Assassination Nation

WHEN their armed robber hubbies are killed Viola Davis and her pals decide to pull off their next job. BENEDICT Cumberbatch voices the Christmas-hating grouch in a breezy but forgettable animation.

ANDY’S RATING: ★★

In cinemas on Friday

THE Salem witch trials meets Mean Girls meets South Park in this achingly topical feminist horror.

If you’ve been keeping up with the adventures of Cartman and friends you’ll remember the one where the town tore itself apart when the locals’ internet history was leaked.

Here, in the words of narrator Lily (Odessa Young), a town called Salem “loses its motherf ****** mind” when a hacker pulls off the same trick.

An early victim is a high school principal (Colman Domingo) who is called a paedophile when the townsfolk spot his photos of his toddler daughter in the bath.

When more accounts are dumped on the internet the mob – in Trump-style red baseball caps – hunt for the leaker.

They need a scapegoat and as this is woman-hating modern America they decide the guilty party must be female.

Their target is Lily, a spiky student who has been sending naked pictures to a creepy middle-aged neighbour. The mob also begin to attack her outrageous pals Bex (transgendered actress Hari Nef), Sarah (Suki Waterhouse) and Em (Abra) who have a tendency to walk in a line in slow-motion. These scenes are a bit Sex And The City meets Reservoir Dogs.

There are a few dark laughs when writer-director Sam Levinson begins to rip-off The Purge in the final reel but the shocking thing about this film is how derivative it is.