and talk to her, tells her that she's simply recovering from trauma, picking up the pieces of a shattered life. oh, my god. you're dead, too. what? no. no, no, i'm not. and you're not. is adrienne hallucinating? is she in a coma? or is she somehow haunting her own life? written and directed by tara miele and shot way back in 2018, wander darkly is a film whose modest budget belies its very high ambitions — a metaphysical drama about the meaning of life and attempts to turn a post—traumatic love story into a terrence malick—esque meditation upon existence. this is real. some would liken the narrative to a cross between eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and ghost, although to me, it was more reminiscent ofjacob�*s ladder, the twisted �*90s oddity about an american soldier besieged by visions that may or may not be combat shock. you got to find somebody that you love. not shea. please don't marry shea.

scoffs. in the lead role, miller, who shone in 2018's american woman, continues to impress, carrying the weight of an elliptical drama that constantly threatens to collapse around her. as for the film, it doesn't quite hang together, with the central conceit teetering on the brink of silliness, threatening to exasperate rather than engage its audience. but if the result is ultimately a failure, then at least it's an admirable failure. and i'd always rather see a film—maker aim high and fall short than simply play it safe. wander darkly is available on digital download from monday. altogether more successful, although no less fantastical, is raya and the last dragon, the latest eye—popping animation from disney. six years of searching. please let this be it. whoa! focus! eyes forward, tuk tuk! good boy!

kelly marie tran, who played rose tico in the star wars movies, provides the voice of raya, a young woman struggling to reunite the warring kingdoms of her homeland. to do this, she must seek out and reanimate sisu, a rather hapless dragon voiced by awkwafina, into whose hands — or rather, talons — the peaceful future of this world has been entrusted. we really need your help. i'm going to be real with you. i'm not, like, the best dragon. have you ever done, like, a group project but there's like that one kid who didn't pitch in as much but still got ended up with the same grade? co—written by adele lim, whose screenplay credits include the hit comedy crazy rich asians, this visually dazzling romp has action and adventure to spare with sword fights, punch—ups, frenetic chase sequences, magical apparitions, shape—shifting and sweeping cinematic vistas aplenty. my girl raya and i are going to fix the world, bring everyone back. more importantly, it also has an uplifting message about overcoming fear and learning to trust our enemies — a message that seems

particularly timely right now. it's available on disney+ with premier access. from a mythical south east asia to modern—day france for my donkey, my lover & i, a romantic comedy that does exactly what it says on the tin. laure calamy, who'll be familiar to many from the hit tv show call my agent, stars as antoinette, a schoolteacher having an affair with a married man whom she plans to surprise on the hiking trip he's taking with his wife and daughter. so she signs up for a six—day trek and finds herself tethered

to a stubborn beast who, like her lover, does what he wants when he wants, regardless of her needs. taking inspiration from robert louis stevenson's travels with a donkey in the cevennes, writer—director caroline vignal�*s film, originally entitled antoinette dans les cevennes, sounds excruciating — a perky french rom—com about someone going on holiday with a donkey by mistake. and yet somehow, this quietly preposterous confection won me over, thanks in no small part to calamy�*s terrifically endearing and spirited performance. yes, the set—up is contrived and the comedic set piece is formulaic, and the life lessons to be learned along this journey are obvious from the outset. but calamy makes us care about antoinette�*s misfortunes, leaving us rooting for her — and for her four—legged friend who will only walk when she talks, a neat dramatic device in which vignal makes the most.

sings. now, danish film—maker anders refn is best known to some as the editor of lars von trier films like breaking the waves and antichrist, and as the father of nicholas winding refn — director of drive and the neon demon. anders is also an accomplished director in his own right who's recently completed work on what he calls "a labour of love" ten years in the making, unearthing a fascinating story about denmark's involvement in world war ii that has never been told on film before. the result is into the darkness, which proved a box office smash in denmark early last year, outperforming the likes of 1917, and which now opens online in the uk.

veteran danish actor jesper christensen, known to english—speaking audiences as the villainous mr white in the bond franchise, is the industrialist struggling to keep his family together and his business afloat in the wake of the german occupation. how far should he collaborate with the nazis, who everybody seems to believe are set to win the war? and what about the rest of his family, whose loves and loyalties are becoming bitterly divided? refn says that up until now, danish movies about this period are focused on glorified acts of heroism, without acknowledging the taboo spectre of collaboration. by contrast, into the darkness

focuses on the shades of grey that underwrote the early years of the occupation, in which allegiances are sorely tested. thematically, there are comparisons to be made with the dutch classic black book, although refn�*s rather televisual film has none of the cinematic pizazz of paul verhoeven�*s unruly gem. while the story of into the darkness may be new to the movies, the storytelling is as old as the hills. a second instalment of this saga, which already clocks in at over 150 minutes, is currently in the works — although production has been delayed by covid. you can find the first part on digital platforms now. i'll leave you with news of something altogether more upbeat that's currently playing on netflix. hey, mum, what do 16—year—olds care about? when i was 16, all i cared about was smashing the patriarchy and

burning it all down. directed by amy poehler, moxie is a tale of riot girl power passed down from mother to daughter. hadley robinson is vivian, a student whose schoolmates have learned to accept and even expect the everyday sectors of jock culture. cani can i help you? but when no—nonsense new arrival lucy, played by alycia pascual—pena, stands up to patrick schwarzenegger's harassing football star mitchell, vivian is inspired to join her battle, albeit anonymously. i'm going to keep my head up. high. fired up by the contents of an old suitcase packed with the detritus of her mother's punky past, vivian knocks together a feminist fanzine called moxie and secretly distributes it around the school. what's the goal? revolution, baby! soon, formerly downtrodden girls of all social groups are coming together, taking a leaf out of the zine�*s luridly photocopied pages to fight back against the boys.

adapted by screenwriters tamara chestna and dylan meyer from a novel byjennifer mathieu, moxie may lack the depth of eighth grade or the punch of booksmart, but it's still blessed with enough good—hearted energy to raise a smile, several chuckles and the occasional cheer. much of its success is down to the cast, who manage to balance the serious and comedic aspects with likeable aplomb. but you're glad you did it all, right? of course. what are you going do, nothing? most impressively, poehler pulls off an entertaining and accessible film that confronts issues of bullying, harassment and rape with a sturdy spirit of defiance, humour and collective optimism — no mean feat. that's it for this week. thanks for watching the film review. stay safe, and i'll see you next week. hey, baby. where are your parents? hey, uh, whose baby? what?

hello. last weekend was a mainly dry weekend across the uk with high pressure in control, and this weekend will be the same. but there is a significant difference between weekends — that word there, cold. a very different feel to things. spring in the air last weekend — 15 celsius in the sunshine. this weekend, with only a few sunny spells around, it's closer to 7 degrees. and it feels like winter's still got a bit of life left in it. but it is high pressure across us, so it is going to be mainly dry. just this one weak weather front will deliver a bit of rain into parts of scotland, especially the further north you are. there is milder air out in the atlantic. it will come our way in the week ahead — but that's not the only change coming, as i'll show you in a moment. this is how saturday begins. temperatures well below freezing. in the coldest parts, a widespread frost to

start the day. some mist and fog patches around. there's the chance of catching a shower along the north sea coast, maybe around the thames estuary early on. they'll fade, showers come into the western isles, far north of mainland scotland and one or two into the northern isles. elsewhere, variable cloud, some sunny spells and temperatures only around that 7 celsius mark. on into saturday night, then, we'll keep a few areas of cloud but also some clear spells. the rain becoming a little bit more widespread across northern scotland with some heavier bursts around here keeping the temperature up, whereas elsewhere, if you're clear for any period of time, your temperature will drop below freezing and there will be another frost on sunday morning. still in scotland on sunday, towards the north and north—west, some outbreaks of rain. elsewhere, well, again, it's the sort of day where if you start sunny, you're likely to cloud over. if you start with cloud, you'll eventually see a few sunny spells. a little less cold in scotland and northern ireland. and then on monday, it is again scotland most likely to see a few outbreaks of rain, but the odd spot in parts

of northern england and northern ireland can't be ruled out. to the south, after a frosty start, still a fair amount of cloud around, maybe a few early mist and fog patches, but significant weather changes on the way into midweek. goodbye, high pressure. hello, low pressure. and that does mean a change to, yes, slightly milder weather coming our way, but some potentially disruptive wet and windy weather once more.

this is bbc news. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: pope francis begins his historic visit to iraq with an appealfor all religions to come together and work for peace. gunshots more clashes in myanmar — as the united nations security council meets to decide what action to take against its military rulers. "a greater mass trauma than world war ii" — the head of the who says the effects of the pandemic will be felt for years to come. and, the disconnected phonebox injapan that helps relatives remember loved ones lost in the fukushima disaster ten years ago.