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Young Ahmed
Not yet rated, 85 mins
★★★✩✩
SOMEWHAT manipulative, undeniably tense, the Dardenne brothers’ latest revolves around a Muslim teen with murder on his mind. Stirred up by an imam, Belgian schoolboy Ahmed (Idir Ben Addi; superb), decides his warm and tolerant teacher, Inès (Myriem Akheddiou; sublime), is an “apostate”. When his attempt to kill her fails, he is sent to a youth rehabilitation centre. Ahmed, whose fuzzy face makes you think of peaches, is surrounded by friendly, caring liberals, including a blonde and pretty farm girl, who wants him to be her boyfriend. Will Ahmed allow himself to be deradicalised? Or will he try to kill again? The ending is silly. Neat characters; shame about the plot.
⬤ Curzon Home Cinema
Perfect 10
Cert 15, 84 mins
★★★★✩
ALL hail British newcomer Frankie Box, who looks a bit like Martine McCutcheon and has the same ability to switch from gobby to gutted. Box is Leigh, a 14-year-old wannabe-gymnast living on the outskirts of Brighton, whose dad is feckless and whose mum is nowhere to be seen. One summer afternoon, she meets her errant half-brother, Joe (Alfie Deegan). Slowly but surely, Leigh falls in love with him. The chemistry between Box and Deegan, right, is fierce and when Joe is watching his sister backflipping, he looks genuinely awestruck. No wonder. Box (a real-life gymnast), is as supple as a seal.
Gifted first-time writer/director Eva Riley bottles Leigh’s desperation, along with her energy. Full points all round.
⬤ In cinemas and on-demand
Papicha
Cert 15, 108 mins
★★★★✩
LIKE Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Papicha charts the impact of fundamentalism on a growing girl. In Algeria in the Nineties religious conservatives tell females to cover up. Student Nedjima (Lyna Khoudri) finds ways to resist. The most devastating sequence involves a member of Nedjima’s family and is all the more effective because the atmosphere’s so breezy. Insouciance suits writer-director Mounia Meddour — the climax tries too hard to appal us
and slightly spoils
the mood. But Khoudri, who plays a political activist in Wes Anderson’s next movie, is consistently wonderful. She looks like a Disney princess. She couldn’t be more earthy.
⬤ On digital platforms and at Curzon Bloomsbury and Curzon Mayfair
Around the Sun
Cert U, 79 mins
★★★✩✩
TWO strangers meet at a French château. She is Maggie (Cara Theobold), a perky, science-obsessed woman from the North of England, he is Bernard (Gethin Anthony), a well-heeled creative type. Time’s arrow goes haywire and the pair re-meet each other, over and over again. Though various details change, they always discuss the same 17th-century scientific book. And love. The ideas woven through Oliver Krimpas’s debut are intriguing and Theobold is smart and warm. Anthony’s Bernard is the weak link. The character’s supposed to be charismatic and his tragic backstory forms the centre of this universe. With someone like Tom Hiddleston in the role, that might have worked. Alas, when forced to dwell on the anodyne Anthony, I wanted to be in a galaxy far, far, away.
⬤ AppleTV and iTunes