Screen Daily

As scandalously smutty as Verity wants to be, this proudly dumb-fun thriller could have stood to be a little smarter.

Tom Cruise takes enormous risks playing the outlandish title character, and his daring portrait of avarice and ego is occasionally striking in its ferocity. But this ambitious misfire is consistently sabotaged by Iñárritu’s gratingly unsubtle comedic approach – not to mention his introduction of a meta twist that further alienates the audience.

This is a decidedly more grounded, introspective affair than Lee’s candy-coloured take on the material, and Oakley takes a more personal, intimate approach reminiscent of her previous feature.

A tender, intelligent, beautifully-crafted supernatural love story.

This earnest picture gives the expedition the proper grandeur and sense of danger, and the performances (including Tom Hiddleston as Hillary) are nicely restrained. But some narrative choices and an overly tasteful treatment end up undercutting what should be a stirring spectacle.

This wistful ensemble piece never builds much comedic momentum, nor does it capitalise fully on its poignant premise.

Yeon Sang-ho’s Paradise Lost is an awkward, frustratingly inert blend of underdeveloped ideas about AI and familiar thriller mechanics.

Alternately downbeat and hopeful, celebratory and valedictory, it’s shot through with the dirty romance of the city that doesn’t sleep – but ends with footage of a parcel-sorting robot at a UPS hub.

While it may not be for everyone, Stuffed will undoubtedly appeal to genre fans looking for unique, ambitious storytelling.

Anton Corbijn’s first narrative feature in 11 years luxuriates in the author’s stylish, sinister milieu as his two characters dream up a new book — one in which the editor himself becomes the protagonist. Helen Mirren brings a snippy panache to her portrayal of the misanthropic novelist, but the film’s excessive cleverness ultimately proves tiring rather than page-turning.