Simon Morris

The Outrun is a hit from the recent International Film Festival that's getting very strong reviews around the world. Starring Irish star Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird, Little Women) it's based on the… Audio

Wolfs went straight to streaming service Apple TV Plus, despite stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Has the audience for Hitchcock comedy-thrillers finally dried up? Audio

Simon Morris discovers that audiences aren't always the best judges of what they may want. Joker: Folie à Deux combines two popular genres, while Wolfs features two hugely popular stars, but both live… Audio

Radical is a Mexican film based on real-life, following in the footsteps of To Sir With Love, Dead Poet's Society and Dangerous minds. An inexperienced teacher arrives at a poverty-stricken school and… Audio

Megalopolis is Francis Ford Coppola's multi-million dollar art film - about art, politics and the future. It stars Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman and Aubrey Plaza. It's… Audio

The Wild Robot is a heart-warming family film from Dreamworks Animation (Puss In Boots). A robot crashes on a desert island and takes on a job it's not programmed for - mother to a baby gosling. Voice… Audio

Simon Morris weighs up the relative size of big empty spectacle and smaller stories with gripping characters. Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis is as spectacular as its name, but what's it about? The… Audio

The substance is a Cannes Film Festival winner, starring Demi Moore as an aging film-star who takes a potion that turns her into a younger version (Margaret Qualley). But youth comes at a horrifying… Audio

Never let go is set in a dystopian future where a mother (Halle Berry) and her two young sons are under threat from a mysterious entity in the woods. Their only protection are the ropes attached to… Audio

Iris and the men sees French favourite Laure Calamy (Antoinette dans les Cévennes) return in a hit from the recent French Film Festival. When her husband seems to ignore her, Iris has an answer - a… Audio

Simon Morris sees plenty of things in common among this week's films - horror, middle-aged women, French directors - in The substance, Iris and the men and Never let go. Is it a reflection of the… Audio

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - director Tim Burton returns to his 1988 hit comedy about the afterlife. But does it still pack the same punch? Stars old hands Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder and Michael… Audio

Thelma is the year's least-likely action hero on a mission to get back the money she lost to scammers. Starring 90-plus veteran June Squibb (Nebraska) she's out long past her bed-time, and she's not… Audio

Maurice and I tells the surprisingly moving story of two of the most successful architects in New Zealand - Sir Miles Warren and Maurice Mahoney - their life, their times, and their struggle to save… Audio

Simon Morris looks at three specifically targeted films - a sequel to Tim Burton's cult classic Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a popular documentary from a recent architecture film festival, Maurice and I… Audio

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is a tiny independent from Thailand that's punching considerably above its weight. It's being sold entirely on its ability to make audiences cry! Audio

Midas Man tells the story of Brian Epstein, the man who discovered the Beatles and changed the world. Starring Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (The three musketeers) as Brian, with cameos from Eddies Marsan and… Audio

Eileen is a Netflix noir, starring New Zealand actress Thomasin McKenzie (Last night in Soho) and Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables.) as co-workers in a juvenile prison whose relationship… Audio

Simon Morris looks at three smaller films that attempt to do more with less - Midas Man, a biopic of the Beatles' manager, a Thai tear-jerker called How to make millions before Grandma dies and a dark… Audio