Simon Morris

Prime Video's My Old Ass and Netflix's Havoc have one thing in common - neither was exactly what their trailers promised. The first promises more of TV favourite Aubrey Plaza (White Lotus) than it… Audio

Independent film The People We Love is that very rare thing, a Kiwi romance. Writer-director Mike Smith (TV's My Life Is Murder and Siege) wonders we're so reluctant to make such a popular genre, and… Audio

Simon Morris goes off the beaten track this week, including two features found on streaming services - Netflix's Havoc and Prime Video's My Old Ass. He also finds a surprising number of self-funded… Audio

The Correspondent tells the true story of Australian journalist Peter Greste, covering a military coup in Egypt for Al Jazeera. His arrest on trumped-up charges became a worldwide scandal. Directed by… Audio

The Penguin Lessons is based on an unlikely true story of an English teacher in Argentina who finds himself stuck with a penguin at the height of a military coup. Written by Jeff Pope (Philomena) it… Audio

Simon Morris occasionally finds himself out of his comfort zone - but not this week. Three films right up his alley - a true story of a journalist arrested for doing his job, The Correspondent… a… Audio

The Amateur sees a back-room boffin in the CIA turn himself into an avenging killer when terrorists kill his wife. Starring Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), it's… Audio

Grand Tour starts out like a Merchant Ivory passage to Southeast Asia about a man running away from the prospects of a wedding, before turning into a very strange travelogue. Directed by Portuguese… Audio

Queer sees Daniel Craig (No time to die) shake off Double Oh Seven in an adaptation of a book by William S Burroughs (Naked Lunch) about an American writer hiding out in Fifties Mexico who falls in… Audio

Simon Morris realizes people go to the cinema for different things. Some go for the humble "movie", some for the elevated "film", some for the even more pretentious "cinema". Which are this week's… Audio

The death of a Unicorn sees a father and daughter (Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega) hit a mysterious entity on the way to a weekend with an unscrupulous pharmaceutical family. An entity with the ability to… Audio

The Seed of the Sacred Fig - the story of an Iranian judge at odds with his daughters over their campaign for women's rights - made its own headlines when the Iranian government forbade the director… Audio

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin tells the story of a dissident German cleric who was one of the few local voices raised against the might of the Nazi party. He was even prepared to risk his faith to… Audio

Simon Morris looks at films about rebellion - from Iranian Oscar nominee The Seed of the Sacred Fig, to the biopic of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German cleric who tried to stand up to Hitler. And The… Audio

The Return sees Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche (The English Patient) reunite to tell the classic tale of Odysseus's return home after masterminding the fall of Troy. Written and directed by Uberto… Audio

Snow White is the controversial remake of the Disney animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Starring Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) and Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), it's currently scoring a… Audio

Simon Morris joins the rest of the world in being unimpressed by the new Snow White, though he wonders how much worse it is from a string of Disney cover-versions over the years. He also checks out… Audio

The Last Showgirl tells the story of a 50-plus Las Vegas dancer suddenly forced to confront her life and her future when her show Le Razzle Dazzle finishes after 30 years. Featuring a Golden… Audio

The Rule of Jenny Pen is the latest by New Zealand director James Ashcroft (Coming Home in the Dark), about a rest home terrorised by a patient and his sinister doll. Starring Geoffrey Rush and John… Audio

Firebrand tells the story of Catherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of the brutal Henry the Eighth. Can she keep her head while staying true to her faith? Stars Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) as… Audio