warring

LOVE ME TENDER

(15) 134mins

★★★★☆

BREAK-UPS can be horribly complicated, especially when there are children involved.

This emotionally intelligent, exquisitely acted film shows the depths of despair warring couples can go to over a custody battle.

We meet Clémence (Vicky Krieps), a former lawyer, who has separated from her husband, Laurent (Antoine Reinartz). The split is amicable, and they are raising their young son, Paul, who lives with his dad.

But unbeknown to her ex, Clémence, who has quit her job to write, is now exploring her sexuality and having relationships with multiple women.

An awkward evening drink with Laurent reveals how he is clearly still in love with Clémence, while she makes it clear her desires lie in women.

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This suddenly changes everything between the pair, with Laurent claiming Paul doesn’t want to see her during her next visit.

The scenes are not overplayed with emotion, but are slowly devastating as Clémence struggles with the sudden change in a family arrangement that was so comfortable before.

Soon, authorities are brought in, and horrific claims are made against Clémence’s character.

She is only able to see Paul at supervised visits in a soulless social service office.

All this unfolds in a slow exhale on screen rather than an explosion, with Clémence juggling heartbreak and frustration with various relationships, her ill father and her career.

Adapted from Constance Debré’s 2020 novel, director Anna Cazenave Cambet allows this distressing story to show the huge problems that parents’ egos can cause for their child’s future.

Krieps is sensational in the role, allowing her face to portray so many emotions and carrying huge emotional strain.

While Clémence is the focal point of the audience’s sympathy, she, too, can be self-absorbed and a little cruel to lovers.

This shows she is human rather than just a victim. The story never gets bogged down in courtroom battles, but rather lingers on little moments Clémence feels as her time with her precious son slips away.

Running over two hours, these are perhaps overused, and the pace is unapologetically slow in many scenes.

But with stand-out acting from Krieps, it makes this film feel voyeuristic, as it is so natural, and while in emotional agony, we all still just carry on.

HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE

(12A) 101mins

★★★★★

IN celebration of its tenth anniversary, this charming offbeat comedy is being re-released in cinemas for a new generation to enjoy.

And, the bonus, of course, it also brings the recently deceased and hugely talented Sam Neill back to the big screen.

Set in the sweeping countryside of New Zealand, it is the story of “Uncle Hec” (Neill), a grumpy foster father who is delivered a troublesome child, Ricky (Julian Dennison), by the welfare services.

The pair soon spark a full-on search when they set off on a bizarre outback adventure.

Dennison’s performance is both comedy and tragedy, going from an offensive teen obsessed with being “gangster” to an abandoned child looking for emotional security.

And Neill manages to step away from caricature to make Hec layered and empathetic.

But there’s a refreshing lack of cliché and sentimentality, too. The characters don’t simply transform into different people just because they have experienced getting lost in the wilderness together.

Directed by Taika Waititi, it’s still the best buddy movie since Up in 2009.

NIMRODS

(15) 116mins

★★☆☆☆

THIS overly complicated coming-of-age film is somewhat based on punk-pop band Green Day.

Yet, while it features the US rockers, is full of their songs and has a storyline that revolves around getting to their gig, it lacks the ­confidence to be about them entirely, which is a shame.

School dropout Tommy (Mason Thames) is a huge fan and receives a phone call from his pranking older brother, inviting his garage grunge band to open for Green Day.

So he and his pals hit the road in a stolen taxi with barely a penny to their name, believing they are going to perform at a huge gig, with no prior experience, record agent or links to anyone in the industry. Just one prank phone call.

Inspired by the real band’s early days touring in vans before the release of breakout album Dookie in 1994, this film takes place in modern times but could easily be set in the Nineties.

And it probably should have been. With the great soundtrack and nostalgic footage of the real band at the end, it leaves you craving a documentary on Billie Joe Armstrong and co.

In cinemas from Tuesday.

The United States and Iran have traded attacks for a second day, straining their fragile ceasefire further after US President Donald Trump said the truce was “over”.

The US military said late on Wednesday that the attacks were aimed at Iran’s “ability to threaten the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”.

The US struck approximately 90 military targets, including missile and drone storage as well as logistics sites along Iran’s coastline, said the Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations in the Middle East.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called the US attacks “retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!”

The latest attacks come a day after the US said it hit more than 80 targets in Iran in response to Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday it carried out attacks on “key infrastructure and facilities” at bases used by the US military in Arifjan and Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and Juffair and Sheikh Isa in Bahrain in response to the latest US bombardment.

The Iranian army later said its forces targeted a Patriot missile system in Kuwait, a satellite antenna in Qatar and US military fuel depots in Bahrain.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence said it was intercepting missiles and drones, while Qatar issued an “elevated security threat” alert.

The renewed fighting threatens to undermine a memorandum of understanding (MoU) the two sides agreed last month to extend an April ceasefire and gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.

The attacks come a day after Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was “over” and criticised the Iranian leadership. However, he left the door open to more talks and suggested that any strikes would end quickly.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One as he travelled back to the US after attending the NATO summit in Turkiye, Trump said the Iranian side had “called a little while ago” and that they wanted “to make a deal so badly”.

US attacks across Iran

US strikes hit a railway bridge in Iran’s northeast, according to several official media, and the news agency IRNA reported strikes on a military base in coastal Bushehr, which hosts the nation’s only civilian nuclear power plant.

The Iranian railway (IRIR) said the train service on the Tehran-Mashhad line had been temporarily suspended as a result.

It said technical teams were on site to repair the damaged section so that the rail service could resume as soon as possible, adding that buses had been arranged to transport affected passengers.

Warplanes hovered over Iran’s Kish Island, and explosions rocked the port cities of Bandar Abbas, Konarak and Chabahar, part of which lost electricity, IRNA reported.

At least three people were killed in an attack on the outskirts of Ahvaz, capital of the southwestern province of Khuzestan, IRNA reported, citing the deputy governor of the region.

At least one firefighter was killed in an attack on an airport facility in Iranshahr, IRNA reported.

Iran’s Health Ministry said at least 14 people were killed and 78 others injured over the past two days.

Calls for diplomacy

In mid-June, the US and Iran signed an MoU to extend their ceasefire. It also led to the lifting of the US naval blockade of Iran and the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The MoU came following mediation by Pakistan and Qatar, which served as a launch point for 60 days of talks on more intractable issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme, the administration of the Strait of Hormuz and access to billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.

Since US-Israeli strikes triggered war in February, Tehran has effectively blocked the strait, threatening to hit vessels that deviate from its authorised route.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar Atas said the US and Iran are “stuck in an equation – almost a deadlock” over the Strait of Hormuz.

“For the Americans, they say that Iran will not have control over the Strait of Hormuz. For the Iranians, control of the strait is indispensable.”

He said Iran sees control over the strait as the “ultimate deterrent, and if it gives that up, then it loses its negotiating position” with the US.

The US hopes that by targeting infrastructure that affects Iran’s ability to control the strait, including maritime traffic control centres, it will be forced to “return to the MoU”, Scott Uehlinger, a former senior CIA officer, told Al Jazeera.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called “on all parties to exercise maximum restraint”, as did Pakistan.

Qatari ⁠Prime ⁠Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told Iranian Foreign ⁠Minister Abbas Araghchi in a phone ⁠call on Thursday that Iran and the US should commit to diplomacy.

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the foreign minister, said Washington and Tehran should implement the MoU to end the war.

Iran said the two officials had spoken over the phone and “underscored the importance of using diplomatic means to resolve regional issues”.