What’s Streaming This Week (12/31 - 1/7)
January 1st, 2024
THE EQUALIZER 3 - Netflix
Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua’s latest collaboration scored the second highest Labor Day weekend opening ever, behind only 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The actor and director have already announced their next project together, which will be a Netflix film about Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who famously led an army of warriors and elephants across the Alps to fight the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Sounds intriguing, but we’re more interested in Fuqua’s next directorial effort: Michael. That’s the Michael Jackson biopic that stars Jaafar Jackson (Jermaine’s son, Michael’s nephew) in the title role. It’s scheduled for 2025, and should be interesting.
ONE FINE MORNING - Prime Video
Mia Hansen-Løve’s follow up to her terrific 2021 film Bergman Island is another winner. Léa Seydoux plays a single mother trying to balance the emotional needs of her parents, her child and herself. As she did in her previous film, Hansen-Løve weaves autobiographical elements in to the story, and Seydoux brings incredible warmth and empathy to her role, which garnered her a Best Actress nomination at the 2022 European Film Awards. Pascal Greggory, Melvil Poupaud, Nicole Garcia, and Camille Leban Martins co-star, and the film is well worth catching up on now that it will be available on Prime Video.
RETURN TO SEOUL - Prime Video
Another Sony Pictures Classics gem that we’re relieved has found an SVOD home. David Chou’s 2022 drama was shortlisted for last year’s Best International Feature Oscar, but failed to make the final five. The film features a tour de force performance by Park Ji-min, who plays Freddie, who returns to South Korea for the first time since she was adopted and brought to live in France. She goes on a search for her biological family, and the film does a terrific job of exploring identity, and the push and pull between nature, nurture and destiny. Park is extraordinary and really should have gotten some awards attention last year. Highly recommended.
January 2nd, 2024
ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT - $19.99 Sale / $5.99 Rental
Raven Jackson’s directorial debut comes to streaming with a slew of accolades under its belt. It was named one of the Top 10 Independent Films of 2023 by the National Board of Review. It was nominated for two Independent Spirt Awards, including Best First Feature and Best Cinematography. And Jackson was nominated for Breakthrough Director at this year’s Gotham Awards. The film premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and charts the growth, loves, and heartbreaks of a black woman in Mississippi, from her childhood through her adult years. We’re excited to catch up with it.
EILEEN - $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental
Another film that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Eileen comes to PVOD after a disappointing theatrical run. The film’s director, William Oldroyd, memorably introduced Florence Pugh to the world in his terrific 2016 film Lady Macbeth. Seven years later, he’s back with another showcase for a trio of talented actresses: Thomasin McKenzie, Anne Hathaway, and Marin Ireland. The latter two are nominated at the Independent Spirit Awards in the Best Supporting Performance category. Eileen is a noir set in 1960s Massachusetts, and trails the parasitic relationship between two women working at a juvenile detention facility. We hope it finds a larger audience when it hits streaming, especially when it arrives on Hulu, where we expect it to land in Spring 2024.
January 4th, 2024
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW - Netflix
Society of the Snow is J. A. Bayona’s film about the Uruguayan 1972 Andes flight disaster, which was previously depicted in the 1993 film Alive. That film featured primarily Anglo actors, while Bayona’s cast is composed of Uruguayan and Argentine actors, most of whom are newcomers. The film is an adaptation of Pablo Vierci's book of the same name, which documents accounts of all 16 survivors of the crash, many of whom Vierci knew from childhood. It has been shortlisted for the Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, and Best International Feature Oscars, which is quite an impressive showing for a foreign language film. Could it be this year’s All Quiet on the Western Front and get a slew of Oscar nominations?
January 5th, 2024
FOE - Prime Video
A rare misstep for both Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal, this psychological sci-fi thriller was savaged by critics when it premiered at the 2023 New York Film Festival. Director Garth Davis had better success with his feature debut, 2016’s Lion, which received 6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Dev Patel), and Best Supporting Actress (Nicole Kidman). His next film, 2018’s Mary Magdalene, was shuffled around in Weinstein Company nonsense before getting a perfunctory release by IFC Films. Foe’s failure is likely a bigger blow to his career than it is to either Ronan’s or Mescal’s. Here’s hoping he can rebound.
GOOD GRIEF - Netflix
Dan Levy trades in on his Schitt’s Creek success with his feature directorial debut, and he’s been able to assemble quite a cast: Ruth Negga(!), Himesh Patel, Luke Evans, Emma Corrin, and Kaitlyn Dever. The film follows a man struggling to cope with the deaths of his husband and mother, who travels with his two best friends to Paris for a weekend getaway. Reviews have been mixed so far, but we’re curious to see how Levy’s voice as a writer/director translates to features. And we’ll watch Ruth Negga in anything. More of her please, Hollywood!
MAYHEM! - $19.99 Sale / TBD Rental
France and Thailand-set action movie Mayhem! combines the talents of French director Xavier Gens and UK action designer Jude Poyer, who first met on the set of the AMC series Gangs of London (great show, btw). IFC Films has retitled the film, which was released worldwide as Farang, a Thai word that translates as: ‘A foreigner in Thailand who is of Western ancestry.’ Mayhem! has been described as a French The Raid, which pretty much sells it for us. It sounds like the perfect kick-off(heh) for 2024.
Happy Streaming Everyone! And Happy New Year!
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