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<\/p>\n(111 mins, 15) Directed by David Mackenzie; starring Riz Ahmed, Lily James, Sam Worthington\ufeff<\/p>\n
For the first \ufeff30 minutes or so of David Mackenzie\u2019s propulsive \ufeffNew York-set thriller, Relay, Riz Ahmed\u2019s character, Ash, has no lines whatsoever.\ufeff But he\u2019s such an intense presence, so ferociously in the moment as an actor, that we hardly notice his silence. \ufeffAhmed doesn\u2019t need to talk to command our attention. It\u2019s an astute piece of casting for this particular role: Ahmed combines lithe physicality and compulsively watchable star power with the ability to disappear behind the many disguises that his character deploys.<\/p>\n
Ash (which \ufeffmight not be his real name) provides a bespoke service, brokering mutually beneficial but precarious deals between corrupt organisations and potential whistleblowers. Some might call it a kind of blackmail but, for Ash, it\u2019s a moral obligation as well as a lucrative hustle. He\u2019s extremely good at the job, with the ability to think four steps ahead of the tricky, ruthless individuals who are on his tail \ufeff(Sam Worthington heads up a team of private contractors)\ufeff. Ash keeps a distance from his clients, communicating solely through a phone conversation relay service normally used by \ufeffdeaf\ufeff people.<\/p>\n
Then he takes on a new case.\ufeff Sarah (Lily James)\ufeff is a former research scientist whose employers have hushed up the health risks of a genetically modified grain. There\u2019s something about this naive idealist that disarms Ash and persuades him to bend his strict rules of operation. A couple of plot holes notwithstanding \ufeff, this is pacy, enjoyable stuff \u2013 a crisply edited and pleasingly slippery tale that unfolds in the grubby corners of New York where only bad things happen.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Former Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg in the \u2018gripping\u2019 documentary Facing War<\/p>\n
(105 mins, 12A) Directed by Tommy Gulliksen; featuring Jens Stoltenberg\ufeff<\/p>\n
Granted exceptional access to, and a remarkable degree of candour from, its subject, former Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, Facing War provides a fascinating insight into high-level diplomatic processes and a portrait of a capable and charismatic politician at work.<\/p>\n
The documentary, directed by Stoltenberg\u2019s Norwegian compatriot Tommy Gulliksen, follows the official over the final year of his Nato tenure. Stoltenberg\u2019s stint in the top job has already been extended several times and he is under pressure (not least from then \ufeffUS president Joe Biden) to stay on \ufefflonger. With Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, Nato members are forced to strike a tricky balance between offering support to Ukraine (not a Nato member but lobbying hard to become one) and avoiding an all-out war with Russia.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s gripping viewing. Stoltenberg, unexpectedly, cites\ufeff mob boss Tony Soprano \ufeffas the fictional character with whom he most identifies. And while parallels with organised crime might not be what the Nato communications department might have hoped for, as we watch Stoltenberg dancing around the unpredictable whims and dangerous egos of powerful men, the parallel makes a lot of sense.<\/p>\n
(120 mins, 12A) Directed by Annemarie Jacir; starring \ufeffSaleh Bakri, Yasmine Al Massri, Kamel \ufeffEl\u00a0Basha<\/p>\n
A sturdy, stirring historical drama \u2013 it\u2019s the Palestinian submission to the international Oscar category this year \u2013 Palestine 36 explores the 1936-39 Arab revolt against British rule, laying bare the\ufeff colonial interference that sowed the seeds for the Israel-Palestine conflict. It\u2019s rather schematic and simplistic in its approach, with clearly defined nefarious villains and noble heroes.<\/p>\n
But this is a handsomely mounted period piece that competently navigates its complex network of interwoven storylines. Key among these is that of \ufeffYusuf (Karim Daoud Anaya)\ufeff, a high-achieving young man who leaves his village to work as a chauffeur in Jerusalem. His employer is a wealthy Arab newspaper owner whose glamorous lover\ufeff Khuloud (Yasmine \ufeffAl Massri)\ufeff writes firebrand columns for the paper under an assumed male name. Confronted by oppression and injustice, Yusuf must make a choice: submit or fight.<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/64887.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Former Liverpool star Kenny Dalglish is the focus of Asif Kapadia\u2019s documentary portrait<\/p>\n
(103 mins, 12A) Directed by Asif Kapadia; featuring Kenny Dalglish, Marina Dalglish, Paul McCartney\ufeff<\/p>\n
Asif Kapadia\u2019s trademark immersive, all-archival documentary technique makes for deeply satisfying portraits of his subjects. Films such as Senna, Diego Maradona and, now, Kenny Dalglish go beyond a straight biographical account of a life and career, and weave the subject into a rewardingly textured account of a cultural moment. Which is just as well, as \u2013 God love him \u2013 football legend Kenny Dalglish is not the most compelling raconteur. Much of first part of the film is comprised of grainy stock shots of Glasgow tenements and general malaise, followed by footage of Dalglish\u2019s younger self scoring multiple goals while he describes, in a laconic and monotonal voice\ufeffover, what we are watching on screen.<\/p>\n
But like Kapadia\u2019s Maradona documentary, the film grows more interesting when it examines the relationship between the footballer and his adopted city. For the people of Liverpool, Dalglish was more than just an unusually gifted \ufeffplayer \u2013 he was a totemic presence and a beacon of hope in the blighted Thatcher years.<\/p>\n
(91 mins, 15) Directed by Chris Stuckmann; starring Camille Sullivan, Brendan Sexton III, Sarah\u00a0Durn\ufeff\ufeff<\/p>\n
This\ufeff crowd\ufefffunded\ufeff horror is sunk by its formulaic premise: in \ufeff2009, four ghost-hunting YouTubers \ufeffmysteriously disappeared. Three mutilated bodies were later found, but one, \ufeffRiley (Sarah Durn), was never accounted for. Her sister, Mia (Camille Sullivan)\ufeff, never gave up hope of finding her, and this sluggishly paced supernatural slog follows her quest (invariably pursued alone and at night, with only the overwrought sound design and some demon dogs for company). It\u2019s a tonal and formal mess: part straight horror, part mock doc, part found-footage chiller (think: The Meh Witch Project). Even the use of that hoary horror location chestnut, the creepy derelict fun\ufefffair, can\u2019t inject much atmosphere into this curiously inert and sterile\ufeff film.<\/p>\n
Photograph\u00a0Heidi Hartwig\/Critical PR\/Hulton Archive<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(111 mins, 15) Directed by David Mackenzie; starring Riz Ahmed, Lily James, Sam Worthington\ufeff For the first \ufeff30…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-239625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}