If I’ve understood the multiverse concept correctly, somewhere out there exists a version of me with a full and luxuriant head of hair; another one who isn’t perpetually late for everything; another who enjoys eating baked beans; and still another who’s a Cocker Spaniel with an unmatched winning streak at Crufts.
As it is, I’m a two-legged slaphead who’s always on the back foot and prefers his fry-ups not to be contaminated by a horrid pool of orange goo – but at least I get to live in a world where Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse got made.
On its release in 2018, the animated take on your friendly neighbourhood webslinger wowed audiences and critics alike with its dazzling blend of imagination, humour and eye-popping visuals – not to mention Spidey’s porcine iteration Spider-Ham.
Can this week’s long-awaited sequel weave the original’s magic a second time? Swing by your local cinema to find out…Elsewhere, The Boogeyman comes a-knocking, and Reality is a true-life thriller like you’ve never seen before.
New releases
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
This sequel to the hit 2018 original promises to introduce us to brave new worlds and strange new Spider-People, as young webslinger Miles Morales finds himself flung across the Multiverse on a head-spinning new animated adventure.
It’s a journey which sees Miles (Shameik Moore) reunited with his Spider-Verse alternate Gwen Stacey (Hailee Steinfeld), aka Spider-Gwen, only to find she’s made a few new arachni-pals since their last meeting, including a London punk voiced by Daniel Kaluuya and Oscar Isaacs’ po-faced Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099.
Miles discovers that Miguel is the reluctant leader of a group of Spider-People tasked with protecting the Multiverse, who are about to face their deadliest threat yet in the form of scientist-turned-supervillain The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) – but when Miles butts heads with his new friends over how to fight back, he finds himself challenged as never before.
| Cert PG, 136 mins | |
| Cineworld, City Screen, Everyman, Vue | |
| From Thurs Jun 1 | |
| More details |
The Boogeyman
Three years ago, British director Rob Savage’s Zoom-set horror Host was a word-of-mouth hit which had locked-down viewers slamming their laptops shut in terror.
Having followed it up with another screen-centred chiller in 2021’s Dashcam, Savage takes a step towards the mainstream with this adaptation of a Stephen King short story.
The plot centres on young sisters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher, of streaming hit Yellowjackets) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair), who are grieving the loss of their mother – but when their therapist father opens the door to a desperate patient one night, the family slowly realise that the man has brought with him a creeping, malevolent force lurking just out of sight…
| Cert 15, 99 mins | |
| Cineworld, Everyman, Vue | |
| From Fri Jun 2 | |
| More details |
Reality
There have been rave reviews for this claustrophobic true-life thriller about a US intelligence officer turned whistleblower, which boasts a very intriguing approach to telling its story.
While we’re familiar with seeing fictionalised real-life stories that are ‘inspired by true events’, first-time director Tina Satter’s film recreates verbatim the encounter between its eponymous lead (the improbably named Reality Winner, played by The White Lotus star Sydney Sweeney) and the two FBI agents who arrive at her home one day to question her about the leaking of a document on Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
Taken word-for-word from the transcript of Winner’s questioning as it morphs from affable small talk to an increasingly tense back-and-forth, the film was hailed by the Guardian as ‘an eerily gripping true-life drama’.
| Cert 12A, 83 mins | |
| City Screen | |
| From Fri Jun 2 | |
| More details |
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Other screenings
Community cinema
While the mere mention of the name Morrissey can understandably these days cause many a liberal-minded music fan to wince, few figures in British music inspired quite such devotion as the bequiffed singer did in his 80s heyday, which is the setting for this month’s South Bank Community Cinema screening.
Adapted by Jo Brand from her own novel, The More You Ignore Me is a bittersweet coming-of-age comedy-drama about teenager Alice (Ella Hunt, star of cult musical Anna and the Apocalypse), whose obsession with the Smiths singer offers escape and salvation as she tries to help her mum Gina (Sheridan Smith) in her battles with mental illness.
The supporting cast features an array of familiar British comedy faces, including Sally Phillips, Murder in Successville’s Tom Davis and Brand herself – while we’re also promised a typically blistering cameo from Sheila Hancock as Alice’s foul-mouthed nan.
The film shows at Clements Hall, South Bank on Fri 2nd at 8pm (doors 7:30pm) — tickets are £4 (cash only), and SBCC advise that it’s best to book in advance by e-mailing [email protected].
Other new releases and previews
Playwright, actor, director, singer, songwriter, raconteur, bon viveur – and spy: showing at City Screen throughout the week, new documentary Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story tells the legendary artist’s extraordinary story in his own words (courtesy of the appropriately velvety tones of Rupert Everett), from his impoverished origins to becoming the highest paid writer in the world by the time he was 30.
Man of the moment Paul Mescal teams up with Scream queen Melissa Barrera as fugitives on the run in Mexico in Carmen (City Screen, Fri 2nd, Tues 6th), a blend of musical and gritty realist drama based very loosely on the opera of the same name.
City Screen also have a preview of War Pony on Tues 6th – this tender social realist tale of two young Native American men in a South Dakota reservation marks the directorial debut of the brilliant Riley Keough, currently wowing TV audiences in streaming hit Daisy Jones & the Six.
Crowd-pleasing Korean drama Broker returns to City Screen on Sun 4th, and on the same day there’s a very different sort of Korean crowd-pleaser at Vue in the form of SUGA/Agust D Tour ‘D-Day’ in Japan, a live screening of the BTS star’s tour in support of his new solo album.
Family-friendly screenings
While many youngsters (and plenty of grown-ups) will be clamouring to set out across the Spider-Verse this weekend, there are as ever some budget-priced alternatives available.
Much in the white flag-waving manner of ITV showing an old Carry On film when the FA Cup Final is on BBC1, both Cineworld and Vue have opted to go up against Spidey and pals with the just-about-passable sounding Mummies (Fri 2nd to Sun 4th; tickets £2.50 at Cineworld and £2.49 at Vue).
Over at City Screen meanwhile, you can catch Dr Seuss’ environmental tale The Lorax on Sat 3rd (tickets £3.30).
Road trips, top hats and dream heists: old favourites back on the big screen
It’s time to hit the road with a couple of 90s favourites this week, as a feminist blockbuster and a camp cult classic make a welcome return to the cinema.
First up, Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis are back on the run in Thelma and Louise, showing in a new 4K restoration at Vue (Fri 2nd) and Cineworld (Weds 7th).
Meanwhile, Tick, Adam, Bernadette and of course Priscilla put the ‘out’ into Outback in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, showing at City Screen as a double bill with Robin Williams comedy The Birdcage on Sun 4th – the screenings are of course in honour of this weekend’s York Pride celebrations.
There’s another double bill at City Screen on Sun 4th as their Wes Anderson season continues with a pairing of the US indie director’s 1998 breakthrough hit Rushmore and his most recent release, 2021’s anthology of Gallic misadventures The French Dispatch – if you’ve yet to make the acquaintance of Rushmore’s charmingly precocious schoolboy hero Max Fisher, this one is well worth getting down for.
Jazz hands at the ready as City Screen kicks off You Should Be Dancing, a new season celebrating dance at the movies, with a screening of Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers classic Top Hat on Mon 5th.
And finally, with the new Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer just a couple of months away, there’s a chance to catch two of his earlier blockbuster hits this week.
Showing at Vue on Sat 3rd, The Dark Knight Rises sees Christian Bale’s Batman face off against a seemingly invincible (and frequently incomprehensible) foe in Tom Hardy’s masked menace Bane, while Leonardo Di Caprio’s crack team plots a heist on Cillian Murphy’s subconscious in the mind-melting thriller Inception (Everyman, Sun 4th, Tues 6th).
The film’s enigmatic closing scene is a source of heated debate among Leo scholars second only to whether Rose could have budged up and made space for Jack on that floating door – but while the ever-inscrutable Nolan is keeping schtum, you’ll be glad to know that James Cameron has provided a definitive ruling on that second point.