What films are out in UK cinemas this week? Reviews from Tron: Ares to I Swear
Your weekly round-up of all the films currently showing in UK cinemas.
Three very different films arrive in UK cinemas this week – a franchise sci-fi blockbuster, a crowd-pleasing (and foul-mouthed) true story drama and a horror movie told from the perspective of a dog.
The first of those, of course, is Tron: Ares. The third entry in the futuristic series sees AI assets coming in to the real world for the first time, with Jared Leto starring as the titular programme in a cast that also includes Greta Lee, Evan Peters and Gillian Anderson.
The second is I Swear, a biographical drama about the life of Scottish Tourette's activist John Davidsonm, who has previously been the subject of a number of acclaimed documentaries including the landmark John's Not Mad from 1989.
And then there's Good Boy, the directorial debut of Ben Leonberg, which features arguably the finest canine performance of the year.
Our reviews for all three aforementioned films can be found below, and you can also find our lowdown on other major films released in UK cinemas in recent weeks – from One Battle After Another and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale to sports drama The Smashing Machine and Harris Dickinson's directorial debut Urchin.
Read on for your weekly round-up of all the films currently showing in UK cinemas.
What films are released in UK cinemas this week? 10th - 16th October
Tron: Ares
Artificial intelligence artfully enters our universe in this beautifully designed if slightly hollow third instalment in the Tron franchise, directed by Joachim Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil). Jared Leto is Ares, a sophisticated security program created by Evan Peters’s Dillinger, son to Gillian Anderson’s CEO. The military-grade Ares can exist in human form in the real world, but only for 29 minutes.
The race is on to find a "permanence code" to change this, with Dillinger’s rival techie Eve Kim (Greta Lee) also in the hunt. For sure the sight of Light Cycles, the digital motorbikes from the 1982 original, streaming through urban streets is thrilling. Aesthetically, the black-and-red design scheme and the Nine Inch Nails electronica score (despite not touching Daft Punk’s work on 2010’s Tron: Legacy) pleases.
Leto and Jodie Turner-Smith, as fellow A.I. Athena, also excel, and yes, the original star Jeff Bridges returns. But a seen-it-all-before AI plot and largely humourless script puts the brakes on this blockbuster becoming a classic. – Patrick Cremona
I Swear
Tourette’s Syndrome sufferer John Davidson became an unlikely TV personality in the late 1980s when, aged 16, he was the focus of John’s Not Mad, a BBC documentary examining the condition. This feelgood but inevitably foul-mouthed movie tells a deeper story, the teenager now in his 20s (played by Robert Aramayo) and trying to make his way in the adult world.
Still mocked and ridiculed by some, he finds more supportive figures in Maxine Peake’s straight-shooting mental health nurse and Peter Mullan’s avuncular caretaker boss. Writer/director Kirk Jones skilfully weaves comedy and drama together, never losing sight of the subject matter’s seriousness (Davidson, now a campaigner, is credited as a consultant), but occasionally lapses into a mawkishness that threatens to undermine the message.
Nevertheless, he benefits from a strong and sympathetic cast, with both Peake and Mullan close to the very top of their game. In Aramayo, however, he has a breakout star, an actor whose range of emotions provides the beating heart of a film destined to find a legion of fans. – Terry Staunton
Good Boy
American writer/director Ben Leonberg makes his dog Indy the star of this ingenious debut, a haunted-house flick told from a canine perspective. Indy, a sad-eyed retriever, plays the loyal pet following his master, Todd (Shane Jensen), to an old family cabin in the woods. Todd is seriously ill, but could the place be making him worse?
Because Indy does not understand human behaviour, we never quite know. The uncertainty only adds to the sense of foreboding, as our hero unearths telling details – scratches on a wooden door, a bad smell coming from the basement – that point to unearthly goings-on. Indy has won prizes for his expressive performance, and no wonder.
With the camera always following him, and human faces either blurred or hidden in darkness, it is impossible not to take his side, the sting of rejection landing harder than any of the scares. Even at 72 minutes, there is not quite enough material for a full feature, but it is a bold concept, beautifully done. – Matt Glasby
Best of the rest still showing in UK cinemas
The Smashing Machine
In a role not so far removed from his own experience as a one-time WWE wrestler, Dwayne Johnson gives a fine performance as real-life UFC competitor Mark Kerr in this sports-themed drama. Set between 1997 and 2000, Ultimate Fighting Championship – a bruising mixed martial arts combat sport – is taking off with the undefeated wrestler Kerr among its leading lights.
But as his addiction to painkilling opioids takes hold and arguments flare with girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt), his world begins to fall apart. Winner of the best director award at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, Benny Safdie (co-director of Uncut Gems) strives for realism rather than triumphalism here.
Authenticity is furthered by casting folk from the real UFC world, including the excellent Ryan Bader as Kerr’s friend/trainer Mark Coleman. While a spray-tanned Blunt and a wig-wearing Johnson are great, the low-key narrative never quite hits the dramatic heights, perhaps because Kerr’s own story isn’t exactly filled with fist-pumping moments. Sometimes too on-the-nose, it’s nevertheless a bold look at a misunderstood sport. – James Mottram
A House of Dynamite
White House officials face a terrifying race against time as an unprovoked nuclear missile is launched towards the US in this pulsating drama. It begins in the government's Situation Room, as Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) attempts to handle the situation and keep a lid on her emotions.
With the nerve-jangling action spanning just 18 minutes, the story then rewinds to replay events from other perspectives, including the Secretary of Defense (Jared Harris) and the President (Idris Elba). Directed with taut precision by Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker), working from a rock-solid script by former newsman Noah Oppenheim, this perfectly conveys the inherent dangers of nations and their nuclear arsenals, demonstrating that, ultimately, it's people who must make the key, fateful decisions.
With Elba and the rest of the rock-solid ensemble cast showing the very human side to this terrible dilemma, the film is every bit as impactful as BBC drama Threads and other nuclear dramas such as Fail Safe and Dr Strangelove. Powerful and thought-provoking. – James Mottram
Urchin
A young homeless man struggles with life on the London streets in an engaging, sometimes daring, directorial debut from British actor Harris Dickinson (Babygirl). Frank Dillane plays the self-destructive Mike, locked in a cycle of violence, drug addiction, jail time and halfway houses. Early on, he cruelly beats up a kindly man, leading to imprisonment, before a time-jump sees him back on the outside, working in a crummy hotel kitchen and then litter-picking, forging a tenuous bond with French traveller Andrea (Megan Northam).
Dillane occupies his character with impressive, convincing skill: charismatic and charming one minute, unlikeable and selfish the next. Backstory is minimal, while Dickinson (who cameos as an opportunistic rough sleeper) only skims the byzantine social and legal issues faced by those trying to get off the streets.
Rather, in a welcome push away from British social realism, he takes a more expressionistic path, realising Mike’s myriad mental health problems through some unusual visual choices. A striking character portrait. – James Mottram
One Battle After Another
This terrific film from Paul Thomas Anderson is loosely based on Thomas Pynchon's 1990 novel Vineland. Rather than a straight adaptation, the auteur expertly borrows elements and crafts them into something his own, keeping the book's rebellious spirit, absurdist comic tone and thematic weight intact.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Bob Ferguson, a former member of resistance group the French 75, now completely sapped of his revolutionary spirit. But when his old nemesis (Sean Penn in sensationally odious form) re-emerges, Bob must rediscover his fight so he can protect his teenage daughter (Chase Infiniti, a revelation).
The resulting chase is thrilling, uproarious and perfectly paced, with DiCaprio excelling as a frustrated layabout thrust back into the fold. Anderson stages the film's set pieces – including a mesmerising car chase – in unpredictable, inventive ways, with Jonny Greenwood's frantic, piano-led score the perfect complement.
The film feels urgent and timely, tapping into contemporary themes from the USA's barbaric treatment of immigrants to the growing prevalence of extremist ideologies among people with influence, but there's also a dash of hope and poignancy. Anderson's choice to put a touching father/daughter relationship front and centre amid the thrills gives his masterful film undeniable emotional heft. – Patrick Cremona
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
In aiming to wrap up one of British popular culture’s most endearing franchises, this slightly muted but still warm-feeling movie has its work cut out. Thankfully it holds back on gushing sentimentality, instead introducing some fun new characters, including Alessandro Nivola’s suave American, Gus Sambrook and the ultra-pompous local Sir Hector Moreland (Simon Russell Beale).
There’s also an encounter with real-life playwright Noël Coward (Arty Froushan), who becomes the toast of Downton after a visit. Director Simon Curtis, who also helmed 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, doesn’t spare the horses when it comes the requisite glamour, and the costumes by Anna Robbins all look glorious too.
As it should, there are nods to past characters – including Violet Crawley, played by the late, great Maggie Smith – although the nostalgia isn’t entirely tear-stained. It would be unfair to claim this closing film concludes on a whimper, but neither is it quite the grand finale the title would have us believe. More like a pleasant stroll with characters you know and love. – James Mottram
- Read our full Downton Abbey: A New Era review
- Read our interview with creator Julian Fellowes and the cast
The Long Walk
The American Dream of getting rich quickly is given a macabre twist in this searing, yet thoughtful adaptation of Stephen King’s first novel, published in 1979 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Set 19 years after a crippling war, it posits a United States under totalitarian rule where national pride is inspired via a televised cross-country walking competition between 50 young men, representing each US state.
The winner is promised wish-fulfilling riches, but there is no finishing line, no rest breaks and anyone not keeping up with the pace will receive three warnings, then instant execution. Even stopping to tie a shoelace could be fatal. Petty differences and antagonism gradually give way to exhaustion, delirium and even illumination as the participants strive to be the last man standing, all under the baleful gaze of the merciless Major (an almost unrecognisable Mark Hamill).
Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) and David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus) give marvellous performances as the initial rivals whose evolving friendship is the beating heart of an often agonising horror, directed by Francis Lawrence – who knows his way around survival-of-the-fittest dystopia, with three Hunger Games films to his name. – Jeremy Aspinall
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
The hapless heavy-metal heroes of 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap are back in business for one last hurrah, in a belated sequel that’s heavy on nostalgia but light on new gags. Having not spoken to one another in 15 years, the band (Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer) is persuaded to reconvene for another gig, but past acrimony is never far from the surface.
Although the full creative team from the earlier movie is in place (with a screenplay by the three main actors and director Rob Reiner), this fresh chapter only rarely hits the heights of what came before. It’s still fairly funny, if lacking the sharpness and full-on charm that fans might be hoping for.
There’s strong support from Brits Kerry Godliman, as the band’s new manager, and Chris Addison as a Simon Cowell-like music biz executive, so it’s a pity when headline-grabbing cameos by Paul McCartney and Elton John burst the bubble of the supposedly fictional premise. There’s still a good time to be had, but the beloved characters deserve a better film than this. – Terry Staunton
The Conjuring: Last Rites
The proposed final instalment in the Conjuring universe doesn’t break any new ground in the demonic-possession arena, but it is an enjoyable enough old-school spine-tingler. Based on the true story of the Smurl family, who moved into a haunted house in Pennsylvania in 1973, this sees paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) reluctantly going in to help, only to discover links to an earlier 1964 case.
Cue night-time levitation, menacing objects and unexpected leaps from the dark, plus the involvement of the pair's daughter, Judy (Mia Tomlinson). Michael Chaves (The Nun II) competently directs the clichéd chills with a smooth efficiency, utilising sudden ghostly images and loud bangs to deliver sufficient push-button scares.
However, the anchor for all the spooky goings-on remains Wilson and Farmiga, whose warm chemistry ensures we care despite the tried-and-true theatrics that litter the finale. While Last Rites hardly matches the pioneering nightmare spirit of the original film, it delivers enough confident creepiness to entertain. – Alan Jones
The Roses
Can national treasures be nasty? Are beloved public figures capable of convincing us they’re cruel?
The anatomy of a marriage disintegrating into a sea of vitriol and two-way psychological torture is undeniably grim subject matter, a highwire act for a filmmaker who, if the job’s done properly and honestly, leaves little room for the audience to root for either protagonist.
And therein lies the flaw with The Roses; its leads are far too likeable in everyday life to take viewers into a world where bitterness, recrimination and malice reign.
Both Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch have entries on their CVs where a film role has required them to be unsavoury types, yet here director Jay Roach seems to begin the tale with a Year Zero premise of characters who are charming and quick-witted, a filmic reflection of the stars’ familiar personalities from chat shows and awards ceremonies.
Perhaps the intention is to heighten the shock value when the lovebirds subsequently turn on each other, but the viciousness is diluted by polite slapstick and a few too many zappy one-liners. – Terry Staunton
Caught Stealing
After his divisive 2022 film The Whale, Darren Aronofsky returns with the most potentially commercial film of his career. It’s certainly the most thrilling. As the title suggests, Caught Stealing is a crime yarn, although theft is the least of the misdemeanours on show here. Set in 1998, in New York’s Lower East Side, this is a story where bruises flourish and bodies pile up. Back in a similar geographical terrain to Aronofsky’s first two movies, Pi and Requiem for a Dream, it has all the hallmarks of a cult 90s indie.
Adapted by Charlie Huston from his own novel, the central figure is Hank Thompson (Austin Butler), a former baseball prodigy now working in a bar run by Griffin Dunne’s owner Paul. The reason he no longer plays won’t become clear immediately, but he regularly speaks on the phone to his baseball-loving mother back in Patterson, California (“Go Giants!” they repeatedly say, nodding to their shared passion for the San Francisco Giants). He’s now facing an existence without the sport that drove him for so long. – James Mottram
Weapons
Writer/director Zach Cregger follows his 2022 hit Barbarian with this unnerving and thunderously entertaining horror epic. It follows events in the aftermath of a deeply troubling incident in a suburban US town: one night, without explanation, all but one student in the third-grade class of a new teacher (Julia Garner) vanished from their homes. Divulging further plot details would severely dampen the viewing experience.
The non-linear structure employed by Cregger – we follow events from six unique perspectives – allows the film to explore the complex ways people's psyches are affected by broken communities, traumatic events and surrounding public storms. Each chapter gradually teases more information about the bizarre events engulfing the town, resulting in a propulsive, perfectly paced thriller that leaves things tantalisingly mysterious until a reveal that will appeal to fans of 2024's Longlegs.
There are frights aplenty, with Cregger tapping into nightmarish, fairy tale-esque imagery, but also evidence of the director's comedic roots. The deft way in which he juggles those tones makes Weapons a refreshing triumph. – Patrick Cremona
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
