HELL OR HIGH WATER (15, 102 mins) Thriller/Action/Romance. Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gil Birmingham, Marin Ireland, William Sterci. Director: David Mackenzie.

Released: September 9 (UK & Ireland)

Harsh times call for desperate measures in David Mackenzie's riveting crime thriller set in contemporary West Texas, where avaricious, corporate-driven America has ravaged close-knit communities.

Hell Or High Water cranks up tension with deceptive ease courtesy of a lean script by Taylor Sheridan, who had us biting our nails down to the cuticles last year with the Oscar-nominated action thriller Sicario.

Sheridan should expect similar plaudits for his exemplary work here, underpinning a familiar morality tale of world-weary cops and robbers with a touching portrait of brotherly love in dire straits.

Northumberland-born director Mackenzie, who made the extraordinary prison drama Starred Up, skilfully orchestrates propulsive action sequences and scenes of aching introspection.

He immerses us in the daily sweat-soaked grind of richly drawn characters, who believe their only course of action is to don ski masks and strike back at financial institutions, which have crippled friends and God-fearing neighbours.

These men might flout the law and occasionally spill innocent blood, but Sheridan's script repeatedly emphasizes the rigorous moral code that the thieves follow on behalf of the disadvantaged people they love.

Toby Howard (Chris Pine) is determined to save his family's Texas ranch from foreclosure by robbing banks with his fiery-tempered brother, Tanner (Ben Foster).

They plan to hit several branches of Texas Midland, which they hold responsible for their financial woes, and use the ill-gotten gains to secure a legacy for Toby's embittered ex-wife Debbie (Marin Ireland) and two sons.

"Planning and doing are two different things," Toby cautions Tanner, who is prone to reckless acts of violence.

The opening heist of a branch managed by Mr Clauson (William Sterci) goes smoothly, but as the deadline for foreclosure looms, the siblings take risks to reach their target.

Their larcenous activities pique the interest of cantankerous Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges), who is poised to retire after years of dedicated service.

"I don't know how you are going to survive without somebody to outsmart," quips Hamilton's half-Comanche partner Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham), who suffers a barrage of playful jibes on account of his mixed heritage.

The case gathers momentum and Hamilton and Parker edge closer to their prey.

Hell Or High Water is another triumph for Mackenzie, who expertly navigates the shifting relationships between men of shared blood and purpose.

Pine is a revelation in a role that ignores his pretty boy good looks, while Foster burrows beneath the chapped skin of his hot-headed ex-con.

Bridges delivers a masterclass in gruff cynicism and his verbal jousting with Birmingham is peppered with cracking one-liners ("Sometimes a blind pig finds a truffle!")

Delicate shades of grey separating heroes and villains compel us to ignore our own moral compasses and root for hunters and the hunted.

Crime pays only those willing to risk everything.

:: SWEARING :: SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 8.5/10

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC (15, 119 mins) Drama/Comedy/Romance. Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks, Charlie Shotwell, Trin Miller, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Zahn, Elijah Stevenson, Teddy Van Ee, Erin Moriarty, Frank Langella, Ann Dowd. Director: Matt Ross.

Released: September 9 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)

The family that hunts and disembowels together, stays together.

So says writer-director Matt Ross's heartfelt and moving road movie that goes back to nature to rediscover a bucolic time before television, smart phones and social media poisoned precious rituals like eating together around a dinner table.

Captain Fantastic is a bittersweet meditation on the perils of modern parenting, anchored by a tour-de-force lead performance from Viggo Mortensen as a straight-talking father, whose unconventional methods of nurturing his offspring might be considered abuse by outsiders.

"Power to the people - stick it to the man!" he counsels his children, who hone their survival skills and are blessed with made-up Christian names so they are unique in a world of slavish conformity.

On the surface, the family's makeshift camp in the forests of the Pacific Northwest looks like paradise, but fissures appear when two of the boys clash with their old man about the harsh consequences of living in seclusion.

"Unless it comes out of a book, I don't know anything!" despairs the eldest son, whose rites of passage include tucking into the heart of a freshly slain wild deer.

This tussle between idealism and sobering reality provides Ross's picture with its narrative thrust and tearful outpourings of raw emotion.

Ben Cash (Mortensen) and his wife Leslie (Trin Miller) raise their six-strong brood in relative isolation so the children won't be tainted by capitalism or organised religion.

The youngsters - Bodevan (George MacKay), Kielyr (Samantha Isler), Vespyr (Annalise Basso), Rellian (Nicholas Hamilton), Zaja (Shree Crooks) and Nai (Charlie Shotwell) - learn to live off the land and fire their imaginations by reading classics like The Brothers Karamazov and Middlemarch.

Alas, Leslie has bipolar disorder and she eventually takes her own life while undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Ben wants to take the children to the funeral, but Leslie's father Jack (Frank Langella) forbids him from attending.

"Grandpa can't oppress us," argues Zaja and the family boards their ramshackle bus, christened Steve, and heads to New Mexico to give Leslie the Buddhist cremation she requested in her will.

En route, the Cash clan experiences eye-opening encounters with Ben's sister Harper (Kathryn Hahn) and her husband Dave (Steve Zahn).

"We don't make fun of people," Ben reminds his offspring.

"Except Christians," interjects Vespyr.

Captain Fantastic lives up the superlative of its title, compelling us to care deeply about the wounded characters as they search for peace and unity in a world of bitter conflict.

Mortensen's magnificent portrayal of a patriarch who worries he might be ruining his children's lives, is matched by mesmerising performances from young co-stars including London-born MacKay.

They gel magnificently on screen and relish snappy dialogue that sensitively addresses the fresh wounds of an unconventional family wrestling with that most universal of feelings: loss.

:: SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 8/10