From the earthy oddity of Wicker to the masterful espionage drama of Wild Horse Nine and the thunderous spectacle of Godzilla Minus Zero, this week\u2019s releases offer one genuinely bizarre crowd-pleaser, one instant modern classic and one giant-monster epic done with real heart.<\/p>\n
WICKER (MA15+)<\/p>\n
Three and a half stars <\/p>\n
General release.<\/p>\n
In a medieval village rife with male-dominated misery, a single woman makes a stand, makes a difference and makes a scene. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want you to make me a husband,\u201d states The Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) to The Basket Weaver (Peter Dinklage), a magic-adjacent craftsman in the business of selectively granting wishes. So he goes right ahead and fulfils The Fisherwoman\u2019s order by manufacturing the spouse of her dreams. So what if this strapping hunk happens to made entirely of wicker? <\/p>\n
The Husband (Alexander Skarsgard) soon becomes the ideal man that all other women in the village begin comparing their oaf-ish partners to. <\/p>\n
Adapted from the Ursula Wills short story The Wicker Husband, this movie went viral on the \u2018net well ahead of its release because of its, umm, unusual love scenes between Colman and Skarsgard. However, as unapologetically earthy as Wicker can be, it is a strangely endearing and subtly funny affair that can win over any supposedly reluctant viewer with ease. <\/p>\n
While the movie does have a little trouble fashioning a satisfactory ending, Colman and her supporting cast keep embracing the maverick spirit of rebellion in this tale with great warmth and conviction. <\/p>\n
WILD HORSE NINE (MA15+)<\/p>\n
Director: Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)<\/p>\n
Starring: John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi.<\/p>\n
Five stars<\/p>\n
A free rein for Malkovich to gallop towards greatness<\/p>\n
Sometimes a filmmaking pedigree counts for a lot. In the rare case a certain name is attached to a production, you can safely cancel all immediate plans and book yourself a ticket ASAP.<\/p>\n
Such is the case with Martin McDonagh, an Irish writer-director with a track record of sustained excellence to rival that of Christopher Nolan.<\/p>\n
McDonagh only commits to a movie project every five years or so. However, when he does, the end result is invariably a winning one.<\/p>\n
Even if you simply go on the robust strength of McDonagh\u2019s last two movies \u2013 The Banshees of Inisherin and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri \u2013 you can safely go to his latest work Wild Horse Nine with high expectations and no worries.<\/p>\n
This is undoubtedly one of the best releases of 2026, boasting both a high calibre of writing (only The Invite can hold a candle to the dialogue) and performance (the acting here is sheer perfection) that is brilliance personified.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking of performance, McDonagh extracts an astonishing, career-best display from veteran John Malkovich, a much-maligned actor who has been out of form for almost two decades. Now he is widely favoured to win the next Best Actor Oscar.<\/p>\n
Malkovich heads up Wild Horse Nine as Chris, an ageing CIA agent coming to the end of a career that has seen him continually show up at many wrong places at exactly the right time.<\/p>\n
You will learn more about Chris\u2019 colourful past throughout the movie, which is one of its many joys. However, his proximity to the 1963 assassination of US President John F. Kennedy \u2013 and his knowledge of what really occurred on that fateful day \u2013 remains a curiously vital component of Wild Horse Nine\u2019s plot.<\/p>\n
So too does Chris\u2019s enduring friendship with fellow CIA spook Lee (Sam Rockwell), a somewhat younger, but far more cynical player of the spy game.<\/p>\n
Together, this unlikely pair have been dispatched by their exasperated boss MJ (Steve Buscemi) to the ultra-remote location of Easter Island. <\/p>\n
The exact reason why is hard to pin down. It may have something to do with MJ wanting Chris and Lee out of the way while he plans the downfall of a popular political leader in Chile. Or it could merely be a hard-earned holiday for two loyal foot soldiers to the American cause.<\/p>\n
While we wait for this mysterious matter to be clarified, Malkovich\u2019s acting masterclass continues to course deeper and wider with each new scene. His handling of McDonagh\u2019s rich, rueful and bitterly funny dialogue is flawless throughout, and improves even more when going head-to-head with Rockwell and Buscemi.<\/p>\n
Wild Horse Nine is now showing in general release.<\/p>\n
GODZILLA MINUS ZERO (M) <\/p>\n
****<\/p>\n
General release.<\/p>\n
In case you didn\u2019t get the memo : Godzilla is back in the big time, baby! It\u2019s all been the doing of 2023\u2019s superb Godzilla Minus One, a landmark monster movie epic which won an Oscar (Best Visual Effects) on the way to becoming Japan\u2019s high-grosser of all time. Now into his eighth decade as a star of the big screen, the legendary ocean beast now gets to strut his stuff for IMAX cameras for the first time. As a cinematic spectacle, this epic sequel makes much better use of the wider screen format than The Odyssey, and leaves a longer lasting impression while it\u2019s at it. As was the case with Minus One, the action is set in the late 1940s, with Japan still reeling from the dual atomic devastations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As for the \u2018Zilla, he\u2019s returning from a subterranean holiday for a planet-rattling brawl with his longtime nemesis, the multi-headed kaiju Ghidorah. While the visual effects remain next-level brilliant whenever Godzilla is in action, it is Minus Zero\u2019s ability to make its human characters matter that is key to its undeniable success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the earthy oddity of Wicker to the masterful espionage drama of Wild Horse Nine and the 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