have any friends! mum, you should've saved all of that for my birthday card. carey mulligan stars as cassie, a medical school dropout living in ohio. she works in a coffee shop and secretly spends her nights trolling bars and nightclubs, apparently intoxicated. when she's invariably taken home by an opportunistic man, she picks her moment to sober up, and he gets a shock. what are you doing? # i was busy thinking �*bout boys...# i won't spoil what happens next. much of promising young woman's power is in its surprises and a bit of misdirection. it's a wild ride that mixes dark comedy and a zippy score with a serious feminist message. i'm so sorry i didn't go with her. well, i'm sorry too. bafta winning and oscar—nominated writer/director, emerald fennell, tackles territory that's both important and uncomfortable. cassie calls men and women to task

on their past behaviour, whether they were perpetrators or silent bystanders. thematically, there are shades of the jodie foster star of the accused here. i think you gave me a fake number the other day. doesn't sound like me. in terms of tone, this has more in common with 905 noir like to die for and the last seduction, a genre that's having a bit of a resurgence at the moment. promising young woman gives it a colourful spin. i like to call it bubble gum noir. this is a candy coloured pop soundtrack confection with music video moments. it's no surprise it's produced by margot robbie, who produced and starred in i, tonya and birds of prey. as ever, british actress mulligan fares well in an american role and brings the right mix of intelligence, dry wit and vulnerability. and the supporting cast members are meticulously chosen. promising young woman isn't perfect, some of the tonal shifts didn't work

for me and i had mixed feelings about the ending. but it tackles crucial issues around consent and contemporary culture in a very entertaining format. and it stands up to multiple viewings. it's on sky cinema and the now streaming service. next up, another darkly funny feature from a debut female director, the comedy horror i blame society. this is where i would bury stalin and murder her, if i did it. all i have to do is roll her into the grave, cover it up and make sure i take everything with me. yeah, ijust sort of wish there was that strong female lead. yeah, yeah. someone likeable. writer—director gillian wallace horvat also stars as an indie film—maker on a mission when her friends tell her that she'd make a good murderer, she's weirdly flattered and intrigued. gillian starts making a documentary explaining who she'd off first and how. but soon, she starts killing for real.

and so what begins as an offbeat meta—comedy about guerrilla film—making becomes a satirical horror. whispers: i'm living my best life. this lacks both the polish and the budget of promising young woman, and it's heroin is defiantly unsympathetic, but it still raises pertinent questions about the way women are perceived in the media and the film industry. so we have a bunch of projects set up, actually, here with strong female leads. well, i mean, i could definitely come up with some ideas. we wouldn't need you to, we already have a bunch. | gillian has hilariously awkward meetings with production companies who are clearly looking for a token woman to hire. these scenes feel like they come from a very real place. cool not all of the films extremities pay off. this had me laughing one minute and wincing the next. but it's definitely a talking piece, and one for fans of dark comedy horrors like alice lowe's prevenge. it's on digitalfrom

monday the 19th of april. you're not going to stop me. onto sci—fi and the anthology film portal. who are you? i'm in some kind of hallucination that looks like i'm back in my apartment. there are copies of myself, clearly entities created by the door. what did you call me? one of the copies is engaging in a conversation with me. yeah, there you go again. what? you think you're the real vince? i'm getting psychosis beeps. you really think you're the real vince? i need help! what makes you so sure? which one of us is wearing the suit, smart guy? portal imagines a world where huge mysterious alien doors have appeared around the globe. some people feel strangely compelled to walk through them and are sucked into unknown territory. i think this is a good time to go. it's a reasonably engaging set up, and i enjoyed the first chapter set in high school detention, think the breakfast club meets the faculty. the tone shifts closer

to flatliners in the second film, which starsjosh peck as a volunteer venturing inside the portal. i said, i got the suit. and there is a definite whiff of close encounters in the third part, which sees a scientist trying to communicate with the aliens. portal may not be that original, but it is intriguing. though the episodic style hampers the tension, and there is little resolution in the finale. it's more of a tantalising peak than a satisfying journey. portal is on digital and dvd from the 19th of april. if you're in a contemplative mood, may i suggest the documentary henry glassie: field work. what i do is i don't study people at all. i stand with people and study the things that they create. that's what interests me.

what do they choose to present as emblems of their being? henry glassie is an american folklorist and ethnologistjust, but this film from pat collins is less about his life and more about his subjects. this doc patiently observes the rituals of working artists in brazil, turkey, north carolina and ireland. these are practitioners who spend most of their waking hours lovingly creating everything from rugs to religious icons. they aren't necessarily famous and even less likely to be rich, but they're incredibly talented. a momentary fulfillment of what it is to be human. this is what you might call a mood piece. once i adjusted to its very leisurely pace, ifound a quiet enjoyment in observing these master craftspeople with a consuming devotion to their work. all i have to do is put myself in the way of other people and they'll bump into me and teach me.

it is on digital and virtual screenings now. now to modern—day tokyo and the adoption melodrama, true mothers. based on a novel by mizuki tsujimura and directed by the acclaimed japanese film—maker naomi kawase, this initially centres on a middle—class couple. when their young adopted son gets into trouble at school, they're concerned, implicitly worried that he might have inherited bad genes. the story then flashes back

to their struggles to conceive and the decision to use an adoption association that takes in young expectant mothers — one of these is hikari. another flashback then takes us to hikari's teenaged romance and her contrastingly quick accidental conception. true mothers has the kind of literary narrative structure that can work better on the page, but i went willingly to unexpected places, absorbed by the characters and a hint of mystery. kawase has a delightful attention to visual detail, and her cast really delivers. both the adoptive mother and natural mother are fairly internal characters, but their expressions speak volumes. it also portrays male vulnerability with empathy. i can't recall the last time i saw a drama where two of the male leads broke down crying in separate scenes. true mothers is a sensitive film

that ponders on compassion, parenthood, privilege, identity and more. it's on curzon home cinema now. finally, if you are looking for something to take your mind off the pandemic, then do not watch final days — a thriller about a man trying to sit out an apocalypse in isolation. tv: emergency broadcast... a remake of the korean film alive, it stars tyler posey as aiden, a single guy whose party lifestyle is suddenly curtailed by a zombie epidemic. stuck in his apartment with a limited supply of food and water, he has to barricade out a steady stream of flesh hungry neighbours. aiden eventually finds something to live for when he spies a beautiful neighbour across the courtyard, but getting to her is a challenge. i'll come to you.

how? this feels like a fairly low—rent horror thriller, but the survival details have a certain morbid interest, and things improved dramatically when donald sutherland enters the picture, as you can imagine. you're not screaming. you're not either, but you've got blood there. oh...| cut myself on something. ultimately, there is enough suspense if you are in the mood for cheap thrills. it's on dvd and digital now. thanks for watching the film review with me, anna smith. i'll be back next week. meantime, stay safe. i'm not really looking to date anyone at the moment. right, yeah. me neither. would you be interested in a friendship, and i'm secretly pining for you the whole time?

some areas today have been basking in warm april sunshine, but not everywhere. a weak weather front across scotland and northern ireland, producing more cloud than england and wales. a little bit of patchy rain. in england and wales, there has been plenty of sunshine. another dry day. this weather system sitting to our west, overnight it will take the rain away from scotland and northern ireland before bringing it back in later on monday and into tuesday. overnight, despite the cloud, it will become mainly dry. parts of eastern scotland will turn clearer, with a england and wales, plenty of clear skies. some low cloud, mist and fog in parts of eastern england, but when it is clear, a chance of frost going into the morning. with cloud, temperature is well above freezing. that will be north—west scotland tomorrow. some rain into the western isles, perhaps into the far north—west of the mainland and western counties of northern ireland. the best of sunshine in northern ireland will be

on eastern counties. england and wales, low cloud and mist and fog clears away from eastern parts. plenty of sunshine and the chance of an isolated shower in south—east england. and it will feel warm in that sunshine. as we go monday into tuesday, outbreaks of rain start further east into scotland, through northern ireland. mainly dry in england and wales. some low cloud, mist and fog pushing into parts of eastern england, generally those temperatures are higher into tuesday morning. sojust an isolated temperatures are higher into tuesday morning. so just an isolated frost possible. then on tuesday researcher nudge this area of cloud, and it has to be said, not very much rain, very slowly away from scotland and northern ireland with clear skies following on behind. more cloud than in recent days and the slight chance of picking up a shower, but still feeling warm. turning colour and include where they're pushing into northern scotland. is this weather front works its way southwards, barely any rain going into wednesday, another area of high pressure coming into settle things

down once again. somewhat cooler air introduced, these are your temperatures later in the week... not far away from average to stop still the chance of a touch of frost in places overnight. if you are looking for some rain, you're going to be disappointed, much of the week ahead is dry.

this is bbc news. the headlines at seven. millions enjoy the first weekend since england's lockdown was eased, but concerns as health officials confirm 77 cases of the indian variant across the uk. the organisation representing nhs trusts in england says it will take five years for some hospitals to catch up with the backlog caused by the pandemic. two russians suspected of carrying out the salisbury nerve agent poisonings are now accused over a czech arms depot explosion in 2014. the czechs, for example, in the past until quite recently have been quite reticent about basically picking a fight with moscow. and it's quite interesting now the czechs have pivoted and they're being very, very robust in their response. the government says it will examine any recommendation made by the inquiry into the lobbying row involving david cameron. nasa is attempting to make history with the first powered