‘Wuthering Heights’ ★★★☆☆

Directed by Emerald Fennell. Starring Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, Ewan Mitchell. 15A cert, gen release, 136 min

Overheated, spectacularly designed adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Gothic romance about the passion between mad Cathy and bad Heathcliff. The surprise for many will be how closely this supposed deconstruction sticks to the shape of Brontë’s original narrative: introduction, separation, inappropriate reunion. Sadly, the script can’t make sense of Cathy as a woman of Robbie’s age, and Elordi is never anything more than a cipher. But the supporting cast, particularly Oliver as Isabella Linton, are top notch. For all its flaws, better this sort of lively adaptation than another politely reverent variation on Sunday-evening telly. Full review DC

Crime 101 ★★★☆☆

Directed by Bart Layton. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte. 15A cert, gen release, 140 min

A year or two before the promised arrival of Heat 2, we get a decent crime thriller that swims in adjacent waters to Michael Mann’s untouchable 1995 original. Mark Ruffalo is a tough, rundown cop who has becomes obsessed with the man behind a series of exquisitely planned robberies in Los Angeles (Hemsworth). Sound familiar? None of this is meant as negative criticism. Heat has evolved into a key LA text, and Layton is allowed to dance in its penumbra. This is a sleekly made film that gives its strong cast room to exercise different schools of glamour. Full review DC

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain ★★★★☆

Directed by Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han. Voices of Loïse Charpentier, Emmylou Homs, Victoria Grosbois, Yumi Fujimori, Cathy Cerdà. PG cert, limited release, 78 min

Vallade and Liane-Cho Han’s debut feature is a formally playful, gorgeously rendered, emotionally impactful adaptation of Amélie Nothomb’s autobiographical novella from 2000. Set in late-1960s Japan, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain reimagines an early colonial childhood as a period of intense metaphysical speculation, filtered through the inquiring and tyrannical logic of a toddler who initially believes herself a god. Even chopped vegetables present an adventure. Pleasure and mortal danger collide, kick-starting her initiation into language, appetite and attachment. A beautiful film that has a keen intelligence running through it. Bring tissues. Full review TB

Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up ★★★☆☆

Directed by Peter Browngardt. Voices of Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol. PG cert, gen release, 91 min

The first fully animated Looney Tunes feature in nearly a century – no, really – doesn’t merely showcase the anarcho-comedy of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig; it also leaves the viewer to wonder why we had to make do with that underpowered Space Jam sequel. Directed by Peter Browngardt, a long-time Tunes custodian, the film is steeped in the grammar of the golden age: elastic bodies, zany physics and gags that land with the impact of a falling baby grand piano. This is not merely a nostalgic homage. Instead, it rechannels the mayhem of house-style architects. Full review TB