What’s it about?
Colorado Springs is welcoming their first black officer to the force. He ingratiates himself over the phone with the local Ku Klux Klan before becoming their first African American member.

What we thought
Dan says: This is exactly what a dark comedy should be. Not a lot of dumb gags but a compelling and humorous look at a true story of Ron Stallworth. People with an interest in progressive politics will get a lot out of this but so long as you don’t emotionally bond with neo-nazis you should enjoy this thrilling romp.

Warning: Spike Lee uses his platform to append real footage of race crimes as an addendum to the film. While the message is powerful it is confronting and adds little to the film’s story. I preferred to avoid this footage when I first had the opportunity to see it and didn’t appreciate it being sprung on me. Avoid this segment is you’re sensitive.

3.5 stars

What’s it about?
This follow up to the 2008 musical based on the music of ABBA sees a pregnant Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) discover more about her mother Donna (Meryl Streep/Lily James).

What did we think?
Amy Currie says:  At once a sequel and a prequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is ridiculous, unnecessary, overly sentimental and wildly enjoyable. With the bulk of ABBA’s hits used up on the first movie, the soundtrack tends towards B-sides and repeats (with a few notable exceptions*). It doesn’t matter a bit. It’s great fun to see young versions of some of the main characters, and the overly elaborate set-up necessary for Cher to sing a particular song is in itself worth the price of admission. Bring your dancing shoes, your tissues and your mum.

*Editor’s note: Stephen says: before we get attacked by ABBA fans, 6 of the 18 songs are A-side singles that weren’t in the original (one of which is their biggest single, and at 10 million copies, one of the highest selling songs of all time- guess who gets to sing that one?), and there are quite a few album tracks from Arrival and Voulez-Vous (two of this reviewers favourite ABBA LPs). #ABBAFan #NerdAlert

What’s it about?
Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro team up to try and incite a war between drug cartels, but don’t really do a very good job.

What did we think?
Nick says: Day of the Soldado opens and closes beautifully, but the big issue lies in the fact that there’s not a lot to rave about in the middle. Still, Del Toro and Brolin are terrific and there are some really satisfying bits and pieces amongst the retreading and boring politics.

What’s it about?
Ailing septuagenarians flee imminent nursing-home confinement by taking one final road trip in their beloved Winnebago.

What did we think?
Stephen Scott says: facing your impending death isn’t an everyday movie topic, and while The Leisure Seeker handles the topic with sensitivity and humour, the first half is meandering and turgid, seemingly to set up the far more entertaining second. Beautifully acted by Donald Sutherland as a retired professor in the final stages of dementia and Helen Mirren as his frail, doting wife, the film lacks the celebration of life it requires (and several opportunities exist within the film for these moments but are passed over for commentary on the frustration on human frailty).

Euthanasia advocates will appreciate this film, but people battling with depression would be advised to only see it with a friend.

What’s it about?
Downtrodden businessman Harold (David Oyelowo) is caught up in cartels, kidnapping and corporate conspiracies during a business trip to Mexico.

What did we think?
Amy Currie says: I would be perfectly happy watching this on hour six of a long-haul flight. I would then never think about it again in my whole life.

Gringo is a pleasant enough darkly comic caper, but an admittedly impressive cast can’t quite save it from a meandering plot.

What’s it about?
GAH! Charlize Theron and Ron Livingston have a third baby! It’s awful. The other two children are bad enough. So many children! Nappies! Sore nipples! Sleep Deprivation! Dear Lord! It’s like one of those educational health films from high school except this time they’re using a more persuasive technique to get you to use condoms. At any rate, a savant babysitter turns up and everything settles down a bit.

What we thought
Dan says: This paints the portrait of parenthood, warts and all, and when Tully finally turns up to get things in order it’s with a sigh of relief from the audience as well. Great moments of cinematography, charming performances and some decently funny jokes allow this film to stick the landing.

If you’re single, watch this film and pat yourself on the back for good decisions made. If you’ve had kids, enjoy watching what you’ve already survived. And if you’ve got a newborn…

God help you.

What’s it about?
Sawyer (Claire Foy) is a young woman starting a new life in a new city but is still traumatised by an incident from back home. After a single session with a counsellor, she unwittingly signs herself in to being committed to a mental instituton. She insists there is nothing wrong with her, but her stay becomes involuntary when the staff begin to question her sanity, and she is forced to confront her greatest fear.

What did we think?
James Tinniswood says: I am so happy Steven Soderbergh is back pumping out movies, especially interesting little gambles like this. Shot entirely on an iPhone but with a good thriller script, this fits in somewhere between his studio and indie/experimental films. Claire Foy is excellent, and Jay Pharoah is also solid support. The ambiguity about what’s really going on gets resolved maybe a bit too early and it becomes more of a conventional thriller, but it’s still an impressive experiment in tension.

What’s it about?
An average-looking, average-weight person crushed by society’s unhealthy obsession with svelte beauty gets everything she wishes for, before losing it all. Then regaining it because Hollywood.

What did we think?
Stephen Scott says: a funny, moral allegory that falls apart when it gets confused about its own identity.

The Pitch: “Amy Schumer magically gains the body of a supermodel, except she’s only imagining it … but this belief banishes her self-doubt and she lives her life with gusto and happiness”

The Reality: “Amy Schumer pulls off a lot of laughs, carries the concept really well, but just over halfway the plot and characterisations get lost and inexplicably she goes all Mean Girls / Devil Wears Prada, and even though her final speech brings back the original concept, it’s a hollow victory as her joyous oration about looks-aren’t-important is celebrated by a room of supermodels”

What’s it about?
A group of college friends celebrating their last spring break together in Mexico play a game of Truth or Dare in the ruins of an old missionary. When they return home, they discover something evil has followed them back and wants the game to keep going, with deadly consequences.

What did we think?
James Tinniswood says: I pick truth: eh. It borrows from It Follows, Unfriended and Final Destination but is neither as tense as the former two or as over-the-top and silly as the latter. Most of the Pretty Young Things are either underwritten or just not good people, so it’s often hard to care when they’re forced to do bad things. The kind of movie where people earnestly say “the game is playing us”. Fine but forgettable.