Pick of the week
The Substance<\/p>\n
Coralie Fargeat\u2019s no-holds-barred satire about the tyranny of female beauty<\/a> standards \u2013 and the perceived horrors of ageing \u2013 features an inspired bit of casting in Demi Moore, who plays a role with echoes of her own career. More than holding her own amid a splurge of wince-inducing makeup effects, Moore is Elisabeth, a 50-year-old film star reduced to doing an aerobics show on TV. Edged out by her slimy boss, Harvey (Dennis Quaid), she seeks to prolong her relevance by undergoing a mysterious \u2013 and very gruesome \u2013 procedure called the Substance. This spawns a younger clone, Sue (Margaret\u00a0Qualley), and an increasingly vampiric relationship between the two. The Woman in Cabin 10Agatha Christie-esque \u2026 Keira Knightley and Guy Pearce in The Woman in Cabin 10. Photograph: Parisa Taghizadeh\/PA<\/p>\n We seem to be in the middle of a run of dramas about Guardian journalists, what with ITV\u2019s The Hack and now this rather more fantastical Christie-esque mystery. Keira Knightley<\/a> plays ace reporter Laura, who takes time out from writing about global conflict to join a luxury cruise with a terminally ill Norwegian shipping heiress\/philanthropist, her husband and other filthy rich folk. But after a mysterious woman goes overboard one night and \u2013 in Lady Vanishes style \u2013 everyone denies she ever existed, Laura\u2019s investigative instincts kick in \u2026 PresenceSpooky fun \u2026 Lucy Liu in Presence. Photograph: Everett Collection Inc\/Alamy<\/p>\n Steven Soderbergh loves testing his abilities as a film-maker, and for his nifty 2024 supernatural story<\/a> he decided that the entire thing should be shot from the point of view of the ghost. So, as a family including mother Rebekah (Lucy Liu) and troubled teenage daughter Chloe (Callina Liang) settle into their new suburban house, the camera \u2013 AKA the Presence \u2013 follows them around. Chloe seems aware of the poltergeist, and it seems protective of her. But why? It\u2019s a fun idea that doesn\u2019t outstay its welcome, with a twist you might not see coming. The Unbearable Weight of Massive TalentYou have to admire his gall \u2026 Nicolas Cage with Pedro Pascal in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Photograph: Katalin Vermes\/PR<\/p>\n You can\u2019t help but admire Nicolas Cage\u2019s commitment to his cult stardom. When he\u2019s not going to extremes for his art, he\u2019s taking the mickey out of himself for doing just that. In this meta comedy caper<\/a>, he plays self-obsessed, on-the-slide Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage, who takes a $1m payday to appear at a birthday party in Mallorca for billionaire, and Cage uberfan, Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal). Asked by the CIA to spy on suspected cartel boss Javi, Cage\u2019s \u201cnouveau shamanic acting ability\u201d comes in handy \u2013 like Team America: World Police made flesh. The Black PhoneA solid creepfest \u2026 Brady Hepner and Mason Thames in The Black Phone. Photograph: Photo Credit: Fred Norris\/Universal Pictures<\/p>\n A belated sequel is heading your way soon, but Scott Derrickson\u2019s locked-room horror<\/a> needs no follow-up. A series of child abductions in 1978 Denver has the kids on edge, and when Finney (Mason Thames) is taken by \u201cthe Grabber\u201d (Ethan Hawke) and kept captive in a basement, he fears the worst. But the disconnected phone on the wall keeps ringing, with the spooky callers offering help, while the prescient dreams of his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) could save him too. A solid creepfest. The Eyes of Tammy FayeA remarkable turn \u2026 Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Photograph: TCD\/Alamy<\/p>\n In the battle between God and Mammon, it\u2019s a knockout win for Mammon in Michael Showalter\u2019s wonderfully garish biopic<\/a> of the disgraced televangelist and her criminal husband, Jim Bakker. \u201cGod does not want us to be poor,\u201d declaims Andrew Garfield\u2019s venal Jim early on, as he and Tammy Faye (a transformed Jessica Chastain<\/a>) set about monetising the American public\u2019s Christian beliefs. It\u2019s a riot of bad interior design, bad makeup and bad faith, though Chastain manages, remarkably, to present Tammy Faye as a sympathetic figure, her liberal views riling her bigoted fellow TV preachers. Black BagDeadpan cool \u2026 Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender in Black Bag. Photograph: Claudette Barius\/Focus Features\/AP<\/p>\n
Friday 17 October, Paramount+<\/p>\n
Out now, Netflix<\/p>\n
Saturday 11 October, 4.35pm, 10.10pm, Sky Cinema Premiere<\/p>\n
Saturday 11 October, 9pm, Channel 4<\/p>\n
Saturday 11 October, 10.50pm, Film4<\/p>\n
Tuesday 14 October, 1.15am, Film4<\/p>\n