1 Captain Fantastic (15)
(Matt Ross, 2016, US) 119 mins.
A culture clash threatens to become a car crash when Viggo Mortensen and his tribe of Chomsky-worshipping forest-dwellers are forced back into mainstream US “civilisation”. It’s mostly played for laughs and tears, and gets mushy towards the end, but it’s refreshing in its defence of values now considered “alternative”.
2 Hell Or High Water (15)
(David Mackenzie, 2016, US)
102 mins. Unlike its central brothers-in-crime, this tough Texan heist thriller doesn’t put a foot wrong. The dry tension and ripe local flavour recall the Coen brothers, but the context is bang up to date: Chris Pine and Ben Foster are targeting banks to save the family ranch from foreclosure; wily Jeff Bridges and partner are on their trail.
3 Don’t Breathe (15)
(Fede Alvarez, 2016, US) 88 mins.
This neat little thriller delivers on a set-up tailor-made for tension. Three cash-strapped teens plot to burgle a wealthy old blind man. Except their target (Stephen Lang) turns out to be a Gulf war veteran with plenty of fight still in him – and pretty keen hearing. The cat-and-mice games are choreographed with gleeful invention.
4 Kubo And The Two Strings (PG)
(Travis Knight, 2016, US) 102 mins.
A magical boy guitarist (technically it’s a shamisen) journeys through Japanese and western mythology in Laika’s latest stop-motion wonder. Like the best children’s tales, it broaches big subjects (death, grief, memory) through far-flung fantasy, which makes for a visual box of treats, from samurai beetles to giant rock skeletons to flocks of origami birds.
5 Sausage Party (15)
(Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon, 2016, US) 89 mins.
Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig and co take a Toy Story-like premise of talking foodstuffs into expectedly lewd and hilarious – and unexpectedly metaphysical – places in this agreeably ridiculous animation. A childish treat for grown-ups.
