PREVIEW: No Ordinary Heist (2026 Film) - Starring Eddie Marsan, Éanna Hardwicke, Michelle Fairley, and Eva Birthistle

Preview by Jon Donnis

No Ordinary Heist  is on its way this spring, with Epic Pictures Group set to release the thriller across North America. It arrives in select cinemas on April 24, 2026, before moving quickly onto digital video-on-demand platforms on April 28, 2026, which means it will not be long before audiences can catch up with it either way.

Directed by Colin McIvor, who co-wrote the screenplay with Aisling Corristine, the film takes its cue from the real-life Northern Bank robbery. That alone makes it one to keep an eye on, especially given how it frames the story through two bank employees who are already feuding before everything escalates. Their situation takes a sharp turn when criminals kidnap their families and force them into carrying out what becomes Ireland's largest bank robbery. It is a setup that naturally raises questions about how that tension between them plays out under pressure.

The cast brings together Eddie Marsan, Éanna Hardwicke, Michelle Fairley, and Eva Birthistle, with the production led by Ruth Carter, Damon Lane, and Johanna Hogan. With that mix of talent in front of and behind the camera, it feels like a project that will rely heavily on its performances to carry the weight of the story.

At this stage, it is the combination of the real-life inspiration and that central dynamic between the two leads that stands out most. It will be interesting to see how closely the film leans into the events that inspired it, and how it builds the tension around the situation they are forced into.

With the release date not far off, this is one I am looking forward to seeing when it arrives. I will be watching it as soon as it becomes available and will follow up with a full review after its release.

Coming to Apple TV on April 28th - https://apple.co/419iyTB

REVIEW: Roofman (2025 Film) - Starring Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple and Peter Dinklage

Review by Jon Donnis

"Roofman" is one of those stories that almost sounds too bizarre to be true. Directed by Derek Cianfrance, it tells the tale of Jeffrey Manchester, an ex-soldier turned roof-climbing burglar who once hid inside a Toys "R" Us for half a year without anyone noticing. On paper, it sounds like a madcap heist comedy, but what unfolds on screen is far more complex, sitting somewhere between tragedy, absurdity and a strangely touching love story.

Channing Tatum gives one of his most grounded performances to date as Manchester, a man whose crimes seem less driven by greed than by desperation and loneliness. Cianfrance, known for intimate dramas like Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, brings that same raw emotional style here. His camera lingers on quiet, mundane details, making even the sight of Tatum brushing his teeth in a toy store feel oddly human. It's funny, yes, but never cartoonish.

The film's strongest stretch comes during the Toys "R" Us sequence. Manchester's life among dolls, bicycles and baby monitors becomes a sort of twisted domestic fantasy, half survival story, half suburban dream. His relationship with Leigh, played by Kirsten Dunst, is handled with tenderness. She brings warmth to what could have been a throwaway role, grounding the film's stranger moments in something recognisably real. When the romance blossoms, it's oddly sweet, even though the audience knows it's built on lies.

There's also excellent support from LaKeith Stanfield as Steve, Manchester's pragmatic old army mate, and Peter Dinklage as the weary store manager Mitch. Dinklage, in particular, adds a dry sense of humour that cuts through the film's more sentimental edges.

The problem is that once Manchester's life outside the store takes over, the story begins to sag. The pace slows, the tone darkens, and the tension that once made the film so compelling slips away. The final act feels heavier, more procedural, and less inspired than the early scenes. Cianfrance's interest in emotional fallout overtakes the playfulness that made the premise so unique.

And despite the film being sold as a crime comedy, the laughs are rare. It's more melancholy than madcap, often reflecting on isolation, regret and the longing to belong. That's not a flaw so much as a mismatch of tone between marketing and reality, but some viewers might be caught off guard.

Still, "Roofman" is an engaging, original take on the true-crime genre. It's stylish, well-acted, and deeply human. Tatum's performance captures both the absurdity and sadness of a man trying to rebuild his life inside a toy shop, while Dunst provides the heart that keeps it from collapsing under its own weirdness.

It loses some magic once the fluorescent lights of the store fade, but as a character study, it lingers. "Roofman" may not be the laugh-out-loud caper its trailers promise, yet it offers something better: a bittersweet glimpse at a man trapped between redemption and self-destruction.

A flawed but fascinating piece of storytelling. I'd give Roofman a solid 7 out of 10.

Out now on Digital

Apple TV - https://apple.co/49j0ITw

PREVIEW: Bad Boy (2025 Film) The Fight Beyond the Ring

Preview by Jon Donnis

Back in 2006, Britain watched one of the most audacious crimes in its history unfold. Armed men raided the Securitas depot in Tonbridge and made off with £53 million in cash. Dozens were pulled in for questioning. Among them was Jeremy Bailey, a fighter from Basingstoke already carrying the nickname "Bad Boy." He was eventually cleared after years of trials and interrogations, but the association never really left him.

That's the backdrop for Bad Boy, a new documentary from Terry Stone and Richard Turner. Rather than reheating the details of the heist, the film digs into Bailey's story, a messy mix of crime, sport, and survival. Born into trouble, homeless at sixteen, he found purpose in prize fighting and clawed his way up to become an MMA and kickboxing champion. Alongside Bailey's own words are contributions from his lawyer, UFC veteran Michael Bisping, and Stone himself, each shedding light on how the case and its fallout shaped him.

What makes the film intriguing is the way it moves between worlds. Bailey's time working security in the '90s rave scene, his criminal connections, the endless suspicion around the heist, all sit alongside his career in combat sports and his work building a gym in Basingstoke. It's not a neat redemption tale. It's the portrait of someone still fighting, both for titles and for a reputation that refuses to shift.

Bad Boy lands in select UK cinemas on 17 October, before heading to digital platforms on 20 October via Miracle Media. It looks less like a true-crime retread and more like a character study of a man who never fully escaped the shadow of Britain's biggest cash robbery.