Frantic and often shockingly violent action film with stellar cast makes this a testing watch

BUGONIA

(15) 120mins

★★★☆☆

POWERFUL people in business can often appear like aliens to many of us.

They never stop working, don’t seem to sleep and make millions of pounds — while always looking immaculate.

But to Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons), chemical corporation CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) IS an actual alien. And only he, along with his neurodivergent cousin Don (Aidan Delbis), can stop her.

We meet Fuller as she begins her day at 4.30am and is shown to be more than a little strong-willed.

After a morning routine of martial arts, and anti-ageing food and yoga, she slides on her sky-high Louboutin heels and gets into her G-Class Mercedes.

But soon, Teddy and Dan put a crease in her immaculate life by kidnapping her while wearing Jennifer Aniston masks and carrying a can of bug spray.

Alien overlord

The pair are convinced that Fuller is an alien overlord from the Andromeda galaxy, sent to Earth in disguise to subvert and control the human race.

And to get a confession out of her, they need to shave her head — as her hair has a GPS tracker in, of course — and torture her in their basement. All before the lunar eclipse in three days.

So far, not many laughs. And this film continues to play out as a bizarre conspiracy black comedy that becomes a strange, arthouse sci-fi.

Celebrated director of Poor Things and The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos, loosely based this film on South Korea’s Save The Green Planet!

With a stellar cast and frantic — occasionally shockingly violent — action, it makes it an interesting, if not often testing, watch.

Teddy blames Fuller’s company for destroying his family and the theory seems to have pushed him to psychosis.

He forces his cousin to be part of a kidnap and even insists they both are chemically castrated so that neither of them will get a sexual urge towards the “alien” they have captured.

Plemons plays the harassed character with humanity, expressing a deep sadness in his soul.

Even though she’s an exquisite actor, there may be a limit on how many wide-eyed, kooky roles Stone should take on.

After picking up an Oscar for the sex maniac science project in Lanthimos’ Poor Things, this feels a bit of a step back.

PALESTINE 36

(12A) 120mins

★★★★☆

ANNEMARIE Jacir’s Palestine 36 is a sweeping historical drama that revisits the 1936 Arab Revolt during British rule in the region.

Selected as Palestine’s official Oscar entry, the film combines epic storytelling with the director’s intimate style, showing a nation in turmoil.

The story follows Yusuf (Karim Daoud Anaya), a young villager who becomes a driver for wealthy Jerusalem publisher Amir (Dhafer L’Abidine) before joining the rural resistance.

Caught between colonial rule, internal divisions and rising nationalist hopes, around him swirl vivid figures: feminist Arab journalist Khuloud (Yasmine Al Massri), sympathetic British diplomat Thomas, (Billy Howle), and cynical British officer Captain Orde Wingate (Robert Aramayo). Meanwhile, Jeremy Irons is in great form as British High Commissioner Arthur Wauchope.

Jacir uses newsreels to remind us that history, however distant, still echoes today.

Beautifully shot, Palestine 36 balances action with humanity, finding tenderness in a region that has seen never-ending wars and pain over the last century.

LINDA MARRIC

RELAY

(15) 111mins

★★★☆☆

THIS sharp thriller is all about quiet tension that explodes with shocking moral twists and turns.

Riz Ahmed stars as a mysterious fixer who helps whistleblowers safely hand back dangerous secrets.

When he takes on Sarah (Lily James), an anxious food industry worker caught up in a corporate scandal, things quickly spiral into all out paranoia.

Director David Mackenzie has his sights set on the classy paranoia of 70s thrillers like The Conversation. And for a while it works.

There’s real tension in the clever use of old-school communication tech and in Ahmed’s understated performance.

Sadly, the same can’t quite be said for James’ character, who feels underdeveloped and therefore much harder to root for.

While Relay looks fantastic, that same visual sharpness gives it an oddly soulless quality.

Also the sleek tension and smart build-up are abandoned for a finale that is louder and far more predictable.

Relay is a thoughtful, sometimes gripping watch with flashes of brilliance, but it never fully becomes the thriller it promises to be.

LINDA MARRIC