Welcome back to the UK Film Club Podcast. This episode, we’ve got a slate of the latest film reviews that promises to be as emotional as it is exhilarating.

First, it’s a tale of marital warfare, but with a British comedic twist. Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman face off in the divorce drama The Roses. Is this film a worthy successor to the genre, or does it pull its punches? Expect a lively discussion on whether a film about a disastrous divorce can be both funny and poignant.

From the past to a bleak, alternate future, we then take on the gritty and punishing new Stephen King adaptation, The Long Walk. We'll discuss how director Francis Lawrence brings the terrifyingly simple premise of King's novel to the screen, exploring the psychological horror of a state-sanctioned death race.

It’s a moment we’ve all been waiting for (and perhaps dreading): the final curtain call for one of Britain’s most beloved institutions. We’re delving into the highly anticipated Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. Does Julian Fellowes’s swan song for the Crawley clan deliver the satisfying conclusion fans have been craving?

We also put on our boxing gloves for Sean Ellis’s latest, The Cut. This isn't your typical sports film. Orlando Bloom delivers a transformative, physically demanding performance as a boxer in his final fight.

We're talking about the documentary Dreaming of You: The Story of the Coral, a nostalgic look at the Merseyside band that injected a jolt of psychedelic rock into the early 2000s indie scene. We’ll also give our verdict on the star-studded crime-comedy Bad Man (2025) starring Seann William Scott and Johnny Simmons, and we’ll weigh in on the latest rockumentary about Fun Lovin' Criminals drummer Frank Benbini - To Be Frank.

Our film critics shine a spotlight on five independent films:

• Holo: A stunning sci-fi short
• The Healer: A well-acted drama
• What Tomorrow Brings: A heartbreakingly real family drama about two young sisters left to fend for themselves
• Pickle Vision: The weird, wild, and wonderful experimental short
• Strangers Invitation: A slick vampire feature film

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