Film choice

The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) Sky Cinema Greats, 12.40pm ★★★★

Anthony Minghella’s glossy take on Patricia Highsmith’s novel is an engaging thriller with a pitch-perfect ending. New York wannabe socialclimber Tom Ripley’s life changes forever when he lusts after the lifestyle of an errant playboy (Jude Law) while holidaying in Italy. Matt Damon is sinister in the lead, with Philip Seymour Hoffman magnificent as a bulldozer who ruptures Tom’s idyll.

The Big Trees (1952, b/w) 5Action, 2.10pm ★★★

Kirk Douglas’s final film for Warner Brothers wasn’t his best, but it’s still an enjoyable Western romp. Douglas plays Jim Fallon, a timber baron who tries to use a Californian forest to get rich quick, but faces opposition from local Quakers, including leader Elder Bixby (Charles Meredith). The troubles don’t stop there, because Douglas then falls in love with Bixby’s daughter Alicia (Eve Miller).

Them That Follow (2019) Film4, 9pm ★★★

This drama centered around an Appalachian Pentecostal community boasts an excellent cast: Olivia Colman, Walton Goggins, Thomas Mann and Alice Englert to name but a few. Mara (Englert) is under pressure from her pastor father (Goggins) to marry, but is secretly already pregnant by an apostate (Mann). It has a thrilling second act, complete with snakes, at-home amputations and more.