Saturday
McQueen, BBC Two, 9.45pm
Born and raised in the London borough of Stratford, Lee Alexander McQueen was a tortured genius of working-class origins who challenged the fashion establishment with his catwalk shows influenced by death, depravity and violence. He was a defiantly original yet heartbreakingly fragile voice in a rarefied world that didn't always understand or appreciate his bold ambitions. Mesmerising documentary McQueen charts the rise of the openly gay trailblazer from his awkward teenage years, through an enduring friendship with mentor Isabella Blow and a controversial appointment as lead designer of Parisian fashion house Givenchy. His drug-fuelled battles with personal demons are illustrated in tearful confessions from close collaborators although there is a curious absence on-screen of ex-husband George Forsyth.
Sunday
Snowpiercer, Film 4, 9pm
Before he directed Parasite, the first foreign language film to win the Best Picture Oscar, Bong Joon-ho made his English language debut with the dark fantasy thriller Snowpiercer, adapted from a French graphic novel. Boasting an impressive cast including Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell and Parasite's Song Kang-ho, it's set in the future where a failed experiment to end global warming has turned the Earth into an uninhabitable frozen wasteland. What's left of humanity is confined to a high-speed train, where passengers are divided by class – but a revolution is afoot. The film only had a limited cinema release in the US, but was enough of a critical hit to lead to a spin-off TV series, which debuted earlier this year.
Monday
Dark River, Film 4, 11.15pm
Writer-director Clio Barnard follows up her award-winning second feature The Selfish Giant with a gritty portrait of a dysfunctional North Yorkshire family tearing itself apart. Alice (the excellent Ruth Wilson) left home many years ago, emotionally scarred by her suffering at the hands of her abusive father (Sean Bean). Out of the blue, Alice receives news that her father has died and the family's farm is on the verge of financial ruin. Her embittered brother Joe (Mark Stanley) shouldered the burden of caring for their father and he no longer has the energy to keep the farm trading. Alice returns and prepares to apply for sole tenancy of the business in the hope that she can turn the farm around. Joe deeply resents Alice after years of estrangement and the siblings clash violently for control of their home.
Tuesday
Departure, Film 4, 11.45pm
A mother and her teenage son struggle to maintain their close bond in writer-director Andrew Steggall's sensitively handled debut feature. Beatrice (Juliet Stevenson) and her 15-year-old only child Elliot (Alex Lawther) arrive at their French holiday home for the final time. The relationship between Beatrice and her husband Philip (Finbar Lynch) has deteriorated beyond repair and the family is selling the home. Elliot must help his mother box up personal belongings so they can be shipped back to England. In the midst of this emotional turmoil, Elliot develops a crush on handsome local boy Clement (Phenix Brossard), who has a terminally ill mother. Hormones rage and when Elliot finally plucks up the courage to declare his true feelings, he faces a wall of hurt and rejection.
Wednesday
The Madness Of King George, Film 4, 6.50pm
Alan Bennett adapted his own acclaimed play for the big screen, drawing on the true story of George III, who suffered from mental illness during his reign. As the monarch's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, his staff bend the rules in a bid to marginalise his influence on the country, leaving everyone wondering who's really in charge, while his physicians work to find a cure. It's a witty, touching and brilliantly acted insight into a puzzling period of British history, with many of the cast, including the wonderful Nigel Hawthorne, reprising their roles from the original National Theatre production.
Thursday
North By Northwest, BBC Four, 8pm
BBC Four’s new Thursday Night Cinema Club strand opens with this breathless 1959 adventure from Alfred Hitchcock, starring the eternally stylish Cary Grant as an advertising executive who is mistaken for a US intelligence agent by foreign thugs and drawn into all sorts of well-choreographed action scenes. James Mason, Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau co-star in this legendary thriller which features such memorable set pieces as Grant's escape from a menacing crop-duster plane and an edge-of-the-seat fight on Mount Rushmore. Great opening titles by Saul Bass and an unforgettable, atmospheric score by Bernard Herrmann also help to make this one of Hitchcock's best.
Friday
John Wick: Chapter 2, Channel 5, 10pm
Having exacted revenge for the death of his dog, assassin for hire John Wick (Keanu Reeves) heads home to enjoy his retirement. Out of the blue, Italian crime lord Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) visits John and implores him to assassinate his sister Gianna (Claudia Gerini). The crime lord holds a blood marker and John is obliged to carry out the hit in Rome, where Gianna is under the constant surveillance of her bodyguard Cassian (Common). As the plan comes to fruition, old allies turn against John and the hit man calls in a favour from The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), who presides over a network of homeless spies on the city streets. John Wick: Chapter 2 is a hyperviolent sequel to director Chad Stahelski's rollicking 2014 thriller, which takes the bruising fisticuffs to the next level.
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