THE SENATOR ★★★★☆
Directed by John Curran. Starring Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms, Jim Gaffigan, Clancy Brown, Olivia Thirlby, Bruce Dern. Amazon Prime, 101 min
The film originally called Chappaquiddick makes its way to Amazon Prime three years after its US premiere. You won't need to be told what it concerns. Clarke, often blank, frequently evasive, does not turn Ted Kennedy into any kind of monster. The casualness with which this version of the late senator allows the political machine to take over following the notorious accident is, nonetheless, chilling. Sinister, sombre, uneasy – featuring a respectful performance by Mara as the late Mary Jo Kopechne – The Senator is essential for all students of US politics. DC
PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME ★★★★★
Directed by Lili Horvát. Starring Natasa Stork, Viktor Bodó, Benett Vilmányi, Andor Lukáts, Péter Tóth, Zsolt Nagy, Linda Moshier, Attila Mokos. Curzon Home Cinema, 97 min
This recent winner for best director at the Dublin International Film Festival, this satisfyingly perplexing film concerns a Hungarian neurosurgeon who arranges to meet a colleague after returning from work in the US. He doesn't turn up and then claims not to know her. Horvat's second feature – a series of perplexing mysteries – plays in the thin space between love, madness and consciousness. There are pleasing overlaps with Alain Resnais's Je T'aime Je T'aime and An Affair to Remember, but Preparations is quite unique. TB
TOWN OF STRANGERS ★★★★☆
Directed by Treasa O'Brien. IFI@Home, 80 min
O'Brien's film is almost certainly a documentary, but it began life as something like a drama. The director arrived in the Galway town of Gort with a mind to casting actors for a fictional film, but she was so intrigued by the auditioning locals (many born elsewhere) that she decided to tell their stories instead. There is serious purpose here. There is evidence of experimentation and self-conscious pondering. But the film remains agreeably lively throughout its tight running time. A touching portrait of a changing Ireland. TB
BANKSY MOST WANTED ★★★☆☆
Directed by Seamus Haley, Laurent Richard, Aurélia Rouvier. Featuring Craig Williams, Robin Barton, Carole Boinet, Steve Lazarides, Jonathan Cheung, Nicolas Laugero-Lasseure, Will Elsworth-Jones. IFI@Home, 83 min
"Me being a journalism student, me being an idiot," recalls former blogger, Craig Williams. "I thought I'd go after the biggest story in the world. Not like 'Who killed JFK?' but something everybody can connect to. Something everybody is interested in: Who is Banksy?" This French-made documentary, though not nearly as much fun as Banksy's own Oscar-nominated Exit Through the Gift Shop, presents a decent potted history of Bristol's (?) most famous export since Cary Grant. Various art correspondence and dealers pop up to discuss his significance. TB
