The weekend home cinema highlights ‘Aftersun’, one of the best films of 2022, which was a surprise hit in the current awards season. The feature briefly made its way onto the theatrical circuit last month, and the speed with which it was removed from the poster only reinforces the importance of streaming for those who want to follow the most relevant news. To top it off, the lineup is packed with previously unseen releases in the exhibition park, including productions with well-known stars such as Christian Bale, Elizabeth Banks and Jon Hamm. Check out the top 10 previews below that can only be viewed at home, through digital rental stores or subscription services.
| AFTER-SUN | MUBI
The award-winning British drama follows the memories of a woman named Sophie. She recalls the joy and melancholy of a summer holiday in Turkey with her father 20 years ago when she was a child. In this walk down her memory lane, real events mix with imaginary facts and fragments, as she tries to fill in the gaps and reconcile the image of the father she lived with with the truths about the man she never knew.
Director Charlotte Wells’ debut won 15 international awards, including the Cannes and Deuville festivals, as well as competing for five other trophies at the 2023 Spirit Awards (the Oscar of independent cinema) and getting a nomination for Paul Mescal (” The Lost Daughter”, played by the father, to the trophy for best European actor of the year at the European Film Awards.
| THE PALE BLUE EYE | NETFLIX
The gothic horror with Christian Bale (“Amsterdam”) and a large cast revolves around a series of gruesome murders at the West Point Military Academy in the 1830s. Bale plays a veteran detective who investigates crimes, and for this he relies on the help of the young cadet, who would later become world famous as a writer, Edgar Allan Poe.
Harry Melling, known as the Dudley Dursley of the “Harry Potter” saga, plays Poe and the rest of the stellar cast includes Gillian Anderson (“The Crown”), Lucy Boynton (“Bohemian Rhapsody”), Charlotte Gainsbourg (“Nymphomaniac”) , Toby Jones (“The First Cow”), Timothy Spall (also from “Harry Potter”), Charlie Tahan (“Ozark”) and veteran Robert Duvall (“The Judge”).
The highly stylized whodunit marks the third collaboration between Bale and director Scott Cooper, following the thriller ‘All for Justice’ (2013) and the western ‘Hostiles’ (2017).
| WATCHED IN VENICE | HBO MAX
Provocative Alex de La Iglesia’s new terror (“Ballad of Love and Hate”) explores xenophobia as a justification for serial killing. When a group of young Spanish tourists arrive in Venice for a bachelor party, they end up angering the locals who are fed up with the foreigners invading their city and must fight to survive a bloodbath.
The story was written by the award-winning screenwriter Jorge Guerricaechevarría, winner of two Goya trophies (the Spanish Oscar) for best adapted screenplay, for “Cela 211” (2009) and “As Leis da Fronteira” (2021). This is his fourteenth collaboration with Iglesia, after having debuted together in the cult “Ação Mutante”, in 1993.
| INHUMAN | PARAMOUNT+
The teen horror comedy follows a school bus whose tour is interrupted by an accident, causing a group of students to fall into a zombie-infested place. Relationships are tested as they realize they will have to fight to survive until the twist of the end.
Directed by Marcus Dunstan, who also wrote the screenplay with Patrick Melton. The two are well known to horror fans for their collaboration in several films of the series ‘Saw’, ‘Feast from Hell’ and ‘The Body Collector’.
| MORE THAN FRIENDS | VOD*
The first open-ended gay romantic comedy from a major Hollywood studio stars Billy Eichner (“American Horror Story”), who also co-wrote the screenplay, as a cynical 40-year-old gay podcaster who, despite her bitter views on love, she begins to bond with a handsome man, played by Luke Macfarlane (“Killjoys”). Both are wary of stable relationships, but even so they continue to see each other. The story tries hard to show how same-sex romance is different from heterosexual romance, but ultimately what you see is that the differences aren’t that big.
The direction is by Nicholas Stoller, known for several successful comedies, such as ‘Resaca de Amor’, ‘Neighbors’ and even the animation ‘Storks: The Story They Didn’t Tell You’.
| CONFESS, FLETCH | VOD*
Comedy noir returns to the lead in “Murder on Order,” the 1985 hit that introduced comedian Chevy Chase as investigative reporter Irwin M. Fletch. Called ‘Fletch’ in the US, the original feature film was based on a literary franchise and also got a sequel in 1989 – ‘Fletch Lives’.
“Mad Men” star Jon Hamm experiences the new Fletch in an official adaptation of the books, directed by Greg Mottola (“Superbad: É Hoje”). In the storyline, Fleth finds himself involved in a network of murders related to the theft of works of art, of which he himself is one of the suspects.
Production Promotes a “Mad Men” Mini-Reunion Starring John Slattery, Also Starring Lorenza Izzo (“Knock Before You Go In”), Marcia Gay Harden (“Fifty Shades of Grey”), Kyle MacLachlan (“Twin Peaks”) and Annie Mumolo (“Mad Aunts on Vacation”).
| THE KINGS OF THE WORLD | NETFLIX
Winner of last year’s festivals in San Sebastián and Zurich, Colombian director Laura Mora Ortega (“Green Frontier”) follows five abandoned minors from Medellin who form a fraternal clan and venture out into the world with their own sense of ethics and vision of world. . Together they embark on a journey through the interior of Colombia in search of a piece of land that one of them inherited from their late grandmother. Like thousands of other Colombians, she was once violently evicted by paramilitaries, but a government restitution program has reclaimed the boy’s legacy. On this journey they meet people who can help them, but also put them in danger. And they are often the danger themselves.
| DIAL JANE | VOD*
The drama based on true events tells the story of an underground abortion network that operated in the United States in the 1960s. Elizabeth Banks (“The Panthers”) plays a housewife who discovers she could die if she didn’t terminate her pregnancy. Since abortion was still prohibited at the time, she finds an alternative to survive in a group of women, calling themselves Jane, who offer access to the prohibited practice to those in need, regardless of their legal status or their financial conditions. But the initiative draws the attention of the police.
The production marks the directorial debut of Academy Award-nominated playwright Phyllis Nagy for her screenplay for “Carol,” and also stars Sigourney Weaver (“Avatar”) and Wunmi Mosaku (“Loki”) as the leader of the Janes. Despite being a costume drama, the story has become very topical thanks to the cancellation of the right to abortion in many US states, which has caused a return to the situations depicted in the film.
It’s also worth mentioning that HBO Max released a documentary about this story, “The Janes: Anonymous Women,” available for streaming last June.
| LOVED | VOD*
Film and TV have already shown many stories of an incorruptible policeman facing fellow bandits in uniform. This is distinguished by a more realistic imprint, deriving from the places in Ceilândia, Brasilia, where the true story supposedly took place, as well as a vibrant semi-documentary aesthetic. Sérgio Menezes (“Hard”) lives the Beloved of the title, a Prime Minister who can be described as truculent, but never corrupt. When he refuses to share the money of drug dealers kidnapped during a raid, he becomes the target of his colleagues in the company.
The direction is shared by Edu Felistoque (“Cracolândia”) and Erik De Castro (“Cano Serrado”).
| WELCOME TO QUIXERAMOBIM | GLOBOPLAY
The new comedy from Ceará by Halder Gomes and his accomplice Edmilson Filho (both of “Cine Holliúdy”) stars Monique Alfradique as a wealthy influencer who loses everything when her millionaire father gets involved in a corruption scheme. Suddenly she is homeless and needs to take refuge in the last available family property: a ruined farm in Quixeramobim, in the hinterland of Ceará. But when she arrives, she finds Edmilson Filho installed and claiming to own the place.
The premise sounds like a rom-com, and it is, incorporated into an entertaining afternoon session, which also features Falcão, youtuber Max Petterson and Minas Gerais’ Chandelly Braz in his first film, after many soap operas.
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Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
