Highland games of breakfast bowls

LOVE it or hate it, porridge is a traditional hearty breakfast — and a feelgood film about it is released at the Regal Picturehouse in Henley today.

Directed by Constantine Costi, The Golden Spurtle (PG) — a spurtle is a kind of stirring stick — is set in the village of Carrbridge, in the Scottish Highlands, home to the World Porridge Championships since 1994 (the 32nd championships will take place on October 4).

Despite comprising just three ingredients, oats, water and salt, porridge-making results can vary. As the village gears up for the annual competition, Charlie Miller is getting ready to retire but is determined to ensure it will continue.

Fellow resident Ian Bishop is keen and eager to try one more time for a win. Meanwhile, Lisa Williams, “queen of porridge”, is in the running, alongside Australian chef Toby Wilson and Adam Kiani, who has his grandmother’s secret porridge-making method up his sleeve.

Nick Barnard, founder of a food company, has made the final repeatedly. But who will make the best bowl to warm the cockles and win the top prize of a golden spurtle?

The film has a running time of one hour and 15 minutes.

When two strangers, Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell), meet at a friend’s wedding, a strange sequence of events means that they eventually stumble upon a doorway to the past, in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (15).

Each gets the chance to revisit defining moments in their lives when they were younger, accompanying one another, with cringeworthy, moving and hilarious results. As this throws a spotlight on the present day, they get a chance to alter the future.

The film has a running time of one hour and 49 minutes.

Continuing are Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (PG) and The Roses (15).