Five things for you to watch this week

REPTILE – NETFLIX

Benicio Del Toro and Justin Timberlake star in this noir thriller directed by music video stylist Grant Singer. Del Toro plays a world-weary, cynical New England cop whose values and perceptions are upended and pushed to their limits after he gets involved in a murder case that sends him down a dark road where nothing is quite as it seems and can no longer be trusted.

THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR – NETFLIX

Wes Anderson returns to the work of Roald Dahl for this first — in a planned four-part series of short film adaptations — of one of the writer’s most surprisingly optimistic and sweet tales. Using fourth-wallbreaking techniques that emphasise rather than hide the storytelling aspects of the source material, his short, sharp, characteristically quirky and stylised interpretation leaves plenty of room for the audience’s imagination. Featuring a star-studded cast including Ben Kingsley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel and Richard Ayoade, it’s an enjoyable kickoff to a series that proves Anderson’s particular style and eccentricities are well suited to Dahl’s off-centre black humour fables.

FLORA & SON – APPLE TV +

Eve Hewson stars as Flora, a young, struggling single mother in Dublin who takes up the guitar in an effort to improve her relationship with her surly son. With a little help from Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s ruggedly charming American online guitar teacher and a bit of soul-searching she finds a new purpose as an able songwriter and mostly better mother. Directed by Jon Cleary (Sing Street) it’s a syrupy but charming ode to the transformative power of music that has just enough sly Irish humour and heart to make you smile for its suitably short 90 minutes.

INFINITY POOL – RENT OR BUY FROM APPLE TV+

The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree when it comes to this violent horror directed by Brandon Cronenberg, son of the legendary David. Starring Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth, this creepy, vicious tale of a holiday starts in paradise and ends up in the bowels of hell. When a couple travel to a tropical resort looking for a relaxing escape, things take a nasty turn after a fatal accident reveals beneath the surface of the resort a terrifying world of sex, violence and depravity that will make their holiday one they won’t forget, if they manage to survive it.

LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF MUBI.COM

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Director Thom Andersen’s 169minute documentary from 2003 is a treat for movie lovers, using footage from thousands of films to show how the city of Los Angeles has been portrayed over the history of the medium with which it’s so deeply associated. It hasn’t all been sun and roses, though, and Andersen takes on the city’s less glamorous aspects and examines the ways in which the silver screen has been used to misrepresent LA to create unreasonable expectations for many arrivals looking to realise their starry-eyed dreams.