this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm... a coroner concludes social media did play a part in the death of 14—year—old molly russell, the teenager who took her own life. molly's father gave his reaction after the inquest. if this demented trail of life sucking content were safe, my daughter molly would probably still be alive. at an elaborate ceremony in the kremlin, president putin formally annexes four regions of ukraine into russia, after discredited referendums denounced by the west as a "sham".

translation: they made this choice to be with their— translation: they made this choice to be with their own _ translation: they made this choice to be with their own people, - translation: they made this choice to be with their own people, with - to be with their own people, with their_ to be with their own people, with their motherland. meanwhile, an attack on a civilian convoy in one of the four annexed regions, zaporizhzhia, leaves at least 23 people dead. 56 years after the disappearance and murder of 12—year—old keith bennett at the hands of the moors murders, police tonight began a new search after a report of possible human remains. good evening. social media did contribute to the death of 14—year—old molly russell who took her own life five years ago — that's the conclusion

of a coroner who said the material molly was looking at online "shouldn't have been available for a child to see". the inquest heard how she'd viewed thousands of posts online relating to depression, self—harm and suicide before her death. her father has called on social media companies to tackle the "toxic culture" and prioritise the safety of young people. a warning, angus crawford's report does contain some distressing details. after nearly five years, some answers and a sense ofjustice. i hope that this will be an important step in bringing about much—needed change. ian russell always said social media helped kill molly. now, a coroner agrees. he said molly died as a result of an act of self—harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content. the inquest was shown images like this, liked and shared by molly. "look in my eyes," it says. "i want to die." and here, a heart monitor.

the question, "if it stopped, would you miss me?" the algorithms sent her thousands just like it, dark and miserable, cut wrists and nooses. and there were hundreds of videos — black and white, glamorised, set to music. the coroner concluded that... ian russell came every day, sitting through two weeks of graphic evidence about what molly felt and what she saw — the posts he described as a drip feed of daily hopelessness. and, in a first for big tech, executives for meta, which owns instagram, and the image—sharing site pinterest, called to account under

oath in a court in the uk. ian russell first spoke out about what he found on molly's phone in 2019. "this world is so cruel and i don't want to see it any more." he became a vocal campaigner, speaking to mps. i remember my disbelief when i saw my lifeless youngest daughter... even meeting prince william, and all the time, coping with his grief. and some days, it's worse than others, but i don't think there will be a day in the rest of my life where i won't blame myself. instagram did make some safety changes. three years ago, we spoke to the ceo, who had this message for ian. i have a lot of respect for the fact that he's turned an incredibly tragic experience into a force for change, into a force for good.

and for that, i'm grateful. but ian says any reforms came too late for molly and much, much more needs to be done. if this demented trail of life—sucking content was safe, my daughter molly would probably still be alive and instead of being a bereaved family of four, there would be five of us looking forward to a life full of promise and purpose. and the final thing i want to say... ..is thank you, molly, for being my daughter. thank you. molly's family grieve for a lost child but also want her story to force change, a legacy of the molly they knew, a teenager full of love,

who lived a life that mattered. angus crawford reporting. the prince of wales has been reacting to the coroner's ruling in molly's case. in a tweet, he said... speaking with us now is seyi akiwowo, ceo of glitch, a charity working towards ending online abuse. thank you very much for being with us this evening. your group describes itself as having a particular focus on black women and other marginalised people — is there a sense in which all young people are marginalised at the moment when it comes to online safety? yes. are marginalised at the moment when it comes to online safety?— it comes to online safety? yes, i think that's _ it comes to online safety? yes, i think that's the _ it comes to online safety? yes, i think that's the truth. _ it comes to online safety? yes, i think that's the truth. | - it comes to online safety? yes, i think that's the truth. i first - it comes to online safety? yes, i | think that's the truth. i first want to say we are so grateful to molly's data for pushing forjustice when

he's also grieving the loss of his daughter —— molly's data. and justice for others who have died by suicide because of social media. platforms are failing to keep safety at the forefront because they are prioritising profits over people. so, many of us are experiencing some form of on safety on the platform, and i think women are more disproportionately impacted by this. and actually, research shows this, lived experience shows this. this is why it's so important for the government about the online safety belt back on the agenda. —— online safety bill. too much discussion has been around how this discussion is about hurt feelings, which is not the case. it's about life and death. you make a very valid point about the kind —— what is at stake here, and particularly with young

vulnerable mines, minds that are still developing, and also the fact you could go out into the online world and navigate and understand what is true and what isn't, what is valuable and isn't is incredible hard to do and —— as an adult, let alone a child. i wonder if that's our problem, we are dealing on a scale that is almost impossible for legislation, and even for those who operate those sites to control. i don't think that's the case, i operate those sites to control. i don't think that's the case, i think content moderation is something that can be done. because we see when it comes to copyright issues, if we are using music inappropriately, we will quickly get a notification from a platform to say they are taking this down and giving us a warning. so technology is available when it comes to certain types of content moderation. but we are seeing is an active choice not to prioritise to state —— the safety of people on a platform. in state -- the safety of people on a latform. , ., ,.,, ., platform. in terms of the posting of this material, _ platform. in terms of the posting of this material, the _ platform. in terms of the posting of this material, the actual _ platform. in terms of the posting of this material, the actual sites - platform. in terms of the posting of this material, the actual sites and l this material, the actual sites and platforms which provide the opening

an opportunity for some to communicate this stuff is a huge part of it — and that's down to regulation. regulation often for the internet needs to be international. do you think you could ever get something effective on an international level to do this? yes, i think s0- — international level to do this? yes, i think s0- i — international level to do this? yes, i think so. i think— international level to do this? yes, i think so. i think there's _ international level to do this? yes, i think so. i think there's a - international level to do this? was i think so. i think there's a space for domestic policies to make sure they are doing right by citizens, and there is a clear framework of how we want all tech companies to be, and all tech companies want to market themselves in a certain country. but tech is a global platform and we need to be working with other partners and allies in other countries. at glitch, we work with partners across europe who are passionate about making sure tech works for everyone, that no one is left behind. and there's an opportunity for there to be a global framework that raises the standards from what we expect of tech

companies. we want everybody to have free speech, we don't want anyone facing online harms like harassment and trolling, being amplified hate content and being led down extremist roots, which we've been discovered lately after andrew tate's debacle on platforms —— extremist routes. there's a massive opportunity here for countries to come together and say we expect more and we want safety to be at the forefront of all this. . , ~ safety to be at the forefront of all this. ., ,~' , ., ., , safety to be at the forefront of all this. ., ,~' i. ., , , this. let me ask you finally, is there anywhere _ this. let me ask you finally, is there anywhere you _ this. let me ask you finally, is there anywhere you would - this. let me ask you finally, is there anywhere you would .2, | there anywhere you would .2, particularly in the case of the material molly was seeing that was clearly infamous in her decision, is there anyone getting it out right, whether were talking about how in the world where we would say they are getting a grip on this, they are doing something and there is a place from which we can learn? i’m doing something and there is a place from which we can learn?— from which we can learn? i'm very fortunate to _ from which we can learn? i'm very

fortunate to sit _ from which we can learn? i'm very fortunate to sit on _ from which we can learn? i'm very fortunate to sit on the _ from which we can learn? i'm very fortunate to sit on the tech - fortunate to sit on the tech platform's trust and safety council. there are good elements happening but we are not seeing that consistent approach. as molly's father is saying, this is reactive, and as the prince of wales says, this is reactive, this needs to be embedded in the design and innovation of the tech platform, not when we put a lot of public pressure and are having to speak on bbc news about this. this should be at the very forefront when parading tax. 50 very forefront when parading tax. so the algorithms need to be designed at the start, not as an add—on or adaptation later on? at the start, not as an add-on or adaptation later on?— at the start, not as an add-on or adaptation later on? absolutely, and what we are — adaptation later on? absolutely, and what we are seeing _ adaptation later on? absolutely, and what we are seeing time _ adaptation later on? absolutely, and what we are seeing time and - adaptation later on? absolutely, and what we are seeing time and time i what we are seeing time and time again is this is a policy failure, but we've also seen a number of social media platforms, their algorithms are amplifying this horrific content, content that should be off the platform. this seems to be opened, audited and reviewed, and government should be working with experts on this, not trying to delay the bill yet again.

we cannot afford to have another issue, another sad issue like molly. thank you very much forjoining us from glitch. and if you have been affected by any of the issues raised by this, you can find help and support from organisations listed at bbc.co.uk/actionline. thank you very much. we'll find out how this story is covered when we look at tomorrow's front pages, i'm sure many of them will future molly's story. 10:30pm and 11:30pm this evening, my guests will be sima pereira and martin bentham. president putin has announced the annexation of four regions of ukraine that are controlled by russian forces it's the biggest seizure of territory in europe since the second world war. mr putin declared that kherson,

zaporizhzhia, luhansk and donetsk are now part of russia forever. the land grab follows staged referendums in the regions, which ukraine and its allies denounced as a sham. —— showing 99% support for being absorbed into russia. in response, ukraine says it's application to join nato, the western military alliance, should be accelerated. from moscow, our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. what he was about to do had sparked international condemnation, but vladimir putin didn't care. in the kremlin, he announced the annexation of 15% of ukrainian land. in the audience, kremlin—appointed officials from those territories occupied by russia.

translation: i want the kyiv i authorities and their real masters in the west to hear me, so that they remember this forever. people in luhnask and donetsk, kherson and zaporizhzhia are becoming our citizens — forever. defiant, unapologetic — russia's president laid into the west. translation: instead of democracy there, i there's suppression and exploitation. instead of freedom, enslavement and violence. america is the only country in the world that has used nuclear weapons twice, when they destroyed the japanese cities of hiroshima and nagasaki. by the way, they set a precedent with that. comments like that are worrying in light of the kremlin's recent nuclear sabre—rattling.

through this annexation, vladimir putin is trying to change the facts on the ground, trying to secure for himself some kind of victory. the problem is, you can claim all you want that land you have occupied is rightfully yours, but ukraine isn't going to believe that. the international community doesn't believe that, and that leaves vladimir putin looking more isolated than ever. in washington, president biden condemned the annexation and impose more sanctions on russia. we are rallying the world to keep support for ukraine strong and consistent. applause ukraine's right to exist as a people. moscow says these territories are joining russia after holding referendums, but they've been widely discredited. the west denounced them as a sham, a smoke screen for annexation. near red square,

some kremlin choreography. workers and students have been bussed in to celebrate russia's expansion. but there's little public excitement here over annexation and there is growing alarm about russians being called up to fight in ukraine. and inside the kremlin — the signing ceremony. plenty of pomp, but think of the circumstance. vladimir putin has just raised the stakes. he's warned he will defend the annexed territories with all means at his disposal, and he says he's not bluffing. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. in response, the united states has imposed sanctions targeting hundreds of people and companies. this evening, president biden said the us will not be intimidated by putin. america and its allies will not be

intimidated. we will not be intimidated. we will not be intimidated by vladimir putin and his reckless words of threats. he won't scare us or intimidate us. vladimir putin's actions are assigned he's struggling, the sham referendum he carried out in this routine he put on — don't worry, it's not on there if you're looking, 0k? the sham routine that he put on this morning showing unity and people holding hands together — well the united states will never recognise this. and quite frankly, the world will never recognise it either. he can't sees his neighbour's territory and get away with it, it's as simple as that. ukrainian officials in zaporizhia one of the four areas annexed today say 23 people have been killed and dozens more injured after a russian missile strike on a convoy of civilian vehicles. our ukraine correspondentjames waterhouse has been to the site of the attack, on the outskirts of the city. a warning, his report contains

some distressing details. there was no doubting the target. this was about killing civilians, people. here, waiting to be escorted to russian occupied territory, they work methodically, patiently, under an eerie silence. until... people arrived to find someone dear to them has gone. victoria had stepped out for a break at the cafe where she worked. she came back to find her boss lying dead on the floor. translation: people were dying here. i was away for five minutes and when i came back, i saw a boy dying, his mother trying to save him.

then i ran around calling out for my boss. there was somebody�*s mother, her son saving her. somebody�*s husband, his wife weeping. all this complete hysteria. you can't believe how terrifying that was. then, we are told to take cover. another russian missile is in the air and the fear is what's called a double tap, hitting the same place twice. this close to the front line, the threat is always there. another russian annexation of ukrainian territory has been met with a now typical kyiv response. translation: the entire territory of our country will be _ liberated from this enemy. the enemy of not only ukraine but also of life itself, humanity, law and truth. russia already knows this, it feels our power. when you think about what this place was used for, along

with that enormous crater, all of those point to a very deliberate targeted strike. the reasons for it are not clear, as ever. but the devastation is plain to see. ukraine says it is once again applying tojoin nato. the alliance, however, has always been worried about causing an escalation, something russia is less concerned about. james waterhouse, bbc news, zaporizhzhia. the government says it will not bring forward the publication of an independent assessment of its economic policies. today, the prime minister and the chancellor met the office for budget responsibility — the independent spending watchdog to discuss their plans to cut taxes and stimulate growth. the meeting came after days of turmoil on the financial markets. the government says the obr's analysis won't be released until the end of november,

when kwasi kwarteng gives more details about his plans for the economy. here's our political correspondent, alex forsyth. what a difference a week makes. last friday, the chancellor on his way to parliament for his so—called mini budget, going it alone, having rejected independent analysis of his plan. today, those analysts, the office for budget responsibility, were brought into downing street. unusually, meeting the prime minister herself, their verdicts now promised late november. though the chancellor gets a draft before. we will provide the chancellor with updates of our forecast next friday, and we will set up a timetable of that process next week. there is pressure for the government to publish that earlier, to prove their plan is credible, but ministers are holding firm. everybody wants their budget and their forecast tomorrow, but you also want something that reflects all of the latest information that's available at that moment in time, and something that's

going to endure, not something that you are going to have to revise too quickly. they have promised to get the economy moving, with more on planning rules, immigration and child care in coming weeks. but labour is unconvinced. i am concerned, and what i cannot forgive is that this crisis was entirely made in downing street. it did not need to happen. they are responsible for it, yet it is the british people who will pay the price for that. the government needs to prove its sums add up. it says it can grow the economy, but that won't be easy, and it will take time. they could look again at tax cuts, but that has been so central to the prime minister's plan, it would be hard for her to back down, and there is no sign of that. so ministers are looking at cutting spending, but there are few options that won't be politically challenging. for tory party members, all thisjust weeks after the prime minister was chosen. i have been quite disappointed that it has only taken today for her obviously to speak with the chancellor and the obi are. -- the obr. if we did have the figures

and the research before that, i think people would have been much more encouraged and influenced by her ideology. i feel positive in general about her premiership. i hope she sticks with what she has done in terms of budget wise and i hope she does not decide to pander to some of the people that she has got. i live in leeds, and it feels massively out of touch. i you know? it makes me quite disillusioned i with the party, because i personally would define myself specifically as economically conservative, l but this is almost a step too far. so, as the party prepares for its conference in birmingham this weekend, the political and economic backdrop is far from secure. alex forsyth, bbc news. detectives investigating the death of a schoolboy who was killed by the moors murderer, ian brady, in 1964 have begun a new dig on saddleworth moor, near oldham. police are examining a report that

a fragment of a human skull has been discovered by a man researching the disappearance of keith bennett. the 12—year—old's body was never found after his disappearance. our north of england correspondent, judith moritz, has the latest from saddleworth moor. with high winds driving rain and rolling mist, there could have been no bleaker place in the north of england, no more difficult terrain for search teams to work in today. and in fact, i know it's hard for you to see through our camera, can just about barely see here with my own eyes, but the detail be on this mist, just a short distance from where i am, the tent, the search site where those forensic teams have been working. the greater manchester police search for keith bennett has been dormant for some years, but they always said that they would

come back to these mowers and search actively if new evidence was to emerge. so yesterday when they were contacted, they say by an author who's been working on this for some time, with evidence that he said there were human remains a short distance from here, the officers came to assess the site and made the decision to come here for further explanation. this is nearby to wear some of ian brady's other child victims remains have been found in the past. greater manchester police say it's too early at the stage to know whether what has been found are human remains, but they are keeping the family of keith bennett, his brother in particular, very closely informed about the developments, in the hope that finally they have an answer to this mystery since 1964, when 12—year—old keith bennett went missing. a 40—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender after olivia pratt—korbel was shot in her own home.

the nine—year—old was killed as her mother tried to stop a gunman entering their house in liverpool on 22 august. merseyside police has now made 11 arrests as part of their investigation, but no charges have so far been brought. a man arrested on suspicion of her murder on thursday remains in police custody. let's turn to the us — hurricane ian is right now bearing down on south carolina, after devastating florida. this is the historic coastal city of charleston, which is being lashed by winds and heavy rain. there are warnings of life—threatening storm surges and hundreds of kilometres of the south—eastern seaboard of the us are under severe weather alerts. the hurricane has already caused widespread devastation in florida where search and rescue efforts are under way. officials believe at least 21 people may have died — however, it may be days before the full number of

casualties is known. the hurricane was one of the worst to hit florida ever and president biden has warned of "substantial loss of life." our correspondent nada tawfik has the latest from fort myers, one of florida's worst hit areas. all morning, we've had people come through here, this is the legacy harbour marina, to take a look at their possessions, their boats. as you can see behind me, the boats have been completely lifted out of the water, off their pylons, and have been thrown onto the shore on top of each other. and the marina itself is just completely destroyed, so there is debris everywhere. i spoke with one gentleman who is 60 foot yacht is nowhere to be found — he assumes it was broken up through the storm surge, the strong winds and thrown into the water. we've just seen a few other people go into their boats, treading carefully over their boats, treading carefully over the debris, trying to take pictures to submit to their insurance, because this is of course going to

because this is of course going to be costly for so many people. you mentioned the search and recovery efforts under way — if you look at the rubble here, you get a sense of what those search and rescue teams are going through. we heard from emergency teams in florida talk about how these next 48 hours, there will be a more thorough search, going into homes that were submerged to see if there were any bodies inside, to see if they lost anybody inside, to see if they lost anybody in those parts. they've been rescuing people from an island not far from rescuing people from an island not farfrom here rescuing people from an island not far from here that was cut off after the connecting bridge was destroyed, mostly people safe and getting out in that instance. but this will take a wild for sure. and on the other side of it, it's the basic needs of people getting water and electricity back up and running. so florida is certainly very much still in the midst of this emergency. the hurricane _ midst of this emergency. the hurricane is _ midst of this emergency. the hurricane is also _ midst of this emergency. the hurricane is also done extensive damage to cuba, we just don't know how much of the moment because cuba

was effectively blacked out by power outages as a result of hurricane ian, we are still trying to get a clear picture of what's happened there. the first coins featuring king charles iii have been unveiled by the royal mint. they'll be in circulation by the end of the year. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. the face is familiar, but we've never until now seen it on our coins. but that, of course, is about to change. it's a likeness of king charles iii, which appears on a new 50p piece, and, on the left here, a special commemorative £5 coin issued in tribute to his mother. there are images of the late queen on the reverse. the image of charles has been based on photographs, and it's been approved by him. tradition has been followed in the design. he is looking to the left, without a crown. his mother looked to the right, wearing a crown. historically, monarchs tend to look the opposite way than the previous monarch, so he's looking the opposite way than his mother did.

and also, traditionally, men — kings — tend to not have a crown on, whereas people will remember the late queen had a crown on her effigy, and so he doesn't have a crown on this portrait. they're expected to go into general circulation soon. other coins will follow in due course. they'll circulate alongside existing coins, all of which will remain legal tender. nicholas witchell, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah. good evening. september has been a wetter than average month for many of us — in fact, the first wetter than average month since february. and we're ending the month on a fairly soggy note, as well. we've had a lot of rain during friday. this band of rain eventually will be clearing away from the south coast as we head through this evening and tonight. so, clear skies developing tonight. still a scattering of showers in the north and west, but temperatures staying frost—free. we're looking at lows

between about 7—13 in our towns and cities to start saturday. saturday brings more sunshine than we had on friday. drier conditions but not dry everywhere. still a few showers blowing in on a brisk westerly wind, northern ireland and scotland and western fringes of england and wales, but few are reaching eastern areas. temperatures in the south—east, 19 degrees, but typically the mid to high teens for the north. the showers ease a little bit as we head through saturday evening and overnight into sunday, but the next area of rain is just looking out to the south—west. so, we could see some outbreaks of rain for southern england and perhaps south wales during sunday, but drier and brighter further north. bye— bye. we asked laura kuenssberg how her new programme matches up to its predecessor's. join us at 8:45 p:m..

hello, this is bbc news with me, shaun ley. the headlines. a coroner concludes social media played a part in the death of 14—year—old molly russell, who took her own life. herfather 14—year—old molly russell, who took her own life. her father gave 14—year—old molly russell, who took her own life. herfather gave her reaction —— his reaction. it her own life. her father gave her reaction -- his reaction.- reaction -- his reaction. if this demented _ reaction -- his reaction. if this demented trail _ reaction -- his reaction. if this demented trail of _ reaction -- his reaction. if this demented trail of life - reaction -- his reaction. if this demented trail of life sucking l demented trail of life sucking content was safe, my daughter molly would probably still be alive. and would probably still be alive. and elaborate ceremony in the kremlin, formerly annexing —— formerly annexing four regions of ukraine. an attack on a civilian convoy in one of the four regions has less at least 23 people dead. 56 years after he disappeared, 12—year—old keith bennett's body is search for as beliefs get a new search —— police

get a new search. i'll be back in about of a quarter of an hour, but first here's mark kermode and jane hill with the film review. hello and a very warm welcome to the film review on bbc news. i'mjane hill, and to take us through this week's cinema releases, as ever, mark kermode. hi, mark. hello. we're walking the full length of the counter this week. we have mrs harris goes to paris, which pretty much does what it says on the tin. we have the woman king, which is a sweeping epic with viola davis. and there's a new film by peter strickland, flux gourmet, which i am very much looking forward to discussing with you.

yes. plenty to be said there. but let's start with the glorious lesley manville. so, mrs harris goes to paris, which is based on a book by paul gallico, who wrote the snow goose and the poseidon adventure and a bunch of things that were adapted. lesley manville is ada harris. she earns a living cleaning for rich clients, who are often horrible, who own dior dresses. she's waiting for her husband to return from the war — he's not coming back. she discovers, finally, he's not coming back and she gets a war widow's pension. and she decides, "ok, i'm going to make my dream come true. "i'm going to take whatever money i have, whatever other "money i can get together, i'm going to go to paris and i'm "going to buy myself a dior dress like i have seen in the houses "of these glamourous women that i clean for." so, she goes to paris and she turns up at the house of dior, where isabelle huppert is, let's be honest, not pleased to see here. not pleased to see her. here's a clip. she speaks french this lady wishes to buy a dress. direct her to a suitable shop. go. please, let me escort you out. no, no, no, no, hang ona minute! i've come miles, saved every penny, scrubbing floors and i don't know-

what, so i can buy this frock. a christian dior gown is not for pennies. if you think i ain't i got the money, there. are you mr dior? oh, no, i'm mr fauvel, accounts. let me help you... she speaks french excuse me, cher madame, but it would be my honour to have you view the collection as my guest. but it would be my honour to have there you are. but it would be my honour to have merci. — but it would be my honour to have shau we? — but it would be my honour to have oh! but it would be my honour to have now, the first thing to say is, lesley manville, isabelle huppert — two of the greatest screen talents currently working in the cinema together in what is

a complete piece of fluff. now, that's not a criticism, 0k? particularly at times like these, a bit of fluff goes quite a long way. the thing with the film is, it kind of constructs this fairy tale concoction. there are a few nods to the real world. there's a bin strike going on when she gets to paris, so there's a little bit of rubbish. there's lots of french people walking around with paper bags with baguettes sticking out of them, so we're still in that kind of very artificial version of france. what works about this is that the performances are really charming. jason isaacs plays a kind of key side role, and he comes on with all the twinkle that jason isaacs always brings to a role. you know when you see him that that's going to be a very, very important role. and it's got its heart in the right place. it is absolutely unashamed aboutjust ladling the schmaltz on. there's no point at which you think, "oh, this is going to be a tough "drama about tough issues." and i would watch lesley manville in anything.

i would watch isabelle huppert in anything. but it's just the strange thing about seeing them together on screen in this, these two enormous titans of acting just having a good time, just... 0k, fine, it's a nice, fanciful... so, if we want a bit of escapist fun, and people need that... yes. and it is absolutely nothing but escapist fun. but, hey, if that's what you want from the cinema, this will give it to you. it's a big sugar popcorn, sweetness episode. that's it. i feel as if i've seen it already. i know what you're getting at. we all love lesley manville. however, let's move on. 0k. the woman king. so, this opens on tuesday, on the 4th. it's been generating a lot of awards buzz since it played at...i think it was toronto. a lot of that buzz is for viola davis, who plays nanisca. she is the general of the agojie, an elite force of female soldiers guarding the dahomey kingdom in west africa in the 1820s. the plot involves conflict with neighbouring warlords, portuguese slave traders.

there is plenty of spectacle, plenty of action. there is an extraordinary cast, including john boyega — in his best role yet, i think — lashana lynch, sheila atim. very solidly directed by gina prince—bythewood, beautifully shot by polly morgan. but it is viola davis who dominates the screen. she is such a commanding screen presence. i mean, this is a role — it's muscular, it's sinewy, it demands a lot of emotional work, a lot of really physical stuff. and the direction of the film, it's solid. it's not going to break any cinematic rules, it's not changing the form of cinema. it's very, very mainstream. but it's also a movie which is, despite that great ensemble cast, really carried by that central performance. and, i mean, i loved viola davis recently in ma rainey�*s black bottom. we talked about the physicality of that performance. yes. in this, you just think, "wow! "i mean, that is a proper movie star performance." you believe in her, you believe that she's carrying the action with her.

and it's so physical, but it's also very, very subtle. so, yeah, opens on the tuesday, so it'll be interesting to see if that gets the big audience that i think it deserves. is it a good watch? yes. oh, yes. it is absolutely enjoyable? i mean, i really like her too. i think she's very talented. yes, a sweeping cinematic spectacle, the landscapes, the action, the adventure, the twisty, sinewy plot, but it's impossible to take your eyes off viola davis, who is just absolutely mesmerising. now... flux gourmet is the new film by peter strickland, and i want to start by saying i love peter strickland, 0k? but his films are not for everybody. so, berbarian sound studio, the duke of burgundy, in fabric. the story here, a culinary collective have a residency at a sonic catering institute where they're going to workshop their latest food art performance. fatma mohamed is the head of the collective, gwendoline christie is the head of the institute, where everything is about food and theatre. have a taste of this.

you're in the shops. you're looking around. items all around you. maybe you need some tomatoes for that soup. squeeze them to make sure they're ripe. you're pushing your trolley along, looking around, and there's mrs cheeverly. you don't really like her, but a quick nod of the head will suffice, and that will allow you to proceed to the dairy counter. maybe you could ask the cheese laddie to slice you a few hundred grams of taleggio and he can wrap it up for you _ he licks his fingers before taking the wrapping and you don't really like that, but you're too polite to say anything. put the cheese back in your trolley and head to the spice cabinet. some herbes de provence to sprinkle on the soup. but, wait, there's

nothing like that here. look surprised. look bereft. a little more bereft. that's it. i'm laughing, but i'm afraid not necessarily in a good way. that scene rather broke me. at that point, i thought, "i'm so glad i'm going to see mark, "who will explain to me what's going on." well, the first thing to say is it's meant to be funny. i mean, there is an awful lot of comedy in what peter strickland does. i think the genius in his work is that, i mean, on one level it's incredibly surreal, it's all about rituals and fetishes and, in this case, food and sound. and you heard the soundtrack there, the kind of bubbling, noisy thing going on, though it is also very wryly funny. and yet, for me, and i think for anyone else who is a devotee of strickland's work, behind the humour and the absurdity and the madness, there is something oddly profound. like, in this case, he said that the thing that inspired him originally was the idea of artists taking sponsorship from companies,

that they then don't want to have have any artistic input. and, of course, there's a central fight here between the leader of the collective and the leader of the institute, who says, you know, "you can keep the culinary dystopia, but indulge me with the falanga." now, i know it's not for everyone, but if you love the cinematic construction of peter strickland's work, which is all about tactile cinema, cinema that kind of has a physical response, even if it doesn't seem to make logical sense, that's what it is for me. i know that it didn't work for you... i just... i didn't get it, really, and it was... and i know it's meant to be like that, cos it's about performance, but the acting was so hammy. and i know that's kind of the point, but i really... i think "arch" is the word you're looking for. arch! hammy is a bad pun, actually, given... particularly given the food, although well done... but i think one of the things that this does demonstrate is, in the end, all opinions are subjective. and whenever we've been doing this, we've often had differences

of opinions about things. i think it is... this is the most peter strickland movie i have seen, and the reason i love it is because i love films that are playing with the cinematic form like that. and i do think he's playful and profound, but it's true that if you don't, it's like, "0k." yeah. i'm not going to sell this as a mainstream movie. no, fair enough. but thank you for watching it. i did enjoy birdy. catherine called birdy — this is my favourite out at the moment. and what a treat and what a surprise, because i was so delighted. lena dunham's adaptation of karen cushman's novel, which i haven't read, about a young woman in mediaeval england attempting to resist her father's attempts to marry her off in order to sort his bank balance out. bella ramsey is fantastic! isn't she fantastic? i mean, it's funny, it's smart... the script is terrific, because it's so whip—smart that you think, "i wish i had retorts like that at my fingertips!" it's terrific. and also, how great to see a film which is...

you know, it's a coming—of—age movie and it's about adolescence. it has no squeamishness about the subject of menstruation... childbirth. childbirth, yeah, and both the glory of childbirth and the terror of childbirth as well. and it has at the centre of it a teenage girl who is smarter, sharper, funnier than everyone else around her and kind of runs rings around them. but i thought it was a real delight and i knew nothing about it other than the title. so you liked it? yeah, i think it's lovely. and i think anyone can watch it. i said this before... anyone can watch it. and i'm a 60—year—old bloke and i thought it was really, really charming. charming is a very good word, but in a good way. a very quick word about dvds and streaming? the black phone is out on dvd. this is a horrorfilm — i know, not a fan — but this is a creepy chiller, adapted from a novel byjoe hill, stephen king's son, directed by scott derrickson. i thought it was very well done. it's not a gory movie, it's a movie which is more to do with tension and atmosphere, and a very scary performance by ethan hawke.

so if you're a horror fan, black phone is worth getting. excellent. thanks very much, mark. good to see you, as ever. enjoy your cinema—going this week, whatever you choose to go and see. see you next time. bye—bye. hello and welcome to newswatch with me, shaun ley. how does laura kuenssberg's nous interview hardtalk �*s up to its predecessor. we will ask whether she interrupts her guests too much. first, if politics took something of a back—seat following the death of queen elizabeth, it's been back with a vengeance this week. the announcements from the chancellor from his mid you budget —— many