THIS week sees the premiere of Afraid (or, possibly AfrAId if you like a stylised title), a new offering from Blumhouse Productions, this time with a big Sony Studios budget.

When a family chooses to allow their home to be the test subject for a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence system, they are initially thrilled by the capability and convenience on offer.

As the system learns their behaviours and secrets, however, it begins to take disturbing initiative to “improve” their lives… whether they like it or not.

Blumhouse have cornered the market in recent years for tightly wound, small-scale, high-concept horror, and have typically excelled in playing with the fears associated with advancing technology.

Expect minimal gore and maximum tension, along with serious questions about how much time you will allow your children access to their devices from now on.

Coming from just across the pond is the NZ comedy Bookworm.

Mildred (Nell Fisher) is a precocious and adventurous twelve-year-old, equally at home in her books or charting her own path in the wilderness.

When a freak toaster accident puts her mother in a coma, her estranged, American stage magician Dad Strawn Wise (Elijah Wood) re-enters her life to look after her, but Mildred has other plans.

Preoccupied with the rural legend of the “Canterbury Panther” she forces Strawn to take her on a camping expedition to obtain footage of the beast.

Let’s get this out of the way up front: this very much feels like a role reversal retread of Hunt for the Wilderpeople, this time with a hapless and ill equipped father struggling to keep up with a much more capable child.

That shouldn’t be taken in any way as a deterrent – this slightly dark comedy will undoubtedly revel in a humour all its own.

Much more difficult to describe is the indie horror-psycho-drama I Saw the TV Glow.

Ok, honestly, I feel like any attempt to explain this film’s premise might give me a stroke, because this is a bit of a twisted one.

On the surface the drama follows childhood friends as they connect and drift at varying times over the years, bonded by their shared love of a TV show.

When one of the friends tries to convince the other that the show is actually their reality, he begins to question his identity.

This is definitely something akin to an art-house picture, and one that is aiming for a very specific audience.

It is clearly well-crafted and the performances are compelling, but it will leave many average cinema-goers scratching their heads.

Similarly baffling in some ways, but at least with the appeal of being coarsely funny, is the “fictional origin story” of Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap.

This flick is this week’s difficult-to-find gem, but if you can track it down, and stomach some strong language and very heavy political agenda, you might find you’re in for a treat.

Kneecap are a group of lads from West Belfast who became known for their hip hop songs in which they used their native Irish tongue.

The band has an anarchic or punk spirit that prompts them to be very open about topics that tend to make conservative people very uncomfortable.

This self-titled film is not a genuine biography of their origin, but a satirical, fictionalised account that speaks frankly about political tensions in Northern Ireland.

If you could blend The Commitments with The Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night along with the Beastie Boys, it might come out a little bit like this.

Speaking of the Beatles, this week is also the release of Midas Man, a biopic of the famed music manager who brought the Fab Four to their fame, Brian Epstein.

Music bio’s are a pretty big sub-genre in film these days, and expect this one to come with the same level of polish in perfectly framed cinematography, flawless period costumes, and glossing over a fair few details of the real story in favour of highlighting the truly emotional beats.

Expect John, Paul, George and Ringo to feature heavily, but remember that he represented several other superstar talents who will need some screen time.

Epstein was a trailblazer in the music scene, who had a vision for The Beatles when even the band themselves did not.

His life was plagued with difficulties, however, stemming from the fact that he was a gay man living in England in an era when that needed to remain hidden.

I don’t consider it a “spoiler” to say that this will be a “triumphant tragedy”, in which his untimely death will leave a sense of heartache in the audience, but the finale will almost definitely be a celebration of his towering legacy.

By Lindsay HALL