films these days – only four in the past seven years – so it’s a shame that her latest, Hotel Artemis (16) ★★ is such a let-down.
It’s a dark, excessively stylised thriller set in a near future where riots have broken out after the water companies decided to turn off the city’s supply.
With the body count rising rapidly, it’s already a busy night for the Hotel Artemis, a ‘dark house’ or secret hospital for criminals who pay an annual fee to be patched up by the tireless Nurse (Foster), who limps up and down its poorly lit corridors.
And then a particularly potent mix of guests – a deadly hitwoman, two career criminals and a policewoman – arrive at the same time, and we discover that this derivative offering from writer-director Drew Pearce is not as clever or funny as it thinks it is.
Pedro Almodóvar regular Rossy de Palma takes centrestage in Madame (16) ★★★ as a Spanish maid forced to pretend to be a dinner guest at the grand Parisian mansion owned by her wealthy American employers, only for one of her fellow guests (Michael Smiley) to fall in love with her.
The problem is, he thinks she’s a princess, not a servant.
There’s a familiar feeling to what ensues. Directed by French film-maker Amanda Sthers but played out in English, it lacks depth but is nicely acted – Toni Collette is particularly good as the cruel and snobbish trophy wife – and its exploration of Anglo-Saxon hypocrisy comes to a splendidly Gallic conclusion.
Spitfire (PG)★★★★ is an excellent documentary telling the story of the iconic British fighter plane with the help of a splendid selection of pilots, plotters and female delivery pilots.
In Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie (G) ★★ Thomas becomes the first engine to travel around the world. It’s short of charm but features strong female, African and Asian characters for the first time. Toot, toot!
Matthew Bond