An Oscars favourite and the Hugh Grant thriller everyone’s talking about – what to watch this week

MONDAY

Heretic, in cinemas nationwide

Two young missionaries become ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse when they knock on the door of the diabolical Mr. Reed. Trapped in his home, they must turn to their faith if they want to make it out alive. With Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East and Topher Grace.

TUESDAY

Freedom, Prime Video

Inspired by the daring exploits of a legendary outlaw in France in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Freedom follows the electrifying story of Bruno Sulak (Lucas Bravo). Known for his charm and finesse, he masterminded daring heists without firing a single shot. But as his infamy grew, so did the relentless pursuit of George Moréas (Yvan Attal), a tenacious police commissioner with a knack for outsmarting criminals. As Moréas closes in, Sulak’s escapes from prison become legendary, fuelled by a lust for freedom, and a burning desire for his lover Annie (Léa Luce Busato).

WEDNESDAY

The Holdovers, Sky Cinema Premiere/NOW TV

Set at Christmastime, you might write this off as just another festive flick but it’s holding strong as one of my favourite new releases of 2023. Directed by Alexander Payne, the story follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus over Christmastime to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them – a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa – and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Everything from the 70s-style aesthetic to the casting and soundtrack is pitch-perfect. I wish I could rewatch this one for the first time.

THURSDAY

The Day of the Jackal, Sky Atlantic/NOW TV

An unrivalled and highly elusive lone assassin, the Jackal (Eddie Redmayne), makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. But following his latest kill, he meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer who starts to track down the Jackal in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake. A fresh twist on Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 classic, the ten-part series also stars Lashana Lynch, Úrsula Corberó, Charles Dance and Richard Dormer.

FRIDAY

Bird, in cinemas nationwide

The latest film from Academy-Award® winner Andrea Arnold, Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski star alongside newcomers Nykiya Adams and Jason Buda in this wonderfully weird film that is full of surprises. Twelve-year-old Bailey lives with her single dad Bug and brother Hunter in a squat in North Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids and Bailey who is approaching puberty seeks attention and adventure elsewhere. Expect the unexpected with this one.

SATURDAY

My Old Ass, Prime Video

In this fresh coming-of-age story, an 18th-birthday mushroom trip brings free-spirited Elliott (Maisy Stella) face-to-face with her wisecracking 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza). But when Elliott’s “old ass” starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn’t do, Elliott realises she has to rethink everything about family, love, and what’s becoming a transformative summer.

SUNDAY

The Old Man Season 2, Disney+

Back for a second season, Jeff Bridges returns as Dan Chase, a former CIA operative who had to leave his cover behind when a nemesis from his time in Afghanistan, the warlord Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban), comes back to exact revenge. In season 2, Chase and former FBI Assistant Director Harold Harper (John Lithgow) set off on their most important mission to date – to recover Emily Chase (Alia Shawkat) after she is kidnapped by Hamzad.