The story, family-focused and non-political, about one boy’s journey to come to terms with the 2001 loss of his father in the Twin Towers, promises a moving journey with a unique point of view.

Newcomer Horn gives a fierce performance as Oscar, a young New Yorker somewhere on the autism spectrum (“they did tests, they were inconclusive” he says at one point) who’s fond of his father’s (Hanks) mysterious treasure trails they call ‘reconnaissance expeditions’. After 9/11, Oscar finds a key in his dad’s closet and embarks on a cross-Manhattan quest to determine what it opens.

Horn is superb; Oscar’s inability to confront what has happened and his fraught emotions are frankly presented, and his logical response to life’s illogic is palpable and empathetic. Max Von Sydow, as a mute older man who joins the young man’s driven detective work, brings some welcome comic relief, too.

As successful as Daldry is in presenting Oscar’s personal journey, he is less so with the journey at the film’s core – of a son and mother (Sandra Bullock) re-connecting. A third act reveal is deftly handled, and there are plenty of poignant moments – the key’s identity especially – but the move towards mawkish melodrama robs what could have been a most unique drama of some of its identity.

By Alasdair Morton

Good for: Thomas Horn’s stunning portrayal of a difficult role; he’s the film’s highlight.

Starring: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn | 12A | 130mins

TRAILER:

Also out this week:

GHOST RIDER – SPIRIT  OF VENGEANCE 3D

Nicolas Cage’s first outing as the Ghost Rider – a motorbike stunt man brought back from the dead to carry out CGI action scenes – was a critical and commercial flop, so we’re hoping for more grit and gusto this time around. We can only hope.

On general release from Fri, Feb 17

THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH

Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski‘s (My Summer Of Love, which made a star of Emily Blunt) third English-language film, and most mainstream to date, stars Ethan Hawke as Tom, a college professor who flees to Paris after a scandal in the US costs him his job. There, he meets Kristin Scott Thomas’s Margit, a mysterious – and possibly dangerous – widow.

On general release from Feb 17.