The Assessment to The Dark Knight: the seven best films to watch on TV this week

The Guardian

02-05-2025

In a post-climate disaster future where freedoms are restricted, Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) are visited by an official for seven days of close observation to check their suitability to have a child. But Alicia Vikander's Virginia isn't just there to ask them intrusive questions; day two starts with her having a tantrum as if she were a toddler. In Fleur Fortune's slippery psychological drama, the couple's attempt at parental role play – while never really knowing if Virginia is being herself or not – turns into a tense game of manipulation, even exploitation. Vikander is the film's chief delight as the murkily motivated visitor, but Olsen and Patel give as good as they get.
Thursday 8 May, Prime Video
Batman is an unusual comic-book hero in that he works best in the shadow of the villain. And in the second of Christopher Nolan's terrific Gotham trilogy (the other two bookend it over the bank holiday weekend) there are few bigger shadows than Heath Ledger's Joker. He is a magnetic, mischievous presence opposite Christian Bale's po-faced vigilante, quick with a quip or a spot of pencil-based violence. And in this dark morality play, even Aaron Eckhart's noble DA Harvey Dent must compromise his principles to get justice.
Sunday 4 May, 9pm, ITV2
It took him three years to shoot and led to his bankruptcy, but Jacques Tati's 1967 film represents the high point of his comedic style – physical, satirical and mostly wordless. It's set in an ultra-modern Parisian quartier of gleaming steel, glass and traffic that so befuddles Tati's visiting Monsieur Hulot he immediately gets lost. Overwhelmingly detailed, there's always something interesting going on in the background of the identikit offices and doll's house-like flats – culminating in a glorious set piece in a half-finished restaurant. Saturday 3 May, 3.35pm, Talking Pictures TV
Robert De Niro solidified his reputation as the premier method actor of his generation with the Oscar-winning role of boxer Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese's 1980 biopic. It's a brutal but beautiful vision of a single-minded man deformed by jealousy, with De Niro piling on the muscle, then the pounds, as Jake's career rises and falls. Joe Pesci is superb as his exasperated brother/manager Joey, while Cathy Moriarty gets all the sympathy as Jake's wife, Vickie, who receives the brunt of his violent tendencies – world-beating in the ring, disastrous out of it.
Monday 5 May, 10.30pm, BBC Two
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Claire Tomalin's book about actor Nelly Ternan's secret relationship with Charles Dickens has been moulded into a nuanced drama by writer Abi Morgan and director Ralph Fiennes. Felicity Jones is wonderfully affecting as teenage innocent Nelly, who catches the eye of the celebrated author (Fiennes) and – in an uneasy mix of attraction and financial imperative – becomes his lover. A fascinating look at the star wattage of Dickens, but also the women who trailed silently in his wake.
Thursday 8 May, 10.10pm, BBC Four
This joyously tacky 1974 Spanish/Italian film is a rare instance of the continental zombie horror genre popping up in Britain. Filmed in the Peak District, though it's pretending to be the Lakes, Jorge Grau's chiller has corpses coming back to life thanks to a ministry of agriculture bug-killing ultrasonic radiation experiment. There's a pleasing clash of cultures amid the shuffling undead attacks, as young folk Edna (Cristina Galbó) and George (Ray Lovelock) fight prejudice from Arthur Kennedy's dismissive old Irish copper as well as the flesh-eating hordes.
Friday 9 May, 10.10pm, Talking Pictures TV
The irony of making the pleasing-on-the-eye Michael Fassbender wear a papier-mache head for most of the film is only one of the joys of this offbeat drama. Lenny Abrahamson's comic tale of musical integrity is inspired by the life of Chris Sievey and his character Frank Sidebottom. Domhnall Gleeson's pianist Jon joins the charismatic singer's avant garde psych-prog group (to the disgust of Maggie Gyllenhaal's synth player Clara) and tries to nudge them towards popularity. But there's a darkness behind Frank's mask that lends the caper a more serious face.
Friday 9 May, 2am, Film4