In order to cater to wide appeal, most cinematic releases are led by righteous protagonists. Within the comic book genre especially, the majority of movies have focused on heroes. Attempting to break the mould, Joker is a film that takes us on the journey of a troubled man descending into total madness. What we have here is perhaps best described as a character study created for mainstream audiences.

Ever since Jaws terrified audiences in 1975, filmmakers have attempted to find success by pitting man against beast. This has resulted in releases of varying quality, with most ending up on the poorer side of the scale. From director Alexandre Aja, Crawl is a fun creature-feature that unfortunately fails to become anything more than serviceable.

As the final frontier of human exploration, space has been a classic backdrop for a variety of films over the years. From the early days of limited sets to the modern era of CGI, leaving earth has been a popular choice for many directors. While some filmmakers have concentrated their stories on the science fiction elements of the future, others have taken a character-first approach. Emphasising an intimate narrative within a massive scale, Ad Astra is an enthralling new release that refreshingly avoids unnecessary spectacle in order to focus its attention on a man’s personal journey.

With a career spanning nearly twenty years, across nine films, Quentin Tarantino has cemented himself as one of the most iconic directors in all of cinema history. With four years past from his last release, the director has returned with a slow-burn, character-centric tale of two friends struggling to keep up with a world passing them by.