The Railway Children Return

A sequel to the 1970 hit. This time it’s WWII and three kids have been transported out of Manchester into the countryside, where (a now much older) Jenny Agutter lies in wait to take them in. While messing about on the railway lines, they find an American deserter who is wanted by the military police.

Hopefully the last feature of the heatwave film festival, and a bit of a stinker to finish on. But it was this or Minions.

It’s mostly a tedious affair steeped in faux nostalgia, but it occasionally dabbles in race politics which is when it starts to get very grating and patronising.

Annoyingly it wants to have all the kids having to cosy up in a tiny bedroom because there’s no space but a good old British stiff-upper-lip always prevails, but it also wants the family to live in a ginormous house that looks good on camera (and possibly was in the earlier film? I can’t remember). You can’t have it both ways!

On the face of it this is a kid’s film but I can’t think of any kid that would be remotely interested in this.