Sunlight (15)
Directed by Claire Dix
★★★

E

A FORMER addict decides to take his terminally ill best friend and sponsor on one last hurrah across Dublin in a bid to persuade him to choose life in Claire Dix’s touching yet heartbreaking debut fiction feature.

Written by Ailbhe Keogan (Joyride), the film follows Leon (Barry Ward) as he arrives at Iver’s (Liam Carney) home to find him with a plastic bag over his head as Maria (Maureen Beattie), a medic, supervises. Iver has decided to leave his pain-ridden existence on his own terms.

A horrified Leon talks Iver into being taken to his favourite haunts before making the final decision, while Maria voices her objections, saying he is too ill to be wheel-chaired around the city.

Both humourous and heartwrenching, the film examines a person’s right to have an assisted death, the difficulties of making that decision, along with their loved ones’ struggle to accept it.

Leon, who was saved by Iver who got him clean, fights Maria at every turn in an attempt to give Iver the best day of his life.

Reminiscent of  Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s Untouchable, it is driven by outstanding performances by Ward and Carney which elicit sympathy for both their characters.

As the film progresses, Iver, who is on oxygen, finds it harder and more painful to breathe which Leon refuses to accept. The question is will he succeed? And should he?

Sunlight ends on a surprisingly cathartic but bittersweet note.

Out in cinemas today.

You Can Live Forever (15)
Directed by Mark Slutsky and Sarah Watts
★★★

A LESBIAN teen is sent to live with her devout relatives at a Jehova’s Witness community where she falls for a Witness girl in this sensitive and soulful coming-of-age drama which explores sexual orientation and the constraints of religious faith.

The story reflects co-director and co-writer Sarah Watts’s own life growing up gay in a Jehovah’s Witness community.

It is anchored by excellent performances from Anwen O’Driscoll as Jaime, the outsider, and June Laporte as Marike, the daughter of a prominent Witness elder, who embark on a secret forbidden romance.

It transpires that both their mothers were kicked out of the community for rejecting “the truth.”

While the liberal Jaime does not believe in the ways of Jehovah, Marike is a devout follower, although she is happy to furtively flout the rules until she is found out.

The film examines the intransigence of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the power and control the community wields on its members. It paints a fascinating yet disturbing picture.

Out in cinemas and on online platforms from today.

Inland (15)
Directed by Fridtjof Ryder
★★

A TROUBLED young man returns to his home town in rural England following the mysterious disappearance of his mother in this part-thriller part-modern folktale and surreal debut feature by Fridtjof Ryder.

Its strange visuals and creepy voice-over, which aim to provide an air of mystique and eerie tone to the proceedings, miss the mark.

Shot in Gloucester, it seems to emulate David Lynch’s work, particularly a weird scene in a bar with its red tables and lamps, but it lacks his panache, his intrigue and his taste for the absurd.

However it does feature sterling performances from newcomer Rory Alexander as the man and Mark Rylance who never disappoints.

A case of style over substance. If weird and wacky is what you want, then I would just rewatch Lynch’s films.

Out in cinemas today.

Greatest Days (12A)
Directed by Coky Giedroyc
★★

WHILE musical band films are a bit hit and miss, this one featuring Take That’s greatest hits sadly is more of the latter.

Based on their musical stage show The Band, it centres on five teenage schoolgirls from Lancashire and how their lives were changed in 1993 after seeing the boys in concert.

Twenty-five years later they meet up again when one of them wins four tickets on a local radio show to see the lads on their reunion tour in Athens. Mayhem ensues as the action flashes back and forth to the past.

Directed by Coky Giedroyc and written by Tim Firth, who wrote the original stage show, this is corny and full of cheesy dialogue with over-the-top all-singing and dancing numbers and members of the boy band popping out of kitchen units.

This is a love letter to female friendship and the band’s fans but I cannot help thinking they deserved better.

Out in cinemas today.