Film choice

Downfall Mandy (2004) FILM4, 9.00PM ★★★★

 This account of the final days of Hitler’s life, as the Red Army closed in on the bunker in Berlin, divided opinion because of Bruno Ganz’s “humanising” portrayal of the Führer. It’s told through the eyes of secretary Traudi Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara), who remained in the bunker as Hitler’s world disintegrated. It’s now regularly shown on TV, but it still warrants watching again and again.

(2018) SKY CINEMA PREMIERE, 10.10PM ★★★★★

 This is one of the all-time great Nicolas Cage wig-outs. The year is 1983, and Cage plays a taciturn lumberjack who lives in a cabin with the love of his life, Mandy, played in a dazzlingly committed performance by Andrea Riseborough. A doomsday cult pitches up and earmarks Mandy as a “chosen one”. What unfolds, in Panos Cosmatos’s direction, is a dreamy narcosis unlike anything else around.

Our Little Sister (2015) BBC FOUR, 11.30PM ★★★★

 Director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s lovingly crafted family drama is full of characters you won’t want to leave behind. It’s a story of grace, kindness, and a form of rescue: that of 15-yearold Suzu (Suzu Hirose, an absolute pleasure to watch), by the three half-sisters she hasn’t met – until their father’s funeral. There’s a sadness to this theme of stolen childhoods, as the women try to help each other survive.