The Hummingbird Project explores the cutthroat world of high-frequency share trading, which relies on complex computer algorithms to analyse multiple financial markets and transact large numbers of orders in fractions of a second.

New York cousins Vincent (Jesse Eisenberg) and Anton (Alexander Skarsgård) are scheming to build a straight fiber-optic cable line between Kansas and New Jersey. If they succeed they’ll get crucial share market information one whole millisecond faster than everyone else, which may not seem like a lot, but is estimated to amount to about $500 million more in earnings a year.

Their arch nemesis in this larger-than-life drama – suspenseful and sometimes comedic – is their old boss Eva Torres (Salma Hayek), who is racing them to build her own ultra rapid link-up.

In 1999, teenage Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) survives a horrific school shooting and copes with it the only way she knows how: by writing a song about it. After she performs the song at a memorial service for the tragedy, she finds herself catapulted into superstardom. Suddenly she has a manager (Jude Law) and her talent is being commodified and sold to the highest bidder. Cut to 18 years later and adult Celeste (Natalie Portman) is now a foul-mouthed pop diva on the brink of a meltdown, dealing with a teenage daughter of her own.

The cynical flip side to A Star Is Born or any number of ‘inspirational’ musical biopics, Vox Lux fascinatingly explores the pitfalls of modern celebrity in style.