Paid for contentJune cinema highlights with Jenny Leask

With the June film schedule just getting underway, Shetland Arts’ cinema programmer Jenny Leask shares her thoughts on what’s coming up this month.

Jenny has been working with Shetland Arts as cinema programmer for six years, having previously worked at cinemas in Edinburgh and for the Edinburgh International Film Festival since the mid-1990s.

She enjoys the challenge of putting together the cinema programme every month, making sure to include a wide variety of blockbusters, family films and smaller, independent films, trying to ensure everyone can find something for them.

“Get ready to dive into a timeless tale of love, courage and enchantment in the highly anticipated new live action from Disney The Little Mermaid! Ariel is a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure, particularly to find out more about the world beyond the sea… Also in the programme for children and families this month is My Fairy Troublemaker, an endearing, colourful and vibrant animation which follows a cheeky fairy who gets lost in the human world. Brothers Mario and Luigi are making a return to our screens in The Super Mario Bros Movie as they try to save a captured princess and prevent the powerful Bowser from conquering the world.

One superhero makes their debut as another makes their return – the long-awaited DC adventure The Flash stars Ezra Miller as fastest-man-alive Barry Allen, who uses his super speed to change the past, but his attempt to save his family creates a world without superheroes, forcing him to race for his life in order to save the future. Meanwhile, Miles Morales returns in Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse, an epic animated adventure that will transport Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People.

Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ’90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new faction of Transformer – the Maximals. Also going on an adventure across the world, we have Book Club: The Next Chapter, the entertaining sequel to the 2018 hit starring Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen as four best friends taking their book club to Italy for the fun girls’ trip they never had.

If you’re seeking a thrill, we have plenty of that for you, too! Missing is an inventive and gripping thriller following a daughter who uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her missing mother before it’s too late. Joaquin Phoenix stars in Beau is Not Afraid as a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man who confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odyssey back home following the sudden death of his mother. And if that’s not enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, The Boogeyman is a terrifying new adaptation of the short story by Stephen King.

Finally, we have a number of inspiring and enlightening films in the line-up – A Thousand and One is a heart-wrenching portrait of perseverance in the face of systemic inequity, beautifully observed and with superb performances. Reality is a snapshot of recent US history which tells the incredible true story of a young woman who stirred up a media storm when she leaked a classified report to the press. The Last Rider is the unbelievable story of cyclist Greg LeMond, who came back from the brink of death after a hunting accident to win the closest race in the history of the Tour de France.

Explore June’s films and book tickets on the Shetland Arts website, pop into Mareel or give the box office a call on 01595 745500.

Cheap day tickets (£5.50) are available for all films on a Tuesday, during the day on Wednesday/Thursday and on Saturday/Sunday mornings, under 16s tickets are £5.50 all week. For all ticket prices (£5.50 – £10) see the Shetland Arts website.