TV FILMS OF THE WEEK
1
FREE STATE OF JONES Tonight, BBC1, 11.05pm
HANDSOME historical drama set in the American Civil War. In October 1862, farmer Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey) is a medic in the Confederate Army and witnesses a local boy being shot on the frontline. Horrified, Newton abandons his post and returns home to Jones County with the boy’s body to perform a proper burial. The threat of capture as a deserter strains his relationship with his wife (Keri Russell). Newton flees into nearby swamps, where he befriends runaway slaves including Rachel (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Moses (Mahershala Ali). They hope not to draw the attention of sadistic Lieutenant Barbour (Brad Carter) and his men.
2
NIGHTCRAWLER Tomorrow, BBC2, 11.15pm
TWISTED media satire. Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal, left) pulls over on a highway, close to a fatal accident, and meets cameraman Joe (Bill Paxton), who sells his gruesome work to the highest bidder. Louis buys a camera and approaches a news station editor (Rene Russo) with footage of his own. After she pays up, Louis hires a protégé (Riz Ahmed) to capture murder and misfortune in grisly close-up.
3
JAWS
Monday, ITV4, 11.15pm
JUST when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 thriller swims back onto our screens. A monster great white shark terrorises the New England resort of Amity Island, leading local police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider, pictured), marine expert Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and salty seadog Quint (Robert Shaw) in search of the beast.
4
APOLLO 13 Tuesday, ITV4, 8pm
RON HOWARD’S film tells the incredible true story of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, which launched in 1970, bound for the Moon. However, disaster struck in the form of an on-board explosion, which left astronaut Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks, pictured) and his team facing a dwindling oxygen supply, while back on Earth, the ground crew in Houston frantically searched for a way to get them home safely.
5
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Tuesday, Paramount Network, 9pm
FOURTH film in the franchise. Despot Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) has enslaved five women to provide him with a male heir. Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron, pictured) kidnaps the women and flees with Immortan Joe and his army in pursuit. Among the chasing horde is Nux (Nicholas Hoult) and his prisoner Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy). After Max breaks free, he agrees to help Furiosa.
6
SHANE Thursday, Film4, 11am
A KINDLY farmer and his family face losing their home when a ruthless cattle baron tries to force them off their land. Help arrives in the form of a mysterious gunfighter, who wins the admiration of the farmer’s son – and wife. Alan Ladd, pictured, is fine as Shane, but is upstaged by the supporting cast, including Jean Arthur, the extraordinary Brandon De Wilde and Jack Palance.
7
BEAST Friday, Film4, 9pm
HAUNTED by her past, shrinking violet Moll (Jessie Buckley, pictured) submits to a joyless life under the thumb of her domineering mother (Geraldine James). When Moll encounters poacher and handyman Pascal (Johnny Flynn) the misfits fall head over heels in lust. Not long afterwards, Pascal becomes a suspect in the hunt for the murderer of young women on the island.