The Eternal Daughter of Polite Society: The Seven Best Movies to Watch on TV This Week | TV and radio

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Eternal daughter

There are plenty of creaks and bumps in the night in Joanna Hogg’s latest drama, set in a fog-shrouded Welsh country hotel. But despite the haunted house trappings, this is a place where the ghosts are mostly memories. Tilda Swinton, always a sensitive actress, plays dual roles: director Julie and her elderly mother Rosalind. They come to stay at a country place – which used to be Rosalind’s aunt’s house – as a nostalgia trip and a birthday gift for Rosalind. But Julie is disturbed by unexplained noise, while her nervous parents’ memories of her childhood visits there include both bad and good. A poignant story of love, loss and memory.
Friday 23 January, 11pm, BBC2

Harvey

“For years I’ve been smart. I recommend having fun.” James Stewart’s affable qualities are at the forefront of Henry Koster’s 1950 warm-hearted comedy. He plays Elwood P Dowd, a harmless drunkard who hangs out in bars with a 6-foot-tall invisible white rabbit/fairy spirit named Harvey. Or is his addiction to alcohol causing him hallucinations? The townspeople either keep their distance from him or play games with him, but his sister Vita (a terribly confused Josephine Hall) is at the end of her rope. Despite his potential mental health issues, Elwood’s spirit of enjoying all that life has to offer is a compelling one.
Sunday, January 18, 11 a.m., Movie 4

Charade

She may be half his age, but Audrey Hepburn’s partnership with Cary Grant in this 1963 crime thriller was almost perfect in Paris. Experts in quick wit and effortless romance, they navigate Stanley Donen’s thriller, set in the French capital, about a widow (Hepburn), her recently murdered husband who stole $25,000, and the bad guys who want to know his whereabouts. Grant is the helpful stranger with secrets of his own. Donen, a veteran of the MGM musical, keeps things colorful despite the peril-laden plot.
Sunday, January 18, at 1.10 pm, Talking Pictures TV

Polite society

Nida Mansour, creator of We Are Lady Parts, has brought that show’s edgy punk energy to her first feature film, a thrilling comedy. Priya Kansara is Riya, a British Muslim martial arts fanatic who dreams of becoming a stunt performer. Her elder sister, Leena (Ritu Arya), has dropped out of art school and somehow attracts the attention of wealthy, qualified geneticist Salim (Akshaye Khanna). Terrified that Lina will abandon her artistic dreams for the sake of an arranged marriage, Raya plans sabotage. Can she find anything wrong with Salem – or is this just a bad case of sibling jealousy?
Wednesday, January 21, 9 p.m., Movie 4

kindle

Five male buddies in their late teens get together for the summer, but their time together is more than just partying and shooting the breeze. Sid George Sumner is terminally ill, so he arranges a ritual bonfire to celebrate their friendship and commemorate his death. Conor O’Hara’s drama has an inherent sadness to it, but it skillfully avoids the maudlin as the boys deal with impending death in their own different ways, most sadly in Sid’s blossoming relationship with Lily, played by Mia McKenna-Bruce.
Thursday 22 January, 11:30pm, BBC 3

Toxic avenger

In 1984, Troma Entertainment, a company that brought low-budget gory comedies to audiences, produced an eco-horror film that had a surprisingly long afterlife — three sequels, an animated series, comic books, and even a musical. And now comes the indescribably ridiculous remake of Macon Blair. Peter Dinklage stars as Winston Goose, a gentle chemical plant janitor, who transforms into a super-powered green warrior against his company’s questionable health and safety policies after being thrown into a pool of foul fluid. A movie with a lot of guts…and brains and blood.
Thursday, January 22, at 2 a.m., premiere on Sky Cinema

revenge

Substance director Coralie Fargeat has a history of dramas about women’s bodies in the extreme. This 2017 film focuses on Jane, played by Matilda Lotz, whose married lover’s weekend in the desert turns into a nightmare when his “buddies” show up. She was sexually assaulted, thrown off a cliff and hung from a tree, almost survived and then took the titular revenge. Lutz makes an impressive transformation from trophy lady to angel of death, as the film’s message of feminist empowerment has to compete with its visceral thrills.
Friday 23 January, 11.10pm, Legend Extra