THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT (Cert 18, 112 mins, Warner Bros Home Entertainment, Horror/Thriller/Romance, available from August 23 on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, available from September 6 on DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £26.99/4K Ultra HD Blu-ray £34.99)
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ruairi O'Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard, Steve Coulter, Paul Wilson, Charlene Amoia, Ronnie Gene Blevins.
ON JULY 18 1981, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga) lead the fraught exorcism of 11-year-old David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard) with guidance from Father Gordon (Steve Coulter).
The boy's parents (Paul Wilson, Charlene Amoia) and older sister Debbie (Sarah Catherine Hook) watch helplessly as the darkness within David resists holy orders until Debbie's boyfriend Arne (Ruairi O'Connor) intervenes.
"Leave him alone and take me," Arne begs the demon.
Ed is the only person to witness the malevolent presence transfer into Arne's body. The paranormal investigator suffers a heart attack and by the time he regains consciousness, Arne has stabbed Debbie's boss Bruno (Ronnie Gene Blevins) 22 times.
The prosecution seeks the death penalty but Ed and Lorraine are convinced they can prove demonic possession.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It heavily dramatises disturbing true events for the purposes of jump-scare entertainment and fits snugly into the series mythology, including an obligatory glimpse into the Warrens' locked basement of dangerous artefacts.
Director Michael Chaves repeats many of the tricks of his debut feature, The Curse Of La Llorona, to embellish real-life courtroom drama with almost two hours of satanic rituals, flickering black candles and a re-animated corpse. A centrepiece sequence on a rippling water bed opts for a predictable pay-off rather than splashy originality.
Wilson and Farmiga reprise their roles as the Warrens, whose unerring love for each other – captured in golden-hued flashback – is more powerful than the Bible and holy water when it comes to banishing demons from whence they came.
Rating: 3/5
EXTINCT (Cert U, 83 mins, streaming from August 20 exclusively on Sky Cinema, Animation/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
Featuring the voices of: Adam DeVine, Rachel Bloom, Ken Jeong, Zazie Beetz, Jim Jefferies, Catherine O'Hara, Reggie Watts, Henry Winkler, Tom Hollander.
IN AUGUST 1835, Charles Darwin (voiced by Tom Hollander) approaches the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean on board HMS Beagle. The archipelago's indigenous species, Flummels, which looks like the fluffy cross-hybrid of a cat and a ring doughnut, perish in a volcanic eruption shortly before Darwin's expedition reaches shore.
Two Flummels, Op (Rachel Bloom) and her brother Ed (Adam DeVine), unknowingly survive this extinction event by tumbling into a flower, which permits time-travel between magical blooms in different eras.
The siblings emerge in present-day Shanghai where they join forces with a botanist's Pomeranian dog Clarance (Ken Jeong) and four temporally displaced creatures – dodo Dottie (Zazie Beetz), Tasmanian tiger Burnie (Jim Jefferies), Macrauchenia Alma (Catherine O'Hara) and playful Triceratops Hoss (Reggie Watts) – to travel back in time and warn Flummel "king of the hoop troop" Jepson (Henry Winkler) about impending doom.
Directed by David Silverman and co-directed by Raymond S Persi, Extinct is a slapdash computer-animated adventure that rifles excitedly through pages in history, including Shackleton's 1915 expedition, as dramatic tangents to Op and Ed's central quest.
Physical comedy involving an unfortunate blue-footed booby is largely forgotten after the opening credits and the surprise introduction of exaggerated cartoon villainy is closely aligned to the wide-eyed mania of white rabbit Snowball in The Secret Life Of Pets.
The script doesn't trouble itself greatly with the ripple effect of altering timelines unless it benefits a breathlessly staged action sequence. Two species mate (off screen, thankfully) in the film's closing minutes to give birth to a potential plotline for a sequel.
Rating: 3/5
NINE PERFECT STRANGERS (8 episodes, starts streaming from August 20 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, Drama/Romance)
NICOLE Kidman headlines the starry cast of an eight-part adaptation of the novel by Liane Moriarty, best-selling Australian author of Big Little Lies.
The health and wellness resort Tranquillum House run by mysterious Russian woman Masha (Kidman) offers an expensive 10-day mind and body transformation programme, which separates guests from their mobile phones to facilitate meaningful, unbroken connections with each other.
Nine people, mostly strangers, arrive at Tranquillum House desperate for Masha's magic touch. Among them are romance novelist Frances Welty (Melissa McCarthy), single mother Carmel Schneider (Regina Hall ) whose husband left her for a younger woman, and lottery winner Jessica Chandler (Samara Weaving).
Guests place their tired minds and bodies in the care of resort director Masha, completely unaware of the dark agenda beneath the retreat's glamorous facade.
THE CHAIR (6 episodes, streaming from August 20 exclusively on Netflix, Drama/Comedy/Romance)
SANDRA Oh, award-winning star of Killing Eve and Grey's Anatomy, headlines a six-part drama comedy, which addresses timely issues of gender equality and race.
Dr Ji-Yoon Kim (Oh) is elected as chair of the English department at Pembroke University, a prestigious seat of learning steeped in tradition. Her appointment coincides with a social media-fuelled scandal involving Professor Bill Dobson (Jay Duplass), which threatens the university's fine reputation.
As the first woman to chair the department, and one of the few BAME staff members, Ji-Yoon faces an uphill battle to exert control over the situation and win the confidence of older colleagues, who are stuck in their ways.
Ji-Yoon turns to Professor Joan Hambling (Holland Taylor) for support as she seeks to placate students' concerns and restore calm on campus.
TRUTH BE TOLD – SEASON 2 (8 episodes, streaming from August 23 exclusively on Apple TV+, Thriller/Romance)
OCTAVIA Spencer reprises her role as podcaster Poppy Parnell in the award-winning Apple TV+ anthology drama based on the novel by Kathleen Barber.
In the first series, Poppy's faith in the justice system was questioned when she investigated one of the cases featured in her podcast, convicted murderer Warren Cave (Aaron Paul), who claimed he had been framed for his crime.
In these eight episodes, Poppy meets grief-stricken widow Micah Keith (Kate Hudson), who is frustrated by the lack of clarity surrounding the recent death of her husband.
Moved by Micah's plight, Poppy agrees to devote her podcast to the case and airs explosive evidence that she claims was not considered by the police.
A media circus quickly engulfs Poppy and puts a strain on her marriage to husband Ingram (Michael Beach).
More troubling, renewed interest in the case exposes inconsistencies in Micah's story.
CLICKBAIT (8 episodes, streaming from August 25 exclusively on Netflix, Thriller/Romance)
FILMED on location in Melbourne, Clickbait is an eight-part thriller created by Tony Ayres and Christian White, which cranks up tension by exploring dark and dangerous impulses fuelled by the rise of social media.
Nick Brewer (Adrian Grenier) is a caring family man with a picture-perfect wife Sophie (Betty Gabriel), children and a loving sister Pia (Zoe Kazan).
Out of the blue, Nick is kidnapped and a video appears online showing the badly beaten husband holding a card, which reads: "I abuse women. At 5 million views, I die".
Detective Roshan Amir (Phoenix Raei) leads the police investigation as the view count steadily rises and feverish suspicion threatens to tear apart the Brewer family.
Wild rumours circulate about Nick and Sophie and Pia spearhead the crusade to clear his name and bring him safely home.
