Millions review

Money is a touchstone of Danny Boyle’s work, from the suitcase of loot in Shallow Grave and the stash of cash Renton walks away with in Trainspotting to the shower of pilfered banknotes in A Life Less Ordinary. Ditto in Millions, where young brothers Damian (Alex Etel) and Anthony (Lewis McGibbon) land a bag of stolen moolah but have only 12 days to spend it – before Britain brings in the Euro...

Beneath the wish-fulfilment fantasy is a cautionary tale on the dangers of filthy lucre. Can cash bring a family together or resurrect a dead mother? Can it bollocks. But while thematically familiar, Millions doesn’t sit right with Boyle, who struggles to handle writer Frank Cottrell Boyce’s uneasy blend of Christian allegory, gushy tearjerker and magic-realist fable.

He tries to disguise his discomfort by falling back on stylistic tricks: kinetic editing, slick montages and a pumping soundtrack. But for all the style, there’s not much soul.