The Mormons Are Coming; Sex on Screen; Abbott Elementary

“Everyone we meet is lovely – gentle, kind, sincere. It is hard not to warm to them each individually, and generally to a faith that chose not to protest about The Book of Mormon musical. And yet. To an atheist especially, which I am, there is something so unsettling about the ranks of shining faces beaming atop crisp white shirts and black ties or modest dresses awaiting instruction on how to persuade people to their way of thinking.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“It was hard not to have mixed emotions as we followed trainee missionaries in the world’s most wholesome boot camp. On the one hand they were such pleasant individuals, so smiley to have found a path for their lives, what wasn’t to like about them dedicating their life to God and, er, recruitment? [But] the friendly image of the Mormon Church came undone when the Chorley centre’s president didn’t have a good answer to the church’s hardline intolerance of LGBT relations.”
James Jackson, The Times

“All the young missionaries were perfectly aware that their studied naivety made them easy targets for mockery, but they were armoured by their faith. And, really, it isn’t surprising to learn that their statistical chances of a good job and a happy marriage are far better than average. The truth is that, if it’s so odd in Britain now for young people to stay sober, respect their parents and believe in marrying for life, perhaps society does need saving from itself.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“It argues that generations of men – Harvey Weinstein being only one famous example – were able to spend decades harassing and abusing women with impunity partly because cinema normalised such behaviour. Proving that thesis seems a mammoth task, but in less than 90 minutes the documentary covers astonishing ground.”
Leila Latif, The Guardian

“Incongruously, as we heard about all the problematic aspects of these faked intimate acts, there were constant steamy clips flitting around in a free-form style. By the time we reached #MeToo the concept of the sex scene never seemed less sexy. Yet the film then concluded by swinging back fully in favour of erotic panting on screen — as long as it’s about female desire and absolutely nothing to do with the male gaze.”
James Jackson, The Times

“Abbott is a gift, a gem of all-family viewing that nonetheless retains an edge. You and your kids will be won over by a cast of contrasting teachers all trying their best in an impossible situation. And then once you’re won over you’ll be kept there by a few neat will-they-won’t-they relationships and a stream of rat-a-tat gags.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph

“It is sunny, joyful, and compassionate, a rare comedy nowadays that doesn’t use its subject matter or characters as punching bags. Instead the targets are modern internet culture, the absurdities of racial inequality and, of course, the American school system. It might be a nice show, but it still has bite.”
Emily Baker, The i