soon, the pair have become inseparable — to the disapproval of their husbands, both of whom seem to swing between anger and disappointment at the respective marriages. the winner of the queer lion at the 2020 venice film festival, the world to come has been called a female version of brokeback mountain — although in truth, the two films have very little in common. a closer comparison would be with francis lee's ammonite — another film about love in a harsh climate which offered much to admire, if little to enjoy. focusing on the suffocating strictures of a society in which women have little or no agency, fastvold conjures an authentic air of misery, alleviated only briefly by stolen moments of affection quickly snatched away by the dour, patriarchal cloud of tragedy and heartbreak. my daughter, nellie, would've been five today. 0h... how did she pass? there's no doubting the conviction of the performances — with kirby, who earned an oscar nomination for pieces of a woman, continuing to cement her reputation as one of

the finest screen actors of her generation. god puts heavy stones in our path. it's up to us to step overthem. plaudits, too, to cinematographer andre chemetoff, whose imposing views of romanian mountains double efficiently for upstate new york, and british composer daniel blumberg, whose music captures the discordant mood shifts with gut—wrenching aplomb. stones are what the fortunate receive. my mother's mother was born in 1780, right here in schoharie county. the result is a film that offers what appears to be an honest and accurate depiction of hard times, but in which any sense of hope orjoy lies not in this world, but in the world to come. it's in cinemas now. it's very important... he doesn't appreciate you touching the glass. and i don't appreciate his manner. senor?

we don't need this. 0h. he's gotta bejoking. oh, gosh! ok, no need, senor, no need... i am an american citizen, senor, please! at the other end of the spectrum in terms of mood, heft, and, well, pretty much everything, actually, is off the rails — a daft bill kenwright—produced romp boasting a cheesy script, a star—studded cast, and a jukebox soundtrack of clumsily—slapped—on blondie hits. jenny seagrove, sally phillips, and kelly preston — in herfinalfilm role — are the threesome reliving a youthful dream to see the lights in parma cathedral. joining them is elizabeth dormer—phillips�* maddie, daughter of the recently—deceased anna, whose dying wish was for them all to make this last—minute pilgrimage. broad strokes interrailing japes ensue, as the group pinball across france, italy and spain, losing their money,

passports, and minds as they deal with births, deaths, and marriages. the internet scares me. you could be talking to anyone. i mean, i could be- a serial killer — i'm not! if you stand this next is something like shirley valentine — in which a middle—aged housewife finds a new lease on life while holidaying in greece — then off the rails really pales by comparison. there's little of the wit, grit, or bittersweet humour of that willy russell—scripted gem in this ragbag of romantic cliches and cut—and—paste pop songs — which, for all its eye—catching locations, feels more like a tv movie than a feature. to be clear, off the rails won't be troubling the oscars, or even the baftas. but i'd be lying if i claimed that this didn't touch my dark heart at all. not least because it's pretty much impossible to spend 90 minutes in the company of this very likeable cast — which also includes small roles for ben miller and franco nero — without it raising a chuckle or a tear. and, i confess to both. moreover, there's something reassuringly shonky about off the rails that

distances it from the obnoxious excesses of, for example, sex and the city 2 — a slick hollywood blockbuster that i personally found more distasteful than the human centipede. laughter. off the rails is in cinemas now. a couple of weeks ago, i declared mads mikkelsen�*s performance in the oscar—winning another round to be the high point in a screen career that ranges from playing a bond villain in casino royale, to starring in the oscar—nominated danish historical drama a royal affair, and winning a cannes best actor award for his lead role in the hunt, not to mention breathing new life into the cannibalistic dr lecter in tvs hannibal. now, mikkelsen further demonstrates his range in riders ofjustice —

a totally unhinged offering from writer—director anders thomasjensen, whose extensive credits include scripting susanne bier�*s oscar—winner in a better world. mikkelsen plays markus, a gruff soldier with a crew cut and an unruly beard whose wife, emma, is killed in a train wreck after a fellow passenger gives up his seat. it looks like the set up for a grief—stricken drama about morning and loss, with markus�*s teenage daughter, mathilde, who was on the train with her mum, struggling to find comfort or common ground with her dad. but instead, the film turns into something completely different — first, a paranoid conspiracy thriller as the disconsolate algorithm expert who fatally gave emma his seat convinces markus that his wife's death on the same train as a biker gang trial witness could not have been a coincidence — and then, as an increasingly—crazed black comedy.

as markus and three misfit geeks wreak murderous vengeance on the supposed of killers while pretending, for the sake of mathilde, to be experimental grief therapists. if that sounds completely nuts, it's because, well, it's completely nuts, veering between action, drama, socio—political satire, and three stooges slapstick comedy not only between scenes, but sometimes right in the middle of a sentence. mikkelsen somehow manages to keep a straight face, which perversely only makes the sense of disorientation worse — or better, depending on your perspective. none of which is to suggest that riders ofjustice, which opens and closes with a fatalistic joke about bicycle thieves, isn't oddly entertaining fair. i kind of enjoyed its tragicomic absurdity, even if it does suggest that the danish sense of humour is even more morbidly twisted than we may so far have imagined. riders ofjustice is in cinemas now.

of the three ivory coast submissions for the foreign language film oscar over the years, two have been by writer director philippe lacote — 2014's run, and night of the kings, which was shortlisted for best international feature at the 93rd academy awards. a shape—shifting tale of incarceration and emancipation, it may have missed out on an oscar nomination — but this vivid, genre—fluid investigation of the alchemical art of storytelling definitely hits the mark. it's set in the notorious maca prison — described by one keeper as the only prison in the world run by an inmate. that inmate is blackbeard, an ailing godfather figure

played by steve tientcheu, who made a lasting impression in the urban drama les miserables. nearing the end of his reign, blackbeard declares a new arrival to be roman, whose role it is to tell stories as if his life depended upon it. what follows is a strange and rather wonderful hybrid of tough prison drama and theatrical performance piece — with mime, dance, poetry, and oral history intertwinied in a whirling cinematic maelstrom. there's a fable—like element that links night of the kings back to the folkloric tales of 1,000 and one nights — with roman a modern—day scheherazade — and to the oral storytelling traditions of west africa. but lacote�*s cinematic storytelling is all his own, mixing the personal and political in a heady brew that's unlike anything else currently playing in uk cinemas.

i'll leave you with news of the french comedy—drama bye bye morons, which picked up a whopping seven awards, including best film at the 46th cesars earlier this year. virginie efira is suze trappet, a woman with little time searching for the child she gave up for adoption. writer—director albert dupontel plays the snubbed it operative whose botched suicide attempt misfires with spectacular results. and nicolas marie is the blind archivist who winds up helping the mismatched pair to track her child and clear his name. despite the multiple awards, bye bye morons is fairly lowbrow fare, reveling in a hodgepodge of broad, bureaucratic satire, politically incorrect slapstick, and questionably romanticised views of creepy male—female relationships. or, to put it another

way, it's very french. there on the—nose—nods to the films of terry gilliam, who makes a fleeting cameo appearance, while the overcranked zaniness evokes the heyday ofjeunet and caro, albeit without the visual invention. it's fun up to a point, but i remain baffled by the love heaped upon it in its homeland which is unlikely to be replicated here. it's in cinemas and on curzon home cinema now. that's it for this week, thanks for watching the film review. stay safe, and i'll see you next week. hello. after another fairly warm and mostly dry day on friday,

things are now changing with the weather. we've got some heavy showers and some thunderstorms moving their way in from the south—west and through the course of the weekend, it's going to turn cooler and fresher with some downpours for some places, particularly towards the south. that's down to the fact that this area of low pressure is pushing its way in, and that's going to generate some really heavy downpours at times, some showers, some thunderstorms as well. and if you do catch some of those thunderstorms, they could bring some disruption to travel — particularly across parts of southern england and south wales, there is a risk of some localised flooding. so as we head through saturday morning then, initially the heaviest of the downpours will be close to the south coast and they'll slowly work their way northwards across the southern half of england and wales as we head through the day. some of them bringing some thunderstorms, some hail and some gusty winds mixed in with some of those heavy showers. further north across the uk, most places staying dry with some warm sunshine. temperatures around 26,

possibly 27 degrees in the warmest spots towards the north—west. we've got more cloud just lurking around those eastern coasts of scotland and north—east england as well. into saturday evening, we keep that threat of heavy showers and thunderstorms going on across some southern and south—eastern parts of england. they should ease a little bit overnight. many places starting sunday morning on a dry note and temperatures a little bit fresher overnight than they've been recently, between about 12 to perhaps 16 degrees or so. now, through the second half of the weekend, then, low pressure still not far away. it's just starting to drift its way a little bit further eastwards, so that's going to bring another day of fairly heavy showers and thunderstorms. but i think the focus of most of them during sunday will be across southern and south—eastern parts of england, perhaps one or two into south wales, too. but for the rest of the uk, once again, some dry and some warm weather with fairly light winds and long spells of sunshine. temperatures down a notch on recent days, so by the time we get to sunday, highs typically about 20—24 degrees for most of us. again, watch out for localised flooding with those torrential hit—and—miss heavy showers. into monday, and another day of a few showers around across southern parts of england and wales and if you do catch one,

it could be heavy and thundery as well. but i think much of the uk seeing again some spells of sunshine and largely dry conditions with temperatures about 20—24 degrees on monday. into the working week, it does remain pretty unsettled. more showers in the outlook, as you can see, but turning a little bit drierfurther south across the uk. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. i'm sarah mulkerrins — live in tokyo, where the olympic games are now under way. china's golden start — qian yang wins the first gold medal of the delayed 2020 games by winning the women's ten metre air rifle. there were fireworks, but hardly any spectators, as the opening ceremony took place a year later than planned. i'm lewis vaughan jones in london. the rest of the day's headlines: a funeral�*s held for haiti's presidentjovenal moise after he was shot dead at his home two weeks ago. more than 100 people have died in western india in landslides and flooding triggered by torrential monsoon rains.