"A motel sequence David Lynch might have dreamed": the films to book now

The Party

Released on 13th October

A comfortable monochrome London home, no sign of children: in the kitchen an Opposition politician (Kristin Scott-Thomas) juggles phone calls with preparing a celebratory dinner; in the next room her academic husband (Timothy Spall) listens forlornly to LPs. When old friends arrive hell takes no time to break loose. From Orlando to Rage, which premiered on mobile phones, writer-director Sally Potter has always been a bold experimentalist, but not perhaps an obvious humorist. Here she crafts a film that skewers ideology and realpolitik, with outbursts of genuine passion. Superb casting elevates The Party beyond a mere talky play-on-screen. And at 71 minutes, Potter keeps the joke punchy.

 

Blade Runner 2049

Released on 6th October

Why would you need a sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 replicant mystery? Maybe if you could get original writer Hampton Fancher, with Scott as executive producer, to drag Harrison Ford out of retirement by sending Ryan Gosling to track him down. Denis Villeneuve, director of smart sci-fi Arrival, preserves the original’s scale. And if there’s nothing new, it will at the very least look great—like C-beams glittering in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate.

 

Dina

A documentary about the planned nuptials of Dina and Scott (above), a couple both on the autism spectrum, this winner of the Jury Prize at Sundance plays like a comedy drama. Directors Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles employ a retro-palette and fixed cameras to create bewitchingly stylish scenes that—thanks to Dina’s candour and Scott’s good will—shake our preconceptions about disability, privacy and documentary ethics. Also contains a motel sequence David Lynch might have dreamed.