Allo la France review – romance of French phone booths exposes funding cuts to rural services

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In an endearingly whimsical road trip documentary, Floriane Devigne takes calls from her interview subjects in the last remaining phone boxes dotted across rural France The humble telephone box, a souvenir from the days of analogue, can also be an intriguing cinematic locus. Floriane Devigne’s road trip documentary begins with such a relic: the last public phone booth in Paris, which also appears in Jacques Rivette’s mesmerising 1981 film Le Pont du Nord. Unlike their Instagrammable British counterparts, French phone boxes are usually painted in a demure grey and blend seamlessly with their surroundings. As it moves from the capital city to more remote areas, Devigne’s film observes the vanishing of a formerly essential utility as her cross-country odyssey sparkles with an endearing whimsicality. Instead of using talking heads, Devigne ducks into various phone boxes scattered across France, as she takes calls from her interview subjects. Stories of love and longing fill these unassum...
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The Life of Chuck review – unmoving Stephen King schmaltz

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Tom Hiddleston plays a man who might be the centre of the universe in a film of often effective parts that never really come together

As prestigious as it might sound to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes or the Golden Lion at Venice, the surest indicator of Oscar recognition has become victory at the far less fancy, far more mainstream Toronto film festival. There isn’t a jury-based award, instead there’s one decided by an audience vote and, far more often than not, their picks have lined up with those of the Academy.

Since 2008, only one People’s Choice award winner hasn’t then gone on to either take home or be nominated for the best picture Oscar, and while the picks haven’t always been the greatest (hello, Jojo Rabbit, Belfast and Three Billboards), they’ve indicated a broad, crowd-rousing appeal. Last year, despite predictions that Anora or Conclave might triumph, out of nowhere the far less buzzy, and, at that point, distribution-less Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck triumphed, a win that preceded a deal with awards-securing outfit Neon and, now, a confidently positioned early summer release.

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