Damon Smith reviews the latest download, streaming, premium video on-demand and DVD/Blu-ray releases including Aftersun, Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical, Bones And All, plus Armageddon Time.
NEW FILMS TO STREAM, RENT ON-DEMAND OR BUY ON DVD/BLU-RAY
FILM OF THE WEEK
Aftersun (Cert 12, 101 mins, MUBI, available now exclusively on MUBI, available from February 3 upon Amazon/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and loading services, obtainable from Feb 20 on DVD £19. 99/Blu-ray £24. 99, Drama/Romance)
Starring: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall.
Sophie (Celia Rowlson-Hall) is a new parent, grappling with the responsibility of nurturing life as she draws lessons – sometimes painfully – from her childhood.
She is compelled to look back to a 1990s package holiday in Turkey with her idealistic divorced father Calum (Paul Mescal) when she was just 11 and blissfully carefree (now played by Frankie Corio).
The sun beats down on the pair because they laze by the particular pool, contend with noisy construction work at the resort and nervously prepare for a karaoke duet within front of other guests.
Young Sophie glimpses chinks in Calum’s emotional armour in the aftermath of his marriage falling apart and tentatively takes her first steps towards adolescence in the company of older children.
Aftersun elegantly explores the unbreakable bond between parent and child, emboldened simply by excerpts associated with raw handheld footage captured during the particular holiday upon Calum’s movie camera.
Mescal is deservedly Oscar-nominated with regard to his understated yet powerful portrayal of a protective plus emotionally bruised father, who cannot bear the thought of disappointing the one person within his life who still worships him.
On-screen chemistry with Corio feels authentic.
Conversations unfold organically including adorable scenes between Corio and the smitten boy at the same hotel.
Nothing is forced or manipulated in writer-director Charlotte Wells’ mesmerising debut feature.
Some film-makers spend entire careers striving for something this delicate and wondrous.
Wells magnificently succeeds at the 1st attempt.
Rating: *****
RELEASED
Roald Dahl’s Matilda The particular Musical (Cert PG, 117 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, available through February 8 on Amazon/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TELEVISION Store along with other download and streaming services, available from February 20 on DVD AND BLU-RAY £19. 99/Blu-ray £24. 99, Musical/Comedy/Fantasy)
Starring: Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough, Sindhu Vee, Winter Jarrett-Glasspool.
Bookish wunderkind Matilda (Alisha Weir) has the misfortune to be raised by garish used car salesman Mr Wormwood (Stephen Graham) and his monstrous wife (Andrea Riseborough).
The precocious youngster escapes into fantastical worlds on the shelves of the mobile library run simply by Mrs Phelps (Sindhu Vee).
Matilda harnesses dormant telekinetic powers whenever she enrols at Crunchem Hall under hulking headmistress Agatha Trunchbull (Emma Thompson), a former world champion athlete that performs an exemplary hammer throw over the school gates using one unfortunate girl’s pigtails.
Thankfully, caring teacher Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch) recognises Matilda’s genius and encourages her gifted ward to soar higher than the regrettable and airborne Amanda Thripp (Winter Jarrett-Glasspool).
Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical is a swashboggling, phizz-whizzing screen adaptation of the award-winning stage production, which retains the particular acidic tang of Roald Dahl’s beloved 1988 children’s novel.
Dennis Kelly’s script and Tim Minchin’s lyrics elegantly express the loss plus reclamation of childhood innocence in barn-storming song and dance numbers choreographed along with breathless abandon by Ellen Kane.
Director Matthew Warchus confidently combines sweet, salty and sour flavours, juxtaposing the cuteness and steely determination associated with Weir’s spirited heroine with the comic grotesquerie of Thompson’s tyrant.
He overloads our senses in exuberant musical set-pieces, maintaining a rip-roaring pace until the film’s new song, Still Holding My Hand, allows a curtain to gently fall more than quietly contented characters.
The particular empowering anthem When I Grow Up loses some of its lump-in-the-throat emotional wallop along with the addition of big screen digital trickery.
Bigger plus shinier isn’t always better.
Rating: ****
Bones And everything (Cert 18, 131 mins, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, available now via Premium Video On Demand rental, accessible from February 6 on Amazon/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Shop as well as other down load and streaming services, also available through February 6 on Blu-ray & DIGITAL VIDEO DISC Combi-pack £24. 99, Romance/Horror/Thriller)
Starring: Taylor Russell, Timothee Chalamet, Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Gordon Green, Andre Holland, Chloe Sevigny.
Introverted 18-year-old Maren Yearly (Taylor Russell) first displayed cannibalistic tendencies at the age of three, fatally injuring a babysitter.
Every night with her consent, father Frank (Andre Holland) locks Maren in her bedroom regarding his own protection but she sneaks out after dark in order to attend the sleepover.
The mood associated with giggling sisterly solidarity sours when Maren chews off a friend’s freshly lacquered digit.
Faced with life on the run, Frank reluctantly abandons their daughter, leaving her a good envelope of cash, the girl birth certificate and a cassette tape confessional.
Maren decides to track down her biological mother (Chloe Sevigny) in Minnesota in order to better understand her compulsion.
On the particular road, the girl encounters similarly afflicted souls including Sully (Mark Rylance) and drifter Lee (Timothee Chalamet).
“I don’t want to hurt anybody, ” Maren meekly professes. “Famous last words, ” snorts Lee.
Bones And All is a curiously poetic and moving romance adapted by screenwriter Jesse Kajganich from Camille DeAngelis’s award-winning novel.
Director Luca Guadagnino’s picture walks the tightrope between aching beauty and brutality, a high-wire act impeccably photographed simply by cinematographer Arseni Khachaturan that demands a cast-iron constitution.
The Italian film-maker eases us within gently with a close-up associated with teeth sinking into the knuckle of a finger.
Once Rylance’s menacing predator slinks out of the shadows, the use of horrific special make-up effects becomes more pronounced in unsettling moments that recall the frenzied feasting of a zombie apocalypse.
In the particular midst associated with carnage, lead actress Russell delivers the gut-wrenching performance as an afflicted teenager, who else yearns intended for tenderness plus meaningful human connections but cannot trust herself around other people.
Ranking: ***
Armageddon Time (Cert 15, 114 mins, Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd, offered from Feb 6 upon Amazon/BT TELEVISION Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and loading services, available from February 20 on DVD £19. 99, Drama/Romance)
Starring: Banks Repeta, Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway, Jaylin Webb, Andrew Polk, Ryan Sell.
Jewish-American 11-year-old John Graff (Banks Repeta) attends Public School 173 within 1980 New York where sixth-grade dreams of Nasa and space rockets are a distraction through the teachings of ill-tempered educator Mister Turkeltaub (Andrew Polk).
Consequently, Paul becomes a target to get humiliation in class alongside African-American student Johnny Davis (Jaylin Webb), who is repeating the year.
The particular boys forge a strong friendship yet prejudices repeatedly test their bond plus Paul’s parents Irving (Jeremy Strong) and Esther (Anne Hathaway) elect to send your pet to Kew-Forest preparatory college instead, exactly where older brother Ted (Ryan Sell) is making his mark.
The threat of change sends Paul into an emotional tailspin but his grandfather Aaron (Anthony Hopkins) has got the right words to console plus soothe.
Armageddon Time will be a slow-paced coming-of-age drama, which explores complex family and racial dynamics against the particular backdrop of Ronald Reagan’s bid in order to wrest the keys to the White House from incumbent president Jimmy Carter.
Writer-director James Gray rifles through their childhood within 1980s Queens, New York, to stylishly evoke a good era associated with bigotry and abuse, underlining the rhetoric of the Republican Party campaign that will would prove a divisive but winning formula 36 years later.
Repeta catalyses winning on-screen partnerships along with Webb plus Hopkins, the latter retaining a British accent thanks in order to his character’s Liverpudlian roots.
Gray’s snapshot of middle-class angst and the loss of childhood purity feels overly familiar plus allows the piercing lens to mist up with nostalgia.
However, the screenplay unearths moments of elegance within the mundane that emphasise the universality of this boy’s life.
Rating: ***
NEW TO DOWNLOAD, STREAM OR BUY ON DVD/BLU-RAY
Dear Edward (10 episodes, starts streaming through February 3 exclusively upon Apple TV+, Drama)
Twelve-year-old Edward Adler (Colin O’Brien) is the particular sole survivor of a plane crash that claims the lives of his mother and father and older brother.
During a time associated with intense grief, the media spotlight fixates around the child who emerged from the wreckage and Edward’s maternal aunt Lacey (Taylor Schilling) requires on the particular role of guardian and carer.
She attends suffering counselling to process the loss of her sister and forges strong connections to others affected by the tragedy.
Meanwhile, Edward faces challenges at school and at home as a reluctant overnight celebrity in a 10-part drama based on Ann Napolitano’s book.
The very first three episodes premiere this week plus subsequent instalments are obtainable on Fridays.
Your Honor – Season 2 (10 episodes, begins streaming from February a few exclusively on Paramount+, Drama/Thriller)
Bryan Cranston reprises his role since respected Brand new Orleans judge Michael Desiato in the American remake associated with acclaimed Israeli TV series Kvodo, which serves justice upon Sky Atlantic and streams exclusively on Now.
In the initial series, Jordan spun a web of lies to protect his much loved son Adam (Hunter Doohan) after the teenager killed another boy in a hit-and-run.
The victim turned away to be Rocco Baxter (Benjamin Hassan Wadsworth), son of sadistic crime lord Jimmy Baxter (Michael Stuhlbarg) great spouse Gina (Hope Davis).
The ripple effect of the incident continues to be felt by the Desiato and Baxter clans, sparking quests for revenge and salvation that jeopardise more lives.
The second series opens having a salvo of 3 episodes then reverts in order to weekly instalments.
You – Season 4 (10 shows, starts streaming from Feb 9 upon Netflix, Thriller/Drama/Romance)
Penn Badgley wrestles along with murderous urges as serial killer plus bookstore manager Joe Goldberg when the psychological thriller dependent on Caroline Kepnes’ best-selling novels returns to Netflix for the fourth outing.
The series unfolds within two parts. Episodes 1 to five premiere this week and the particular concluding 5 chapters are available through March 9.
Joe adopts a new identity – a teaching professor in London – to escape the smouldering ashes of his past and continue his dogged pursuit of Marienne Bellamy (Tati Gabrielle).
His efforts to lie low are threatened when an additional diabolical predator, dubbed the Eat The particular Rich Killer, targets their new circle of wealthy socialite friends.
The hunter becomes the particular prey as Joe hones his detective skills in order to unmask one more murderer within the city and distract attention from his shadowy past.
Funny Woman (6 episodes, starts streaming through February nine exclusively on Now, Comedy/Drama)
A female comedian faces an uphill battle to confront outdated attitudes during the cultural explosion of the 1960s inside a six-part episode directed simply by Oliver Parker, which is usually based on the book by Nick Hornby.
Barbara Parker (Gemma Arterton) is definitely crowned Skip Blackpool but she yearns for some thing more than a winner’s sash in a beauty pageant within her seaside town.
The girl heads south to the bright lights of London but existence within the capital isn’t the particular dream that will Barbara imagined from her magazine articles and she encounters numerous setbacks.
Barbara’s northern wit remains razor-sharp and she successfully auditions for a TV comedy show that will have an indelible impact on British pop culture for decades to come.
Operating in a predominantly male environment, Barbara reinvents herself in order to reshape prevailing attitudes to funny women and cement her standing as the nation’s sweetheart.
Harlem – Season 2 (8 episodes, starts loading from February 3 exclusively on Prime Video, Comedy/Drama/Romance)
Two shows from the 2nd series of Harlem premiere every week, testing sisterly bonds in the particular historically black neighbourhood associated with New You are able to City through the eyes of Columbia University anthropology professor Camille (Meagan Good) plus her coterie of buddies.
The dust begins in order to settle after Camille self-destructs her career and love life.
Meanwhile, good friend Tye (Jerrie Johnson) contemplates the girl future right after her efforts to launch a dating app, hopeful romantic Quinn (Grace Byers) embarks upon a journey of self-discovery and fortune smiles on singer and actress Angie (Shoniqua Shandai).
The ladies rely on each other to battle self-doubt plus their insecurities and achieve personal goals as vibrant 30-somethings in the city.
The Rookie: Feds (13 episodes, starts streaming from Feb 8 specifically on Now, Thriller/Action)
Niecy Nash-Betts headlines a spin-off from the police procedural drama The particular Rookie created by Alexi Hawley, which usually targets criminals on Sky Witness and streams solely on Right now.
Former FBI agent Christopher “Cutty” Clark (Frankie Faison) is unhappy when his daughter Simone follows their example plus completes her training to serve the girl country when justin was 48.
She actually is the oldest rookie at the FBI Academy and can be determined to join a newly formed unique unit within the Los Angeles office led by Supervisory Special Agent Matthew Garza (Felix Solis).
Simone gets her wish and joins fellow Quantico graduate Brendon Acres (Kevin Zegers), promotion-hungry Carter Hope (James Lesure) and Laura Stenson (Britt Robertson) in order to investigate a bomber at large in the particular metropolis.
The Dad The Bounty Hunter (10 shows, streaming from February 9 exclusively upon Netflix, Animation/Sci-Fi/Action/Comedy)
Siblings unexpectedly embark on an action-packed intergalactic adventure within a computer-animated comedy produced by Everett Downing Jr and Patrick Harpin.
Lisa (voiced by Priah Ferguson) and her little brother Sean (Jecobi Swain) are usually disappointed when their seemingly average dad Terry (Laz Alonso) announces that he needs to attend to a good urgent work matter.
The children yearn to spend more quality time with their own old man so they secretly stow away in the boot associated with Terry’s car using the intention of joining him in work.
Mack and Sean are quite unaware that their father is the particular toughest bounty hunter in the galaxy, Sabro Brok, and they are gate-crashing a mission to apprehend an elusive otherworldly fugitive.
The children tag along for the warp-speed ride, encountering weird aliens and robots as they get their want and strengthen their relationship to their particular father.
True Spirit (Cert 12, 106 mins, loading from February 3 exclusively on Netflix, Drama)
Sarah Spillane directs a true story of courage and perseverance from a script written by Rebecca Banner, Cathy Randall and Spillane.
Jessica Watson (Teagan Croft) is certainly raised with her siblings on Australia’s Gold Coast by the girl parents Roger (Josh Lawson) and Julie (Anna Paquin), who encourage the teen to chase her dreams.
At the age of 16, she prepares to leave Sydney to become the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the particular world.
Supported by her sailing coach and mentor Ben Bryant (Cliff Curtis), Jessica pits herself against some of the most challenging stretches of the Ocean, Indian plus Pacific Oceans over the course of 210 days.
Whitney Houston & Bobbi Kristina: Didn’t We Almost Have It All (Cert 12, 90 minutes, streaming through February 7 exclusively upon Paramount+, Documentary)
The turbulent life associated with Whitney Houston has been dissected and celebrated within the documentaries Whitney: Can I Be Me and Whitney, and the majority of recently in the musical drama Whitney Houston: We Wanna Dance With Somebody.
This feature-length documentary uses first-hand accounts from people who knew the New Jersey-born singer to chart the parallel fortunes of Houston plus her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown.
Contributors include Houston’s friends Perri “Pebbles” Reid and Cherrelle, sister-in-law Tina Brown, goddaughter Brandi Boyd, former creative director Tiffanie Dixon and Bobbi Kristina’s best friend Sarah “Bess” Beckmann.
