Wendy Ide’s pick of other films: How to Train Your Dragon, Lollipop, Echo Valley and more

How to Train Your Dragon

(125 mins, PG) Directed by Dean DeBlois; starring Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler

I am yet to be convinced that live-action remakes of classic animations are ever entirely justified (and no, naked studio venality isn’t reason enough). But if you must cannibalise your own intellectual property, then this is the way to do it. Director Dean DeBlois’s remake of his animation is a rich, rewarding piece of world-building that stays true to the spirit of the 2010 film (which itself was based on a children’s book by Cressida Cowell) while also beefing up the visual impact with an injection of kaiju monster movie DNA.

DeBlois smartly takes an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to the most successful elements of the original. This version adheres loyally to the storyline of the animation, and perhaps most importantly cleaves to the original picture’s beloved character design. The casting is key. As Hiccup, the weedy, nerdy embarrassment to his Viking chieftain dad, Mason Thames not only captures the character’s gauche, angular physicality, but his facial resemblance to the animated version of Hiccup is uncanny. The supporting actors are equally well cast, with Nick Frost an affable standout as battle-scarred amputee dragon warrior Gobber.

Most importantly, Toothless, the dragon befriended by Hiccup, is superbly rendered through exquisite CGI. The feline characteristics, the kittenish unpredictability and playfulness, are still present. But the hyperreal design shows us new details: the dragon’s black scales are iridescent, shimmering with oily blues and greens like a magpie’s wing in the sun. This is not a film that aims to reinvent the dragon-slaying trebuchet; rather, it’s a spectacular, immersive journey deeper into a world that fans already know and love.

Lollipop

(100 mins, 15) Directed by Daisy-May Hudson; starring Posy Sterling, Idil Ahmed, TerriAnn Cousins

There’s an extraordinary scene in Daisy-May Hudson’s excellent fiction feature debut that is as wrenchingly powerful as anything I have seen in the cinema this year. Recently released from a short stint in prison, Molly (a phenomenal Posy Sterling) has lost her home and custody of her two children. The scene, which plays out in a social services office, shows a desperate woman at the end of her tether. It has a gut-punch intensity to match the food bank breakdown scene in Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake. But while comparisons to Loach’s compassionate, issue-led social realism are inevitable, Hudson’s almost entirely female-driven film (Molly’s preschooler son is the only male character) has a distinctive spirit.

Lollipop celebrates female friendship – Molly’s bond with Amina (Idil Ahmed), the college friend with whom she recently reconnected, is a lifeline – and the power of music to make a shitty situation slightly better. Hudson’s acute eye for detail comes from her own experience: her route into film-making was Half Way, a 2015 documentary she made about her family’s experience of losing their home. She’s the real deal.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

(98 mins, 15) Directed Laura Piani; starring Camille Rutherford, Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson

You may think that after Clueless, the Bridget Jones series and Bride and Prejudice (plus numerous others, best forgotten), the potential for contemporary reimaginings of Jane Austen romances must be well and truly tapped out. And you’d be right.

The bilingual romcom Jane Austen Wrecked My Life adds a Gallic flavour (the heroine is a Parisian bookshop clerk and aspiring writer Agathe, played by Camille Rutherford), but otherwise the recipe is all too familiar. Agathe, who finds herself on an Austen-themed writer’s retreat in a genteel corner of England, is initially too dazzled by feckless charmer Félix (Pablo Pauly) to notice the appeal of uptight, hostile, stuffed-shirt Oliver (Charlie Anson). It’s a twee, theme park version of Englishness, full of antiques and affable eccentrics. While not entirely without appeal, this is a film without an original idea in its head.

Echo Valley

(104 mins, 15) Directed by Michael Pearce; starring Julianne Moore, Sydney Sweeney, Domhnall Gleeson; Apple TV+ and select cinemas

When Kate (Julianne Moore) is confronted late one night by her troubled, drug-addicted daughter Claire (Sydney Sweeney), distressed and covered with someone else’s blood, she does what any loving parent would do and cleans up her child’s mess.

But as anyone who watched the very similar Tilda Swinton-starring thriller The Deep End (2001) knows, parental good intentions frequently backfire when there’s a dead body in the mix. Kate, who is still reeling from the recent death of her wife and has a failing horse farm to run single-handedly, is blackmailed by Claire’s shady drug dealer Jackie (Domhnall Gleeson).

This unremarkable but perfectly watchable battle of wits by British director Michael Pearce (Beast) leans a little heavily on above-and-beyond acts of lesbian solidarity on the part of Kate’s best friend, Leslie (Fiona Shaw), and its final twist is far-fetched. But it’s a sinewy, stylish thriller improved by the bruised, understated work of Moore and Gleeson’s enjoyably gung-ho villainy.

Protein

(100 mins, 18) Directed by Tony Burke; starring Craig Russell, Steve Meo, Kezia Burrows

It says something about the meathead milieu of wannabe gangsters and dimwit thugs in Tony Burke’s gnarly debut, Protein, that the cannibalistic serial killer is one of the more sympathetic characters in the movie. Gym-obsessed ex-soldier Sion (Craig Russell) may be broken by PTSD, yet there’s a twisted morality behind his murders.

Only the most deserving victims are slaughtered, butchered, portioned up and stored for future consumption in his chest freezer. Kind-hearted gym manager Katrina (Kezia Burrows) offers the damaged Sion free use of the grubby facilities, providing Sion with rich pickings in potential targets. But the slaughter of bullying drug dealer Dwayne (Kai Owen) has unforeseen consequences, triggering a gang war. While it’s not the most polished piece of film-making, you have to admire Burke’s commitment to carnage.