Everest (12A) ****

Everest sets out to document the various incidents - including errors, oversights and sheer bad luck - that led to the deaths of eight climbers over one day on the world's most famous mountain.

That death toll was dwarfed but the shocking earthquake that caused an avalanche last year, leading to 22 deaths. But for many years the events of 1996 were the darkest in mountaineering history.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays the gung-ho US mountaineer Scott Fischer, one of a new breed of climbers who was bringing groups of thrill seekers to attempt the summit.

As head of the adventure group Mountain Madness, he enjoyed a friendly rivalry with New Zealander Rob Hall (a very good Jason Clarke). As head of Adventure Consultants, he favoured a cautious approach, anxious as he was to respect the mountain and get home safely to his pregnant wife (played by Keira Knightley).

The climbers include a postman and a doctor, Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) as they fight to get to safety.

The movie’s old-fashioned in its approach, documenting events rather than giving us any real insight into what motivated the climbers. In this case it works very effectively, though that lack of backstory may alienate some viewers.

Pursuit (15A) ***

The story of Diarmuid and Grainne is retold through the medium of Love/Hate in the gritty new Irish thriller Pursuit.

Director Paul Mercier, a founding member of Dublin’s much-loved Passion Machine theatre company, has worked with most of our acting greats, so it’s no great surprise he’s managed to gather a strong cast here.

Ruth Bradley, Barry Ward, Brendan Gleeson and Liam Cunningham are among the cast of Pursuit, a modern take on the legend of Diarmuid and Grainne, told in a contemporary crime setting.

In its modern criminal environment, Grainne (Bradley) is the daughter of a feared criminal kingpin, played by Owen Roe.

Her father is persuaded to marry her off to his middle-aged rival Fionn (a badass Liam Cunningham) in a bid to realign their criminal empire, prompting Grainne to go on the run with the younger and handsome Diarmuid (Barry Ward).

He also happens to be her father’s bodyguard and their decision sets in place a string of events that lead to chaos and recrimination in the tightly knit circles in which they move.

Mercier’s Passion Machine company is well known in Irish theatre circles for many years, so several of the country’s top actors were keen to get involved in this film project.

Brendan Gleeson plays a character named Searbhan, a villain who the escaping couple meet on their adventures as they go on the road from Ireland to the Costa Del Sol.

Ruth Bradley is gifted the strong female role of Grainne and the makes the very most of it, adding a toughness but also a vulnerability as a well-fleshed-out gangster’s moll.

It’s an entertaining native crime flick, occasionally bogged down by references to and language of the legend that it attempts to update.

Pursuit is now showing exclusively at IMC cinemas nationwide.