ONCE UPON A TIME IN UGANDA 15

★★★★✩

OUT 5 SEPTEMBER CINEMAS

Hailed as ‘Africa’s Tarantino’, Isaac Nabwana is an action director unlike any other. Galvanised by the films of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, the former brick-maker began shooting low-budget fight films (notably Who Killed Captain Alex?) with just a camcorder and a ton of creativity at a small studio resourcefully run from his own home in a ghetto in Uganda. Insightful and involving, Cathryne Czubek’s excellent documentary captures the power of cinema not only to inspire, but also to unify communities making movies well beyond the mainstream.

THEATER CAMP 12A

Time to act…

★★★✩✩

OUT 25 AUGUST CINEMAS

Die-hard High School Musical fans and ‘gleeks’ will be exchanging showy high-fives while watching this warm but wobbly improv comedy mockumentary, tailor-made for grown-up theatre kids.

When Joan (Amy Sedaris) – the beloved owner of a kids’ summer theatre camp – is left in a coma after a seizure, the near-broke camp is plunged into crisis. Over-zealous instructors and BFFs Amos (a deliciously neurotic Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon, who co-directed) are left to battle Joan’s theatre-illiterate son Troy (the brotastic Jimmy Tatro), a wannabe Insta-business influencer keen to cash in on the camp’s assets. With foreclosure looming, can Amos and Rebecca-Diane’s earnest bio-musical tribute show, Still, save the day?

Full of ‘Let’s put the show on in the barn!’ energy, this sweetnatured satire is an expanded version of a hit YouTube short that Platt and Gordon devised with Noah Galvin (excellent here as a stage tech with a showstopping secret) and co-director Nick Lieberman. Unsurprisingly, it feels a bit overstretched at points, full of insider jokes about ‘tear stick’ cheaters who can’t do on-stage sobs and diva-ish tweens backstabbing for the best roles. You won’t find the glossy looks or high-end improv skills of am-dram parody classic Waiting for Guffman (2000) here. But Platt and Gordon’s comic sparring and some kid-fuelled heart-warming numbers help keep the show on the road.

THE VERDICT Cute, funny, but distinctly one note, this youth-theatre send-up puts the camp into summer camp.

LIE WITH ME 15

★★★✩✩

OUT 18 AUGUST CINEMAS

Returning to his provincial French hometown after a 35-year absence, novelist Stéphane (Guillaume De Tonquédec) encounters young executive Lucas (Victor Belmondo). Turns out Lucas is the son of Thomas (Julien De Saint Jean), with whom Stéphane shared an intense first love when they were both 17. Director Olivier Peyon’s drama is a detective story of sorts, which alternates between the two timelines – the summer of 1984 and the autumnal present. Though handsomely lensed, it leads the viewer on a somewhat familiar journey of healing and reconciliation.

BILLION DOLLAR HEIST PG

★★★✩✩

OUT NOW DIGITAL

Making The Great Train Robbery look like stealing penny chews from the corner shop, this documentary charts the cybercrime of the century. In 2016, tech-savvy hackers attempted to swindle $1 billion from the Bangladeshi Central Bank, a job so fiendishly plotted, the hackers had penetrated the computer system a year before striking. Interviewees including McMafia author Misha Glenny bring the expertise, while director Daniel Gordon (Australian Dream) keeps things accessible and informative. Conventionally told, but still an absorbing look at our increasing vulnerability to cyber-crime.

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL TBC

★★★★✩

OUT 8 SEPTEMBER DIGITAL

Nicolas delivers a potent blast of Cage rage in this budget thriller, co-starring Joel Kinnaman as his hapless straight man. When Kinnaman – billed as The Driver – is carjacked at gunpoint by The Passenger (Cage, operating at ‘100% sex’), the citizens of Nevada become collateral damage in the deadly game of cat-and-mouse that ensues. Cage knows what is expected and fully delivers, from bizarre monologues to colourful accent. Director Yuval Adler sensibly gives his stars room to do their thing while steering towards an endgame that’s both inevitable and unpredictable.