Three films for serious fans

• Catch Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz in this Spanish drama directed by Pedro Almodóvar. In the film, Pain and Glory, Banderas plays a stuck filmmaker, struggling to move forward. He reflects on the choices he’s made in life as past and present come crashing down around him. Banderas’ performance sets up the film for Oscar honours. In recovering his past, Banderas’ character finds the urgent need to recount it, and in that need he also finds his salvation. In cinemas from 4 October.

• Dreams delayed are not dreams denied – unless prison time is in the mix. After serving 17 years in prison for a violent mistake made in his youth, a onceaspiring baseball player returns to his Bronx neighbourhood. Joe Magnaniello and Sofia Vegara star in Bottom of the 9th, a drama that sees Magnaniello’s character seek redemption, land a job assisting his former minor league baseball coach and possibly get a second chance to make his way back to Major League baseball. In cinemas from 4 October.

• A man struggling to find his feet in the crazy city of Gotham is driven to insanity. A clown by day and an aspiring stand-up comedian by night, Arthur Fleck takes a turn for the worse. In a fractured society and a cycle of apathy and cruelty, one decision changes the course of his existence and creates a chain reaction of escalating events. Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy. In cinemas from 4 October.