Top films to watch on TV this week

WEDNESDAY

No Exit (2022) Film4, 9p.m.

New York-born actress Havana Rose Liu takes the lead role in director Andy Canny’s suspense thriller based on the novel by Taylor Adams. She plays a troubled young woman called Darby Thorne, who flees the comfort of rehab to attend a family emergency.

En route to Salt Lake City, Darby becomes stranded by a blizzard and a highway rest area provides temporary sanctuary. Inside, she meets a small band of strangers, who must wait out the storm since limited phone reception makes it difficult to contact the authorities.

When Darby discovers a van in the parking lot with an abducted girl as a passenger, the stricken heroine realises some of her new acquaintances might not be as friendly as they seem.

THURSDAY

Philomena (2013) BBC4, 10p.m. Jane Lee (Anna Maxwell Martin) discovers her mother Philomena (Judi Dench) fell pregnant as a teenager in 1950s Ireland and was forced to give up the baby to the sisters at Roscrea Abbey.

Jane pitches the story to former Labour advisor-turned-BBC journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), who initially scoffs at the suggestion he should pen an article about the matriarch and her heart-breaking ordeal. After a reality check from his wife Kate (Simone Lahbib), Martin agrees to help Philomena track down her boy.

The tender and unexpectedly touching relationship that forms between these two characters from different generations and backgrounds provides Stephen Frears’s uplifting film with its emotional thrust, as the search for answers moves between continents.

FRIDAY

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) BBC1, 11.35p.m.

Take a bevy of Australian drag queens shimmying across the outback to a gig in Alice Springs, add a bus (called Priscilla) and sprinkle with disco hits and Oscar-winning costumes and you have the surprise hit of 1994.

Stephan Elliott’s twist on the road movie is a refreshing and liberating comedy of sparkling proportions, boasting a wonderful turn from Terence Stamp as elegant trans woman Bernie, who hits the outback with Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce (trampling all over his Neighbours image in fearsome platform stilettos).

Elliott’s exuberant direction and pitch-perfect vision of drag-queen trash and glamour are a joy to behold. The film is undeniably camp yet still finds room for a healthy shot of schmaltz as it blinds you with the glow of a million sequins.

SATURDAY

Book Club (2018) Channel 4,

10.20p.m.

Best friends Diane (Diane Keaton), Vivian (Jane Fonda), Sharon (Candice Bergen) and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) merrily reunite each month over glasses of chilled white wine to discuss a book chosen by one member of the coterie.

Hotel manager Vivian elects to introduce her shocked pals to Christian Grey’s notorious Red Room in EL James’s erotic thriller Fifty Shades of Grey. It inspires them in different ways, as doting wife Carol tries to invigorate her marriage, while Sharon is persuaded to sign up to an internet dating site.

Vivian has a chance encounter with old flame Arthur (Don Johnson) and recently widowed Diane is swept off her feet by airline captain Mitchell (Andy Garcia). The leading ladies are luminous, and they enliven a plodding script, injecting vim into the scenes of sisterly solidarity.

SUNDAY

Three Men and a Little Lady (1990) ITV1, 12.25p.m.

By-the-numbers comedy which should be dreadful but, in a sickly-sweet way, turns out to equal the blockbusting original, Three Men and a Baby, thanks to the likeability of the charismatic leads.

Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg return as the dashing surrogate fathers, out to stop mother Nancy Travis marrying aristocratic rotter Christopher Cazenove and moving to England with lovable tyke Robin Weisman.

All the British characters are cliches, naturally, but as instantly forgettable entertainment it’s harmless enough. The group Boy Meets Girl had a hit with the end theme, Waiting For a Star to Fall. Fiona Shaw and Sheila Hancock also appear, while the stunning UK locations include Broughton Castle in Oxfordshire.

MONDAY

Catch Me If You Can (2002) Film4, 6.05p.m.

This funny and stylish romp is based on the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr, who as a teenager managed to swindle the US government out of thousands of dollars by affecting a series of outlandish disguises: as an airline pilot, doctor, international playboy, even the assistant attorney general.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Abagnale, driven by fantasies of luring his family back together with his ill-gotten gains, and Tom Hanks is the dogged FBI agent on his trail. With plenty of fun along the way, the two leads also develop a poignant relationship.

Director Steven Spielberg keeps a brisk tempo, underscored by John Williams’s funky, jazzy score, propelling the plot inexorably towards its fascinating conclusion.

TUESDAY

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) Film4, 6.45p.m.

More than 20 years after the fantasy adventure Jumanji starring Robin Williams, Jake Kasdan directed this action-packed instalment, which pays affectionate tribute to the late actor while updating the narrative to the digital realm.

Computer gaming nerd Spencer Gilpin (Alex Wolff ) is forced to serve detention alongside three fellow students: football jock Anthony Johnson (Ser’Darius Blain), cheerleader Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman) and painfully shy bookworm Martha Kaply (Morgan Turner). As part of their punishment, the teenagers clean out the school’s dusty basement, where they find an old Jumanji video game.

Without warning, the teens are sucked into the game where they take on the guise of four heroic avatars played by Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan. The film is followed at 9pm by its sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level.