28 YEARS LATER : Tuesday 24th June 2025

I saw the MA15+ Rated '28 YEARS LATER' at my local independent movie theatre this week, and this post-apocalyptic horror film is Co-Produced and Directed by Danny Boyle, and Written and Co-Produced by Alex Garland. It is the third in the '28 Days Later' film series, following 2002's '28 Days Later' and 2007's '28 Weeks Later', and is reportedly the first instalment in a new trilogy of films, of which the second film was shot back-to-back and titled '28 Years Later : The Bone Temple' which was Directed by Nia DaCosta, Written by Garland, and Produced by Boyle and Garland, and is due for release in mid-January 2026. The first two films in the franchise grossed a total Box Office haul of US$172M from combined production budgets of US$23M. The film went on release here in Australia, in the US and the UK last week, has so far grossed US$69M from a production budget of US$60M and has generated largely favourable critical reviews.

The films open in 2002, during the initial outbreak of the Rage Virus, where a group of young children are sat around a small TV screen watching an episode of the 'Teletubbies' in a remote house somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. A young lad named Jimmy (Rocco Haynes) flees from the house after being attacked by his infected family, in which all the other children are killed. He runs for shelter to the nearby church, where he finds his father (Sandy Batchelor), the local vicar, praying. Believing the outbreak to be the Day of Judgment, the vicar interprets the virus as an indicator of the end of times. He gives Jimmy a crucifix necklace and urges him to flee before allowing himself to be overwhelmed by a horde of the infected, so giving Jimmy the opportunity to hide and ultimately escape.

We then fast forward 28 years and although the Rage Virus has been eradicated from mainland Europe, the British Isles remains in indefinite quarantine, patrolled by offshore ships from across the continent. A survivor community lives on the tidal island of Lindisfarne, off the northeast coast of England, connected by a fortified causeway that is only passable at low tide. Among them are Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a scavenger; his wife Isla (Jodie Comer), who has an unknown illness that keeps her virtually bedridden; and their twelve-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams). Jamie takes Spike to the mainland for a coming-of-age ritual. Village leadership reminds Spike of the dangers of leaving the island and while he is free to go beyond and return at will, search and rescue missions will not be launched for those who do not return.

On the mainland, after Spike has made his first kill of an infected, they make their way to an abandoned and dilapidated cottage where they find an infected, hanging upside down from the rafters by his feet and with a plastic bag over his head and with the name 'Jimmy' carved into his torso. A short time later they  encounter a pack of infected led by an Alpha, a mutated variant of the infected who are stronger and more intelligent. Returning to the cottage chased by the infected, Jamie is able to kill most of them with his bow and arrows as they escape into the attic. 

As the evening closes in they observe boats patrolling the sea and a fire burning up the coast in the distance. A stampeding deer herd triggers the partial collapse of the cottage, and Jamie and Spike are able to get out just in time. They return to Lindisfarne as the tide rises above the causeway to knee height, pursued by the Alpha who almost catches up to the pair, until sentries located in a look out tower use a large homemade crossbow loaded with a burning arrow to kill it. 

During a raucous celebration in which Jamie calls his son a Giant Killer and over exaggerates the number of infected Spike slayed, the boy witnesses his father kissing Rosey (Amy Cameron) and runs off in shock. He returns home to his grandfather who is looking after Spike's mother and learns that the fire was more than likely lit by Dr. Ian Kelson, a reclusive survivor on the mainland whom the villagers fear. According to rumours, dating back fifteen years, Kelson had been seen burning bodies in what seemed to be a ritualistic fashion. Disillusioned with his father, Spike secretly returns to the mainland with his mother, hoping to locate Kelson so that he can provide the necessary treatment for her. While resting for the night in a church, Isla kills an infected who had crept up on Spike, in her disconnected condition not recalling the next morning how it happened.

Swedish NATO soldier Erik Sundqvist (Edvin Ryding) and his unit are forced ashore after their patrol boat sinks off the coast of Scotland. Erik is the only survivor after an Alpha and a pack of infected attacked his unit. He comes across Spike and Isla in a run down Happy Eater roadside restaurant, rescuing them from another pack as the restaurant explodes in a ball of flame as a result of leaking benzene inside that had built up over many years. Erik joins their search for Kelson. The group comes across a derailed passenger train and Isla finds a pregnant infected woman inside one of the carriages temporarily exhibiting semi-docile behaviour, whom she helps give birth to an uninfected infant girl. 

Believing the baby is infected, Erik kills the mother in a hail of bullets and prepares to kill the child, but another dominant Alpha hearing the commotion intervenes and rips his head off. The Alpha chases Spike and Isla through the carriages and out across the surrounding fields, until Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) appears and subdues it with a morphine-laced blowdart. 

Taking the head of Erik, Kelson leads Spike, Isla, and the infant to his sanctuary, which is a temple built from sterilised bones of the countless number of bodies that have perished over the years from the virus, which he describes as his 'memento mori', which he explains to Spike means 'remember to die'. He later hands the skull of Erik to Spike to place on his temple.

After examining Isla, and using the limited resources he has available Kelson deduces that she has terminal cancer that has metastasized. Spike pleads with Kelson to cure her, but he explains that he is unable to do anything for his mother. At her request, he incapacitates Spike and euthanises her with a morphine dart. He later brings her sterilised skull to Spike, who climbs to the top of the temple and places it there as a memorial as the sun comes up. After another confrontation with the Alpha, Spike and Kelson escape, and Kelson encourages Spike to go home. Spike returns to Lindisfarne alone, leaving Isla (the uninfected baby whom he named after his mother) at the gate to the village with a note for Jamie explaining her origins and saying he will return when ready. Jamie, realising Spike is alone now on the mainland, tries to chase after him, but is prevented from doing so by the rising tide covering the causeway.

28 days later, Spike is seen on the mainland by the side of the road cooking a fish on an open camp fire when not far away he sees an infected, and waits until the infected is nearly upon him before killing it with his bow and arrow. When another appears Spike starts to run but when he rounds a corner his way his blocked by a steep rock fall. While trying to evade the infected, Spike is rescued by a gang of 'Jimmies' styled after Jimmy Savile, led by an adult Jimmy (Jack O'Connell) all dressed in garish track suits, with long blond hair and gold chains around their necks and gold rings on their fingers. After the Jimmies have dispensed with all the infected, Jimmy, with the inverted crucifix his father gave him around his neck, offers his hand to Spike in a sign of friendship and respect. 

With '28 Years Later' Director Danny Boyle and scribe Alex Garland have expanded on the world first seen in their two earlier films in the series, and delivered us with a zombie flick that morphs into a coming of age story with raw unbridled emotion at its heart, delivered by top notch performances from Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and newcomer Alfie Williams. When the violence comes its pretty graphic, as is to be expected from a world inhabited by the infected, but don't rely on jump scares or the intensity of its predecessors if that's what you're looking for. This character driven story is entertaining enough but its not great, and with that said, it's hard to judge this film because we're only seeing part of the story with two further instalments still to come. And as for the last five minutes - where did the inspiration for the 'Jimmies' come from I wonder? We'll just have to wait for 'The Bone Temple' I guess to find out.

'28 Years Later' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 26th June 2025

The 42nd Munich International Film Festival this year is held from Friday 27th June through until Sunday 6th July in the German city of Munich. It is the largest summer film festival in Germany and second only in size and importance to the Berlinale. It has been held annually since 1983 and takes place in late June or early July, and presents feature films and feature-length documentaries. With the exception of retrospectives, tributes and homages, all of the films screened are German Premieres and many are European and World Premieres. There are a dozen competitions with prizes worth over €250K which are donated by the festival's major sponsors and partners. With over 160 feature films and feature-length documentaries on more than eighteen screens, from fifty-four countries, Filmfest Munchen has an annual attendance of around 80,000. It accredits more than six hundred members of the international press and media as well as over 2,500 film industry professionals. Nearly fifty films will have their World Premieres at this year’s festival in the Bavarian capital, with such international stars as Stellan Skarsgard, Francois Ozon, Jay Duplass and Gillian Anderson, the American Actress, Writer, and activist, who will be honoured with the CineMerit Award for her outstanding contributions to the art of film, all giving personal appearances.

This years Opening Night film presentation is 'The Balled of Wallis Island' and Directed by James Griffiths and starring Tom Basden, Tim Key and Carey Mulligan and tells the story set on a remote island off the Welsh coast where old tensions resurface when former bandmates, who were former lovers, reunite for the first time in nine years for a private show at the island home of an eccentric millionaire. 

The CineMasters Competition includes films from internationally acclaimed Directors (with the exception of Germany). The films are in competition for the ARRI/OSRAM Award for Best Film (non-German), and carries a services award from both of these companies worth €50K). Those feature films therefore competing are as follows :-

* 'Aicha' - from France, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia and Written and Directed by Mehdi M. Barsaoui. 

* 'Hard Truths' - from the UK and Written and Directed by Mike Leigh and starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin and David Webber.

* 'Sound of Falling' - from Germany and Co-Written and Directed by Mascha Schilinski. Winner of the Jury Prize at this years Cannes Film Festival.

* 'Kika' - from Belgium and Co-Written and Directed by Alexe Poukine. 

* 'Magellan' - from France, Philippines, Portugal, Spain and Taiwan and Written, Production Designed, Directed, Co-Photographed and Co-Edited by Lav Diaz, and starring Gael Garcia Bernal.

* 'Militantropos' - from France, Austria and Ukraine and Directed by Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova and Simon Mozgovyi.

* 'Nouvelle Vague' - from France and Directed by Richard Linklater and starring Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch and Aubry Dullin.

* 'Perla' - from Austria and Slovakia and Written and Directed by Alexandra Makarova.

* 'Promised Sky' - from France, Qatar and Tunisia and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Erige Sehiri. 

* 'Sirat' - from France and Spain and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Oliver Laxe. Winner of the Jury Prize at this years Cannes Film Festival.

* 'The Baltimorons' - from the USA and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jay Duplass.

* 'The Exposure' - from Switzerland and the UK and Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Co-Edited by Thomas Imbach.

* 'When Fall is Coming' - from France and Co-Written, Produced and Directed by Francois Ozon.

* 'Yes' - from Germany, France, Israel and Cyprus and Written and Directed by Nadav Lapid.

For the full synopsis of the aforementioned films being showcased within the CineMasters section, plus the other film strands including the CineVision Competition, the CineCoPro Competition, Spotlight, International Independents, New German Cinema and the Kinderfilmfest, plus a whole bunch of other good stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://www.filmfest-muenchen.de/en/

This week we have four new movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, launching with a sports drama film in which a semi-retired Formula One driver comes out of retirement to mentor and team up with a younger driver. This is followed by a Sci-Fi horror sequel set two years after this child sized humanoid robot's rampage, her creator, resorts to resurrecting her infamous creation in order to take down a military-grade robot who was built by a defence contractor who stole the underlying tech from the original robot. Next up we have the first of two French offerings, with the story of a Paris food delivery cyclist and asylum seeker who has two days to prepare his story for a make-or-break interview to secure legal residency; and closing out the week and set on the sunny French Riviera, where a family revelation spirals into a mischievous journey brimming with love, vengeance and surprises.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'F1' (Rated M) - this American sports drama film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Joseph Kosinski whose prior feature film efforts take in 'Tron : Legacy' in 2010, 'Oblivion' in 2013, 'Only the Brave' in 2017, 'Top Gun : Maverick' in 2022 and 'Spiderhead' also in 2022. This film features the Formula One World Championship, created in collaboration with the FIA, its governing body, and is Co-Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Lewis Hamilton and Brad Pitt. The film is released internationally this week and cost US$200M to produce.

Here, dubbed 'the greatest that never was' Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was Formula 1's most promising driver of the 1990's until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, he's a nomadic racer-for-hire driving in other motor sport disciplines, when he's approached by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of a struggling Formula 1 team Apex Grand Prix (APXGP) that is on the verge of collapse. Ruben convinces Sonny to come back to Formula 1 for one last shot at saving the team and being the best in the world. He'll drive alongside Joshua 'Noah' Pearce (Damson Idris), the team's hotshot rookie intent on setting his own pace. But as the engines roar, Sonny's past catches up with him and he finds that in Formula 1, your teammate is your fiercest competition, and the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone. Also starring Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Shea Whigham plus all ten Formula One teams and their drivers in the 2023 season will appear as themselves.

'M3GAN 2.0' (Rated M) - is an American Sci-Fi horror film Written and Directed by Gerard Johnstone, and is a sequel to 2022's 'M3GAN' which was also Directed by Gerard Johnstone and grossed US$182M from a production budget of US$12M making this sequel inevitable. Here, set two years after the events of the first film Gemma (Allison Williams, who also Co-Produces here alongside James Wan and Jason Blum) has become an author and an advocate for the regulation of artificial intelligence while trapping a still-active M3GAN (Amie Donald with Jenna Davis providing the voice) in a small, harmless robotic doll. However, M3GAN's technology has been stolen and used by a defence contractor to create a military robot called AMELIA (Autonomous Military Engagement Logistics and Infiltration Android - Ivanna Sakhno), who becomes self-aware, turns on her creators, and attempts an AI takeover. Facing imminent destruction, Gemma's niece Cady (Violet McGraw) convinces her to rebuild M3GAN with advanced upgrades so she can fight Amelia. Also starring Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jermain Clement. The film is released Stateside this week too.

'SOULEYMANE'S STORY' (Rated M) - this French drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Boris Lojkine, and tells the story of Souleymane (Abou Sangare), a recent Guinean immigrant in Paris, whose every waking second is spent fighting against the clock, working as an e-bike rider for a food delivery service to make his quota, getting back in time to secure a bed at the shelter, filling out paperwork on a deadline as he tries desperately to get asylum in France, and with his interview in two days, he is ill prepared. The film had its World Premiere showcasing at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and the Performance Prize. It was released in its native France in early October last year and only now is it released in Australia having garnered universal critical acclaim.

'RIVIERA REVENGE' (Rated M) - is a French comedy film Written and Directed by Ivan Calberac whose two most recent feature films were 2019's 'Venice Calling' and 2022's 'The Tasting'. Here, he tells the story of Francois Marsault (Andre Dussollier), a war veteran, who makes the most of his retirement alongside his wife Annie (Sabine Azema) with whom he has been married for five decades. Authoritarian and ruthless, Francois rules his family with an iron fist, but when he discovers that his esteemed wife cheated on him forty years ago, he files for divorce and confronts her former lover, who lives on the French Riviera. The film was released in France in late April 2024, and only now does it get a showing in Australia. 

With four new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

BRING HER BACK : Tuesday 17th June 2025

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'BRING HER BACK' this week, and this Australian supernatural horror film is Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou and Co-Written by Danny Philippou, whose debut feature film was the critically acclaimed and commercially successful 'Talk to Me' in 2023. The brothers are known together online as RackaRacka, and are Australian twin filmmakers, YouTubers, and stunt performers, and are known for their horror comedy YouTube videos. The film was released here in Australia and the USA at the end of May and in the UK on 1st August, has so far grossed US$20M from a production budget of US$15M and has generated largely favourable critical reviews.

Here then, following the death of their father in the shower, a brother Andy (Billy Barratt) and his almost blind step-sister Piper (Sora Wong) are placed into foster care with the eccentric former counsellor of twenty years Laura (Sally Hawkins), who also has in her care a mute young lad named Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips). 

We also learn during their initial introductions that Laura had a daughter Cathy (Mischa Heywood) who drowned at the age of twelve in the home swimming pool, and who was also blind. Andy quickly becomes disturbed by Laura's behaviour, her favouritism towards Piper, and Oliver's strange mannerisms. He tells his social worker Wendy (Sally-Anne Upton), and Laura, of his intention to apply for Piper's guardianship when he turns 18 in three months time. Laura begins subtly undermining Andy's mental condition, implying he is unfit to look after his sister, particularly after she reads a text message on Andy's mobile phone to a friend that Oliver is 'fucking weird!'

At their father's funeral, Laura secretly cuts a lock of hair from the body and later tells Andy that some believe the soul lingers in a corpse after death for up to a few months. She also urges Andy to kiss his father one last time, which he reluctantly does on the forehead, after which she kisses the corpse on the lips. That night, back at the house the three of them play a drinking game and play loud music which they all dance to. With Piper passed out on the sofa, Andy shares that their father was abusive toward him when he was eight years old especially, but was always affectionate toward Piper, which caused resentment. Laura reflects on her grief over Cathy's death and says she would give anything to hear Cathy call her 'mum' again. 

The next day, Laura runs an errand in town and takes Piper leaving strict instructions for Andy to leave Oliver locked in his room. However, Andy sees this as a chance to bond with Oliver, and so he unlocks the door and they both sit at the kitchen bench. Andy pulls half a cantaloupe melon from the fridge and with a large kitchen knife begins slicing off big chunks and offering a slice to Oliver. He grips the blade and Andy releases his hold and turns his back, but Oliver starts chewing on the knife breaking his two front teeth and badly cutting his upper lip. There's blood everywhere. 

When Andy tries to carry him across Laura's white painted circle property line to get him to a hospital, Oliver begins to convulse and scream. Laura, arrives and takes Oliver to her room and calms him by rubbing his head in a circular motion. He reluctantly returns to his mute state. Laura then feeds the lock of hair to Oliver. Later that night, Andy attempts to shower but is interrupted by Oliver, who speaks in Andy's father's voice, warning, 'She'll die in the rain'. Andy hallucinates this as an apparition of his dead father, slips on the wet floor out of sheer fright and is concussed. 

With Andy recovering in hospital, Laura takes Piper to a padlocked shed and dresses her in Cathy's clothes. Cathy's corpse is in the shed, stored in a chest freezer, which Laura guides Pipers hand over saying it is frozen meat. It is revealed that Oliver is a demonically possessed child, overtaken by a demon that Laura summoned via an amateur occult resurrection ritual learned from a pirate VHS recording. The corpse of the person to be resurrected is fed to a possessed host, who then regurgitates the corpse and its lingering soul into the newly dead body of a person killed in the same manner as the one to be resurrected. Laura intends to drown Piper in the pool during a forecasted heavy rainstorm to mimic Cathy's death and use Oliver to complete the ritual. Meanwhile, Oliver becomes more and more restless.

Upon Andy's return, Laura sprays herself with his cologne and savagely punches Piper while she sleeps, giving her a severely blackened eye, and then convinces Piper that Andy assaulted her that night. Piper is unsure but says she could smell Andy's scent. Laura accuses Andy of being abusive like their father, provoking an outburst. Andy leaves in a state of shock from his own behaviour towards Laura. Following this angry altercation, Laura takes Piper to a goalball practice session to remove her during the ritual's setup.

As Oliver's hunger becomes ever more intense, he trashes the house, bites Laura savagely on the arm, starts biting chunks out of the wooden kitchen bench top and eating the wooden splinters leaving several teeth embedded in the worktop, and then starts chewing on his own arm and hand. Meanwhile, Andy visits the foster agency and learns Oliver is actually a missing child named Connor Bird who has been missing for two weeks according to a poster displayed on the wall, and that Laura's foster background was never vetted. He convinces Wendy, to investigate. During their drive to the house, Andy warns Piper via voicemail about Laura and reveals the truth about their father. Laura intercepts the message, hurriedly cleans and tidies up the house, and deceives Wendy during the visit, until Wendy notices Laura's bleeding arm. Upon questioning, Laura hysterically claims she can resurrect Cathy. Wendy and Andy discover Oliver eating Cathy's corpse in the shed, but before escaping are run down by Laura in her car. Wendy is killed outright, and Andy survives but is badly injured. Laura then finishes off Andy by drowning him in a muddy puddle of rain.

Laura hurriedly collects Piper from her goalball game and returns her home. Having eaten some of Andy's flesh, Oliver now speaks with Andy's voice to attract Piper. She follows the voice and touches his face and head but is stopped by Laura. Suspicious, Piper locks herself in the bathroom and finds Andy's body laying on the floor. Laura breaks in and explains the ritual to Piper then drags her to the pool which is now filled with rainwater, and proceeds to hold her under the water. Piper is able to kick herself free and screams 'mum', at which point Laura hesitates and releases her. 

Oliver in the meantime has descended onto the steps of the pool and follows Piper as she climbs out. Piper escapes to the road, having kicked Oliver where it hurts, and is rescued by a passing car. Oliver crawls past the painted circle and collapses as the demon leaves his body, and Police arrive in the darkness of night to find and identify him as Connor Bird. Laura, now downcast, carries Cathy's partially consumed corpse into the pool and cradles it as officers surround her, and as the rain stops.

'Bring Her Back' won't be for everyone, but for aficionados of the horror or supernatural genres this film is sure to please with its tale of an unhinged foster mum literally hell bent on bringing her dead daughter back to life. The Philippou brothers have here delivered a tense, unsettling and at times macabre offering that is not short on violence and gore but all at once is as effective at examining the themes of life, death, grief, friendships and family all wrapped up into one neat package. At the same time they have further established themselves as masters of the genre while cementing their position as Directors to watch for what they'll come up with next. The performances of Jonah Wren Phillips especially as Oliver/Connor is a standout for a twelve year old lad, and Sally Hawkins proves she up for anything as the deranged foster mum Laura who takes us from tragedy and trauma, to heartbreak to manipulation and horror along the way. My only criticism of the film is the poor continuity within some of the scenes that left me thinking that the attention to detail was lacking somewhat. However, that said, this film is a worthy follow-up to 'Talk to Me' and quite possibly qualifies as one of the best horror films you're likely to see this year.

'Bring Her Back' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th June 2025

The 8th Brighton Rocks International Film Festival (BRIFF) takes place this year from Monday 16th June through until Sunday 22nd June in the English seaside town of Brighton, East Sussex overlooking the English Channel, and 76kms south of London. Brighton Rocks is home to films that fit with the City of Brighton’s out-there creative universe. Brighton is a hub for artists from all walks of life. It is also a state of mind, an attitude, a spirit - one that dares to be itself. Whilst it is still a young festival, it nonetheless has big ambitions - to give maximum support to emerging filmmakers and to become the UK’s main forum for indie and underground cinema. On Sunday 22nd June, the awards show will be hosted by Phil Davis - an Actor very well known in Brighton for his role in 1979's 'Quadrophenia', and subsequently in the likes of 1984's 'The Bounty', 1992's 'Alien 3', 1993's 'In the Name of the Father', 2004's 'Vera Drake', 2006's 'Notes on a Scandal', and 2010's 'Brighton Rock' and plenty more besides, and a staunch supporter of independent film.

The majority of films being showcased are short films, that fall under the headings of :-

* 'Let's Rock!' - Fiction and documentary films with a strong female voice that celebrate and explore life in and around seafaring communities.

* 'Made in Brighton!' - An eclectic array of comedy, drama, animation and music that have one thing in common - they have been made in the one and only Republic of Brighton. The feature film presentation in this category is 'Thoughtless in Remarks' from Director Dan Hasson and centres on a weekend getaway in Brighton, where best friends Jack (Thomas O'Brien) and Alex (Adele Marie) navigate the troubled waters of their friendship.

* 'Youth Rocks Parts I and II' - An eclectic mix of short fiction films by young & student creatives from Brighton and beyond, and, a further series of films by young & student creatives exploring important adult and after-hours themes. The feature film in the section is 'The Cellar' from Director Jamie Langlands in which a young girl wakes up imprisoned underground, with amnesia. She must escape, unravel the mystery behind her captivity, and confront her personal struggles. A suspenseful tale of survival, truth, and inner turmoil unfolds.

* 'Doc Rocks Parts I and II' - An eclectic mix of documentaries made by curious and investigative people of the Republic of Brighton, and, a series of powerful short documentaries that champion the underdog and probe important social and environmental issues in the UK and beyond.

* 'Comedy Rocks Parts I and II' - kick back and enjoy some unfiltered comedy that hits where it hurts. The feature film included in this segment is 'Up All Weekend with Stackard Banks' Directed by James Firth and this semi-improvised mockumentary follows explorer Stackard Banks (Ed MacArthur) as he attempts to convince documentarians Jack Barry and Patrick Turpin that he can train the human mind to go without sleep. Indefinitely . . . 

* 'Enter the Void' - This session brings together bold and boundary-pushing animation and experimental films that navigate the territories between reality and imagination.

* 'F*cked Up Futures' - Glimpses into a mad & bad dystopian world that looks uncannily like our own.

* 'Relaxed Screening' - These gripping tales examine pivotal moments when ordinary lives collide with extraordinary circumstances. Each story reveals how crisis transforms us, forcing characters to confront truth, mortality, and human resilience.

* 'Drama Rocks Parts I and II' - Explore the profound moments that shape us - from grief and loss to dreams deferred, identity discovered, and resilience found, and, explore identity, belonging, and resilience. From fractured family bonds to community displacement, childhood trauma to self-discovery, each film authentically portrays the complexity of navigating race, culture, and personal truth in contemporary Britain.

* 'LGBTQIA+ Rocks' - These bold LGBTQ+ stories explore authentic self-discovery across diverse experiences.
* 'Let's Talk About Sex' - Authentic sexual representation breaks taboos and normalises intimacy. These joyful short films celebrate pleasure, diverse desires and move beyond shame to embrace sexuality as a natural, positive aspect of human experience and connection.

* 'Summer Solstice Horror Special' - This spine-tingling late-night programme blends genuine scares with dark humour, featuring films of horrific treatment of others, the dark of the night and some good old fashioned gore amongst more.

* 'Women Rock' - An exclusive programme of wild and absorbing films made my women about women which cross all genres which amplify underrepresented voices, celebrate achievements, and inspire future generations.

* 'Drama Rocks Parts III and IV' - Examining society's treatment of outsiders - veterans, immigrants, ex- prisoners and the broken-hearted. Through myth, memory, and unexpected encounters, exploring whether redemption is possible when humanity confronts its capacity for both cruelty and compassion. And, a collection of films exploring love, trauma, memory, and identity - where music, loss, surrealism, and fractured realities collide across theatre stages, cityscapes and seaside cliffs. The Feature film included in this segment is 'Heaven To Know You' from Director Philip H.J. Gay, and tells the story of how after a traumatic childhood at the hands of her abusive mother and a difficult start to adult life, Lara relocates to NYC to start over, leaving behind a childhood of imaginary friends but also her dreams of song and dance. Her troubles with alcohol and social angst resurface soon, until one day hope comes along in the form of dreamy love. But, can you really live inside a Dream? 

For the details of all the short films being screened at this years festival, plus a whole bunch of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://www.rocksfestivals.com/briff.html

Kicking off this weeks seven hot new releases coming to a big screen Odeon near you, we have firstly the long overdue third instalment in this horror franchise that sees a small group of survivors of the rage virus living on a tiny island separated from the mainland by a long causeway, but when one of the group leaves the island for the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors too. Next up we have a Western actioner that has a young man returning to an old Montana town to reclaim his legacy, but het gets caught up between a law-abiding sheriff and a destructive stranger as old secrets lead to violence. Then we turn to a French drama in which a man joins a secret group tracking Syrian regime fugitives, and with his mission taking him to France, he pursues his former torturer for a fateful confrontation. This is followed by another French film, a RomCom, about a lonely bookseller, immersed in fantasy, who must pursue her writing aspirations to improve her love life, and so she's compelled to turn her dreams into reality to stop sabotaging a romance. Up next is a New Zealand film about a Maori elder and a delinquent late teenager who form an unlikely bond on a road trip. Following on we have a doco of never-before-seen footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono that includes their concert performance at Madison Square Garden and their lives in New York's Greenwich Village; before closing out the week with an animated offering about a young boy who dreams of being abducted by aliens, until one day his dreams come true.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the seven latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'28 YEARS LATER' (Rated MA15+) - this post-apocalyptic horror film is Co-Produced and Directed by Danny Boyle, and Written and Co-Produced by Alex Garland. It is the third in the '28 Days Later' film series, following 2002's '28 Days Later' and 2007's '28 Weeks Later', and is reportedly the first instalment in a new trilogy of films, of which the second film was shot back-to-back and titled '28 Years Later : The Bone Temple' which was Directed by Nia DaCosta, Written by Garland, and Produced by Boyle and Garland, and is due for release in mid-January 2026. The first two films in the franchise grossed a total Box Office haul of US$172M from combined production budgets of US$23M.

Twenty-eight years after the Rage virus escaped a medical research laboratory in Cambridge, survivors have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One group lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway. When a father and his son leave the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, they discover the secrets, wonders and horrors of the outside world. Starring Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Jack O'Connell. The film  cost US$75M to produce and is released in the UK, USA and here in Australia from this week.

'THE UNHOLY TRINITY' (Rated MA15+) - is an American Western action film that is Co-Produced and Directed by Richard Gray who made his feature film Directorial debut with 'Summer Coda' in 2010, and would follow this up with the likes of 'Mine Games' in 2012, 'Blinder' in 2013, 'The Lookalike' in 2014, 'Sugar Mountain' in 2016, 'Robert the Bruce' in 2019 and 'Murder at Yellowstone City' in 2022. Here, set against the turbulent backdrop of 1870's Montana, the film picks up in the moments before the execution of Isaac Broadway (Tim Daly), as he gives his estranged son, Henry (Brandon Lessard), an impossible task - murder the man who framed him for a crime he didn't commit. Intent on fulfilling his promise, Henry travels to the remote town of Trinity, where an unexpected turn of events traps him in town and leaves him caught between Gabriel Dove (Pierce Brosnan), the town's upstanding new sheriff, and a mysterious figure named St. Christopher (Samuel L. Jackson). The film had its World Premiere in mid-October last year at the Zurich Film Festival, was released in the USA last week, has so far grossed US$572K and has garnered mixed or average reviews.

'GHOST TRAIL' (Rated M) - this French drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Jonathan Millet in his feature film Directorial debut. Based on a true story, here some two years after being released from a notoriously harsh Syrian jail, Hamid (Adam Bessa) is making ends meet as a construction worker in the French city of Strasbourg, where, haunted by the memory of his imprisonment, the young man searches tirelessly for the man who tortured him, determined to get his revenge - but what's the real price of vengeance for the person seeking it? The film Premiered in mid-May 2024 in the Critics' Week section at the Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Camera d'Or, before its cinema release in France in early July last year, and only now does it get a release here in Australia having so far grossed US$1.3M and garnered generally favourable reviews.

'JANE AUSTIN WRECKED MY LIFE' (Rated M) - this French romantic comedy film is Written and Directed by Laura Piani in her feature film making debut. Agathe Robinson (Camille Rutherford), hopelessly clumsy yet charming and full of contradictions, finds herself in desperate singlehood. Her dream is to experience love akin to a Jane Austen novel and her ultimate aspiration is to become a writer. Instead, she spends her days selling books in the legendary British Bookshop, Shakespeare & Co, in Paris. Invited to the Jane Austen Writers' Residency in England, she must confront her insecurities to finally fulfil her ambition of becoming a novelist and put an end to wasting her sentimental life. Also starring Pablo Pauly and Charlie Anson. The film saw its World Premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival back in early September last year, was released in its native France at the end of January this year, in the US towards the end of May, and is released this week in Australia having so far grossed US$2M and generated largely positive critical reviews.

'KOKA' (Rated M) - this New Zealand film is Written and Directed by Kath Akuhata-Brown in her feature film making debut. It tells the story, set in present day New Zealand, of Maori elder Hamo (Hinetu Dell) and local delinquent Jo, (Darneen Christian), a troubled and violent young woman who is estranged from te ao Maori (the Maori world), who form an unlikely bond on a spiritual road trip in an old Ford Falcon. As they confront past traumas and each face their demons, their shared path becomes a journey of healing, community and reconciliation. 

'ONE TO ONE : JOHN & YOKO' (Rated MA15+) - is an American documentary film Directed by Kevin MacDonald and Sam Rice-Edwards and is Co-Produced by Macdonald and Edited by Rice-Edwards. Kevin Macdonald's numerous Directing credits take in doco's and features including 1999's Oscar winning 'One Day in September', 'Touching the Void' in 2003, 'The Last King of Scotland' in 2006, 'State of Play' in 2009, 'Marley' in 2012, 'Black Sea' in 2014 and 'The Mauritanian' in 2021. The film follows the couple of years from 1971 to 1973 during which John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent in a Greenwich Village apartment while also tracing developments in American politics like the Presidency of Richard Nixon and opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. It is centred around concert footage and audio from Lennon and Ono's 'One to One' benefit concert held at Madison Square Garden in August 1972 on behalf of children at the Willowbrook institution in Staten Island. The 'One to One' benefit concerts were the only full concert performances by Lennon following the Beatles' split in 1970. The film Premiered at the Venice Film Festival at the end of August last year, was released in the UK and USA in early April, has so far grossed US$832K and has garnered largely favourable critical reviews.

'ELIO' (Rated PG) - this American computer animated family Sci-Fi adventure comedy film is Produced by Disney Pixar and is their 29th animated film. Directed by Adrian Molina, Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi, the film introduces us to Elio Solis (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), an eleven-year-old space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession. So, when he's beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organisation with representatives from galaxies far and wide, Elio's all in for the epic undertaking. Mistakenly identified as Earth's leader, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions, and somehow discover who and where he is truly meant to be. Also starring the voice of Zoe Saldana. The film is released Stateside this week too.

With seven new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-