Friyay!: What to watch

DRAMA

THE CONVERT (PG)

84 minutes, Netflix

At the complicated crossroads where race, religion, family ties, gender roles and sexuality meet, you will find the late Malaysian film-maker Yasmin Ahmad.

Titled Muallaf (which in Malay means "convert") when it was released in 2008, her fifth feature has only recently been added to Netflix. Several of her works - including Rabun (2002), Mukhsin (2007) and Talentime (2009), the last feature before her death from a stroke in the same year - were added a couple of years ago.

This could be because The Convert was controversial and played in Singapore before it was released in Malaysia, following edits for religious sensitivity.

The version on the streaming service seems to be free of cuts. Unfortunately, it is of mediocre image and sound quality - a fate that has also befallen some Singapore films on Netflix, such as the military comedy Army Daze (1996).

The Convert is brimming with humour and also sadness. Sisters Rohani and Rohana (played by real-life sisters Sharifah Amani and Sharifah Aleysha) opt for intellectual honesty in all their affairs. In a society not ready for women as smart and self-assured as they, their outspokenness carries a price.

ANIMATION/SCIENCE FICTION

LIGHTYEAR (NC16)

105 minutes, now showing

In this surprisingly poignant space-adventure spin-off of the Toy Story films (1995 to 2019), space ranger Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans) and his teammates are marooned on a planet filled with dangerous creatures.

Buzz tries to find a way back home with the help of fellow ranger Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba), but alien monster Zurg (James Brolin) appears, along with his powerful robot army.

In the Toy Story universe, this is the movie that inspired the production of the Buzz Lightyear action figure in the collection of the boy Andy.

The cliche in artsy space movies goes: You travel across the galaxy, only to find what you are looking for within yourself. This happens here, but you will not notice because of the tight storytelling.

A square-jawed male hero out of a fantasy genre, Evans' space ranger Buzz takes that inner journey. He even gets a therapy animal, the adorable robot cat Sox. Buzz and Sox make a fun Luke Skywalker-R2-D2 team, but Sox is better as he is also a highly empathetic life coach.

DOCUMENTARY

ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN (NC16)

119 minutes, streaming on HBO Go and showing at The Projector

Once an exclusive at indie cinema The Projector, this documentary has just been added to HBO Go.

Oscar-winning film-maker Morgan Neville (music documentary 20 Feet From Stardom, 2013) looks at the life and legacy of celebrity chef, writer and television host Anthony Bourdain, who ended his life by suicide in 2018.

Using clips from his travel and food shows such as No Reservations (2005 to 2012) and Parts Unknown (2013 to 2018), and interviews with friends like painter-musician John Lurie and chef David Chang, Neville paints a portrait of a man who seemed to have it all - a daughter, a new love, the adulation of fans, and the love and respect of his culinary peers.

The film contains a controversial use of a computer-generated voice-over made to sound like Bourdain.