Loving Highsmith review - documentary focused on the writer's lighter side

★★★ LOVING HIGHSMITH A poignant portrait, but with most of the warts ignored

Eva Vitija presents a poignant portrait, but with most of the warts ignored

Since her death in 1995, Patricia Highsmith has prompted three biographies, screeds of often conflicting psychological analysis and now this documentary from the Swiss-born Eva Vitija. We hear the director say at the outset that by reading her then-unpublished diaries she learned to love, not just the writing, but the writer, which not all commentators have managed to do.

MH370: The Plane That Disappeared, Netflix review - a field day for conspiracy theorists

★★★★ MH370: THE PLANE THAT DISAPPEARED, NETFLIX Field day for conspiracy theorists

Will we ever know what really happened to the vanished Malaysian airliner?

For fans of conspiracy theories, this three-part examination of the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 is irresistible, though the continuing anguish of friends and relatives of the 239 people aboard the flight makes for some painful viewing. 

Grenfell: System Failure, Playground Theatre review - if this doesn't make you angry, nothing will

★★★★ GRENFELL: SYSTEM FAILURE, PLAYGROUND THEATRE Second instalment of urgent documentary drama condemns the system that let the tower burn

Second instalment of urgent documentary drama condemns the system that let the tower burn

It’s been five years since 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire in West London. Five years and no arrests, as countless placards and posters around the neighbourhood point out.

Drive to Survive, Season 5, Netflix review - fly-on-the wall F1 show may need a reboot

★★★ DRIVE TO SURVIVE, SEASON 5, NETFLIX Fly-on-the wall F1 show may need a reboot

The Mercedes versus Red Bull battle just keeps getting uglier

The backstage revelations about the politics and personalities that fuel Formula One have made Drive to Survive one of Netflix’s most reliable bestsellers, but on this fifth outing there’s a lurking sense that the novelty is wearing off.

Town of Strangers review - a whimsical foray into the meaning of home

★★ TOWN OF STRANGERS A whimsical foray into the meaning of home

A director in search of belonging dominates a stagey documentary

“They say there are only two stories,” explains director Treasa O’Brien. “A person goes on a journey and a stranger comes to town.” O’Brien was born in Dublin to a naval family that had to up sticks and move every two or three years. Her first school was in Malta, where the other kids would neither speak to her nor play with her since she was an outsider.

DVD: Oscar Peterson - Black + White

★★★★ DVD: OSCAR PETERSON - BLACK + WHITE The music and career of the great jazz pianist

Barry Avrich’s documentary celebrates the music and career of the great jazz pianist

I can’t help enjoying the continuing elevation of the jazz pianist Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) to national monument status in Canada. A park or a square here (Montreal), a boulevard there (Mississauga), a school, a concert hall, a statue, a commemorative one-dollar coin. Now Barry Avrich’s 2021 documentary Oscar Peterson: Black + White, which is being released on DVD.

Wildcat review - damaged war veteran reborn in the Peruvian jungle

★★★★ WILDCAT Damaged war veteran reborn in the Peruvian jungle

How a man found salvation in the love of a good cat

The bond between humans and animals sometimes passeth all understanding. Wildcat is the story of 20-something British Army veteran Harry Turner, American ecologist Samantha Zwicker, and a young ocelot called Keanu, who becomes an almost mythic talisman of Harry’s battle with post-traumatic stress and suicidal urges.

Harry & Meghan, Netflix review - at home with the Harkles

★★ HARRY & MEGHAN, NETFLIX Media-shy couple can't keep out of the spotlight

Media-shy couple can't keep out of the spotlight

There’s no stopping Harry and Meghan. Logic, reason and facts can’t stand in the way of their “war on oppression and injustice” and determination to become “advocates of healing”. Even though their notorious interview with Oprah Winfrey was littered with demonstrable untruths, it seems their target audience buys into the notion of them telling “their” truth, surely the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card. The absurdity of preaching eco-awareness while travelling everywhere by private jet and motorcade never seems to prick their perma-bubble of blissful self-regard.

Three Minutes: A Lengthening review - superb portrait of a vanished world

★★★★★ THREE MINUTES: A LENGTHENING Superb portrait of a vanished world

Found footage captures a summer's day in pre-war Poland

We hear the projector whirr as the mute 16mm film flows through the sprockets and on to the screen. For three minutes and a little longer we watch children and adults spilling out of buildings, intrigued by the novelty of a camera on their streets.