ARMAGEDDON TIME (15)
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Jewish-American 11-year-old Paul Graff (Banks Repeta) attends school in 1980 New York where sixth grade dreams of NASA and space rockets are a distraction from the teachings of ill-tempered Mr Turkeltaub (Andrew Polk).
Consequently, Paul becomes a target for humiliation in class alongside African-American student Johnny Davis (Jaylin Webb), who is repeating the year.
The boys become friends but prejudices repeatedly test their
bond and Paul’s parents Irving (Jeremy Strong) and Esther (Anne Hathaway) elect to send him to Kew-Forest instead, where older brother Ted (Ryan Sell) is making his mark.
The threat of change sends Paul into an emotional tail-spin but his grandfather Aaron (Anthony Hopkins) has the right words to console and soothe.
Armageddon Time stylishly evokes an era of bigotry and abuse, pulling few punches (or cracks of a leather belt) when it comes to depicting Irving’s heavy-handed approach to disciplining his boys.
Pacing is pedestrian but writer-director James Gray unearths moments of beauty in the mundane that emphasise the universality of this boy’s life.
In cinemas Friday