AS directors go, M. Night Shyamalan is usually worth showing up for. Give or take the odd After Earth and Last Airbender, The Sixth Sense and Split auteur is an ideas man and filmmaker driven by ingenuity. M

His latest - Old - may derive from a graphic novel - Sandcastle - by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters but could hardly be more up his street if it tried. The concept’s a corker and scope for twists vast.

As the title suggests, age is the name of the game here. Seniority is inevitable in the flow of life and wrinkles the great certainty for all not at home in Hollywood. Imagine, however, how it would feel to be threatened with the curse of having your whole life compressed into just one day.

Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps lead as husband and wife Guy and Prisca. It is while on holiday with their young and extended family that the pair find themselves confronted with exactly this scenario. One should always be wary of idyllic, secluded beaches in tropical climbs.

As their children mature before their eyes - at an alarming pace - Guy and Prisca must find a way off the beach if they are to have any chance of survival.

Rising young talents Alex Wolff, Eliza Scanlen and Thomasin McKenzie join the action halfway through and there are roles too for Ken Leung, Rufus Sewell and Nikki Amuka-Bird. Trevor Gureckis supplies a suitably ominous score, with Us and Glass cinematographer Mike Gioulakis behind the sumptuous visuals.

Also out this week, Off the Rails has fun with the music of Blondie, as three friends in their 50s re-create the inter-rail journey across Europe they enjoyed in their youth. The only catch is that, this time, 18-year-old Maddie (Elizabeth Dormer-Phillips) is taking her mother’s place, fulfilling a dying wish.

The film marks the final screen appearance of Jerry Maguire star Kelly Preston, who sadly lost her battle with breast cancer last year. Here, Preston brims with life, bouncing joyfully off co-stars Jenny Seagrove and Sally Phillips. Watch out too for Judi Dench, in a small and unusually dour appearance.

The escapades on show here are hardly left field but there’s fun to be had nonetheless. Preston, Seagrove and Phillips are supremely watchable. As for the soundtrack, it helps one way or another.