MOST of this week’s releases will fly under the radar for most folk, built on moderate budgets and talented though lesser-known players, but there may well be something among these diverse picks that will pique your interest.

A remake of a 2022 Danish thriller by the same name, Speak No Evil looks to be a solid entry in the suspenseful, “terrorise the family” genre.

An American family (played by Scoot McNairy, Australia’s Mackenzie Davis and Aisling Franciosi) encounter an outgoing and gregarious couple while holidaying in Europe.

An invitation to their secluded holiday home turns sinister when the father (played by James McAvoy) begins to reveal his true colours.

If you’ve seen the trailer, unfortunately, you’ve seen the film and there will be no surprises in this one for you.

Director James Watkins is a fair hand at the suspense thriller, however, and McAvoy has yet to put in a bad performance in anything, even films that have turned out less than great.

Looking to bring in the families this week is Harold and the Purple Crayon, an adaptation or possibly sequel of a popular children’s book by Crockett Johnson.

In the book, Harold is an infant in possession of a magical crayon that brings to life whatever he draws.

The film finds Harold, now “all grown up” using the crayon to gain access to “the real world”, where the misadventures of a magical man-child will ensue.

Star Zachary Levi is building his career on this type – the good natured kid that never grows up – while co-star Zooey Deschanel has similarly become the go-to sceptical babysitter in these types of films.

The resulting film this time will be no doubt mostly inoffensive, but will not likely capture any genuine magic.

Australian offering Kid Snow looks to be a dark horse drama that probably won’t make waves at the cinema, but might well be winning some independent film awards in the near future.

Set in the sandy outback spaces of Western Australia in the ‘70s, the titular Kid Snow is a young boxer fighting for his brother’s travelling tent-show, struggling against the cycles that keep people imprisoned in regret.

This one’s for the grown-ups, appealing to almost the same kind of crowd that would be enticed to a travelling side-show in the first place.

Director Paul Goldman was responsible for one of the Aussie Gen-X gems in Suburban Mayhem and his latest effort looks to carry every bit of his brilliant visual style.

Another AI thriller drops this week in the form of Subservience, a film where the essential premise is “what if the crazy lady in Fatal Attraction was a robot?”

A struggling Dad (Michele Morrone) purchases a lifelike robot named Alice (Megan Fox) to assist at home while his wife battles an illness.

The simulant/android/robot begins to show signs that she wants to be part of the family, rather than serve the family, and is willing to kill to make it happen.

It feels a little unfair to be commenting on this one, since almost everything about this premise, the cast, the style and the themes is everything I don’t enjoy seeing at the movies.

But…I’m always happy to be wrong, and this one might surprise me.

I doubt it though.

By Lindsay HALL