Laura Venning

Repetitive insults do most of the heavy lifting for this comedy, but any time spent with actors as skilled as Colman and Buckley is time enjoyably spent.

Adapting a relatively uneventful short story was always going to be tricky, and despite some strong performances and wry observations, Cat Person’s disastrous ending takes everything else down with it.

On the more inoffensive end of Netflix’s original output, Heart Of Stone is a perfectly watchable and often daft bit of fun, but its mission to supersede Ethan Hunt might prove to be impossible.

As twee as its title, Harold Fry probably won’t win over anyone immediately turned off by its premise. Broadbent and Wilton are as reliable as ever, but this tear-jerker mostly feels removed from real human emotion. It might inspire you to go for a nice walk, though.

As demonstrated by the film’s final third, Atef evidently has a skill for crafting humane, sometimes contradictory characters and for drawing out compelling performances. And yet as interesting as the interpersonal drama should be, it might just leave you, as Monty Python would say, pining for the fjords.

It builds towards a moving conclusion without ever feeling manipulative.

Rather like its robotic protagonist, Brian and Charles is bolted together from misshapen parts that don’t constitute an altogether successful whole. But, anchored by a strong but understated performance from Earl, it’s awkward but ultimately endearing.