ENTERTAINMENT

FILM

ust M ercy is a p ow erful ne w film th at follo ws the incredible true sto ry o f Brya n Stevenson, a n ew Harvard law gra d uate w h o h ea d s to Alabama to help peop le who’ve been wrongly convicte d. His first case is tha t o f W alte r McMillian (J amie Foxx), who’s been sitting on death row for six years after being se ntenced to death for a 1986 mu rder he didn’t commit. Over th e next few years the pair work togeth er to fight institutional ra cism in the le ga l system and dea th threats to free a n inn oce n t m a n. Jamie says h is entire career le d to th is ro le. “It was an incre d ible project an d it’s p ersonal. It was p erso n al for me because my father wa s placed in jail for $ 25 worth of illegal substances for seven ye ars.” Michael B Jordan, wh o portrays the real-life lawyer, also felt the weight o f telling this story. “For me, this was very intimidating at first… I felt like I had a great deal o f pressure to get it rig h t.” At its premiere at th e Toronto Internationa l Film Festival, it received an e ig htminute standin g ovation from the crowd, an overwhelming experience for the cast and crew th at b rou gh t ma ny o f th e m to tea rs. In th e audience was the real B ryan Stevenson, n ow 60 and still a law yer. “Bein g in a space like this and seeing people respon d to it an d g et it g ives m e a great deal o f ho p e,” he said .

QUALITY

A QUEST FOR JUSTICE MAKES FOR COMPELLING VIEWING USTICE MAKESR J U

Just Mercy is in cinemas now.

REVIEWS

FILM STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI RATING M Expectations are always high for the final film of a series, but maybe none so much as the end of a saga that has spanned decades, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker sadly doesn’t live up to what it should be. After Emperor Palpatine is discovered to be still alive, our heroes Rey, Finn and Poe must race against time to find and defeat the Sith lord and save the universe. Highlights include a plethora of cameos from beloved characters, including some in ghostly form, as well as the performances of Daisy Ridley as Rey and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. The rest is unfortunately underwhelming. Rebekah Hebenton

MAKEOVER MY DAY

Th e Family Gorgeou s, one of the UK’s most fabulous dra g clans, heads on a road trip across Britain, transforming th ose w h o nee d h e lp by b rin ging out dra g- enhanced ve rs io n s o f th e m se lves . L ed b y C h e dd ar Gorgeous, th e queens ma ke over a ll k in d s of people, from a small-town farmer to a mum o f six, all w ith the aim o f unlocking their lost con fi dence. “ It’s actually about how the process o f standing out can he lp reveal somethin g about yo u th at may b e you d id n’t know,” says Chedda r.