Neill Blomkamp

In District 9 (2009), Wikus van de Merwe treats the exclusion of aliens as another procedure to carry out. Sharlto Copley gives him the bustle and vanity of a minor official delighted to have authority. Blomkamp and co-writer Terri Tatchell let this officious man show how easily cruelty becomes part of the working day. This is the Blomkamp we rate: inventive, uncomfortable and attentive to the person doing the damage. When he assigns that damage to broader villains, the film gives us too easy an excuse to blame somebody else.

His move from visual effects into directing makes sense when we see how convincingly those creatures share the humans’ streets. Alive in Joburg (2005) supplied the basis for his feature debut, followed by the science fiction of Elysium (2013) and Chappie (2015). Experimental shorts through Oats Studios continued alongside the features. Gran Turismo (2023) took him into sports drama, where physical speed could draw on those skills without requiring another alien.

The effects in District 9 work because we can stop thinking about them. We were moved more than we expected by the alien father-and-son scenes, because the creatures look solid enough for us to watch a family rather than inspect the animation. Copley makes Wikus just as convincing: fear grows without erasing his vanity. That gives the film someone worth watching even when there is little to like about him. Blomkamp is less sure of when to stop the gunfire; prolonged combat takes attention away from the smaller cruelties that made the film worth watching.

In Gran Turismo, cinematographer Jacques Jouffret puts cameras low beside the wheels and close to the tarmac, making the races feel fast and heavy. Blomkamp lets a car dissolve into a wire frame and draws the game’s racing line onto the real road, a useful way of showing how Jann Mardenborough reads a corner. Yet Zach Baylin and Jason Hall’s script takes him through the underdog story in the expected order, with a doubtful father, sceptical coach and rich rival. There is enough skill here to admire, but too much of the film feels like an advert for the car for us to recommend it. Start with District 9, and allow for a director who does not always know when there has been enough shooting.