Wendy Ide’s pick of other films: Caught Stealing, Little Trouble Girls, The Thursday Murder Club and more

Caught Stealing

(107 mins, 15) Directed by Darren Aronofsky; starring Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz

Darren Aronofsky’s latest, the bloody crime comedy blitzkrieg Caught Stealing, is set in the 1990s. It also feels as though it was made in the 90s – and I don’t necessarily mean that as a compliment. Adapted by Charlie Huston from his own novel, it has something of the brash, self-congratulatory swagger of the rash of Quentin Tarantino wannabes that flooded cinemas in the second half of that decade.

Austin Butler, assuming the hamster-cheeked beefcake mantle previously worn by Brad Pitt, plays failed baseball player Hank Thompson. Hank had the chance to go pro, but wiped out with a drunken car accident that killed his best friend and destroyed his knee. We know this because every time Hank, now a Lower East Side barman, blacks out after drinking (which is frequently), his sleep is plagued by harrowing flashbacks.

More disturbing than these recurring dreams, however, is the real-life nightmare in which he finds himself after grudgingly agreeing to cat-sit for British punk Russ (Matt Smith, chewing and gobbing his way through a career-low performance). Thanks to Russ, Hank finds himself pursued by a lurid assortment of cartoon cultural stereotypes (a pair of psychopath Russians; a couple of deadly Hasidic Jews), plus a New York cop with a hidden agenda, Roman (Regina King).

A picture with such a high body count is unlikely to be boring, but this is a lazily derivative throwback that appropriates ideas and plot points from numerous other movies (think Guy Ritchie’s After Hours). Caught Stealing indeed.

Little Trouble Girls

(90 mins, 15) Directed by Urška Djukić; starring Jara Sofija Ostan, Mina Švajger, Saša Tabaković

Sixteen-year-old Lucija (Jara Sofija Ostan) is a dreamer. As the sound design of this terrific tale of sexual awakening illustrates, she has a tendency to disengage from the world around her and drift into imagined realms. But what happens when a girl who spends so much time in her mind abruptly becomes aware of her own body – and of those around her? The assured debut of Slovenian director Urška Djukić, Little Trouble Girls calls to mind the richly symbolic and delicately observed early work of Alice Rohrwacher.

Unfolding in the hothouse environment of the Catholic girls’ choir that Lucija has recently joined, the film creates a heady atmosphere thick with incense and adolescent hormones. Lucija’s eyes are drawn to the confident curve of the lips of fellow choir member Ana-Marija (Mina Švajger); at other times, she and the other girls hide in the undergrowth to spy on the workmen who are renovating the convent where they are rehearsing. As Lucija gropes blindly through her newly awakened sensuality, however, she falls foul of the uptight and controlling choirmaster (Saša Tabaković).

The Thursday Murder Club

(118 mins, 12A) Directed by Chris Columbus; starring Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley; on Netflix

Adapted from Richard Osman’s cosy book series about crime-solving pensioners, this plodding piece of Brit prestige whimsy is about as thrilling as a pair of support tights. We have entered the realms of the impossibly twee: Only Murders in the Building meets The Great British Bake Off.

Helen Mirren grits her teeth and shoulders and does most of the heavy lifting as Elizabeth, the ringleader of a group of murder obsessives living in a luxury retirement community. Of the rest of the cast, most seem to be allotted one personality trait each: Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley) is a “confirmed bachelor”, Joyce (Celia Imrie) bakes cakes and Ron (Pierce Brosnan) is the world’s least convincing ex-trade union leader.

The Murder Club’s latest cold case takes a back seat when a real crime is committed and the future of their opulently appointed sheltered accommodation is threatened. Chris Columbus directs with the broadest of brushstrokes; the cast gamely go through the motions. There’s plenty of money on screen in the handsome production design, but something meagre and perfunctory about the storytelling.

Big Boys

(89 mins, 15) Directed by Corey Sherman; starring Isaac Krasner, Dora Madison, David Johnson III

Socially awkward, chubby 14-year-old Jamie (raw and perceptive work by newcomer Isaac Krasner) is initially irked by the news that his beloved cousin Allie (Dora Madison) will be bringing her new boyfriend on their cousins-only camping trip in California. But then he meets Dan (David Johnson III) and is immediately smitten, spewing his breathless admiration in an unfiltered rush of chatter and brooding in his tent at night as he fantasises about gruff and manly bonding moments.

This low-budget coming-of-age picture bares its sweet, gauche soul and explores a boy’s cautious first steps towards sexual awakening with gentle humour and empathy. It’s a promising debut from writer-director Corey Sherman, who loosely based the story on his own experiences of coming out. The standout, though, is Krasner, who manages to imbue even a casual chat about burger seasoning with a wistful ache of longing.

Young Mothers

(106 mins, 12A) Directed by Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne; starring Babette Verbeek, Elsa Houben, Janaina Halloy

The latest from Belgium’s Dardenne brothers, the multi-award-winning directing duo behind small-scale social-realist gems Rosetta, The Kid with a Bike and, most recently, Tori and Lokita, Young Mothers is a typically empathetic and engaged work. But the film, which follows the (fictional, but inspired by real life) stories of five girls in a residential shelter for young mothers in Liège, Belgium, lacks some of the emotional punch of the brothers at their considerable best. This is perhaps because the focus is spread thinly between the multiple tales rather than concentrated on one or two central characters. That said, there’s much to admire, not least an affecting performance by Elsa Houben, playing former addict and rough sleeper Julie.

Photographs by Sony Pictures/SPOK Films/Netflix