Best Films to Watch in London and Stream This Week
From cinema releases to streaming gems, including a Bill Murray caper and a hilarious documentary about one man's battle with dementia
Fancy a film but can’t make your mind up what to see? Look no further: we’ve assembled the best of what’s showing in London, plus the latest streaming releases, and gathered them here to make choosing a great movie as easy as possible. Whatever you’re in the mood for, out in the world or in the comfort of your own home, WeLoveCinema has you well and truly covered…
[New Releases]
On the Rocks
Where to watch it: Get London showtimes
Sofia Coppola reunites with her Lost in Translation star for what might be her breeziest film yet. Laura (Rashida Jones) suspects her husband (Marlon Wayans) is cheating on her, so she enlists her philandering father, Felix (Bill Murray), man about town and old-fashioned New York socialite, to help her find the truth. On the Rocks might be fluffier than what we’ve come to expect from Coppola, but a poignant meditation on marriage and middle-aged bubbles beneath its screwball surface.
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Where to watch it: Get London showtimes
The Social Network‘s acclaimed scribe Aaron Sorkin writes and directs this take on the true life story of the Chicago Seven and once again reaffirms his talent for witty one-liners and political grandstanding. Set in 1968, The Trial of the Chicago 7 follows the infamous group charged with government conspiracy and for inciting anti-Vietnam War protests. Despite its period setting, this is a timely story for these troubled times. Sasha Baron Cohen, Mark Rylance, Jeremy Strong, Michael Keaton, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt round out an all-star cast.
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
Where to watch it: Get London showtimes
“Human beings have overrun the world,” laments David Attenborough, cutting to the gist of this moving and timely documentary. Now 94 years old, he’s lived one of the most extraordinary lives of anybody on Earth. Here, the presenter and naturalist celebrates his achievements and findings, and muses on a love affair with the natural world that has made him a national treasure for the ages. But there’s also an underlining sadness here, as he contemplates what will happen to the planet when he’s gone.
The Boys in the Band
Where to watch it: Netflix
Based on the acclaimed 1968 play of the same name, this Ryan Murphy-produced film version of gay comedy-drama The Boys in the Band arrives with one heck of a cast in tow. A group of gay friends – Zachary Quinto, Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, and Andrew Rannells – reunite in a cushy apartment to celebrate one of their birthdays, only for the evening to grow increasingly more unpredictable after a straight college roommate turns up on the doorstep unannounced. Hammy, for sure – but no less enjoyable for it (read our full review).
Dick Johnson is Dead
Where to watch it: Netflix
“Just the idea that I might ever lose this man is too much to bear.” Award-winning filmmaker Kirsten Johnson helms this poignant and hilarious documentary about her father – the titular Dick Johnson – and his battle with dementia. The film’s inspired, irreverent conceit sees the pair staging his death in a variety of increasingly bizarre scenarios in a bid to help them both come to terms with the inevitable – and find the comedy in one of life’s cruelest scenarios (read our full review).
#AD#
[Still in Cinemas and Streaming]
Miss Juneteenth
Where to watch it: Get London showtimes or watch it on various streamings services
Nicole Beharie and Alexis Chikaeze star in this unique and heartfelt drama, directed by Channing Godfrey Peoples in her feature film debut. Telling the story of a former beauty queen as she prepares her daughter for the pageant of the title, Miss Juneteenth unfolds as a tribute to Southern Black culture, motherhood, and scattered hopes and dreams. Not to mention it’s beautifully shot, stunningly acted, and deeply moving.
Monsoon
Where to watch it: Get London showtimes or watch it on various streamings services
In Monsoon, Henry Golding stars as a British-Vietnamese man who returns to his homeland having fled thirty years ago, looking for the right location to spread his parents’ ashes. Despite being born in Saigon, he struggles to find a connection to the place of his birth and faces questions about who he really is. British-Cambodian filmmaker Hong Khaou directs this beautifully shot and meditative queer love story-travelogue, asking deep questions about birthrate, cultural legacy, and modern relationships – and doesn’t settle for easy answers (read our full review here).
Enola Holmes
Where to watch it: Netflix
As the breakout star of Netflix’s Stranger Things, it was only a matter of time until Millie Bobby Brown made the transition to big screen movie star (we’re not counting those Godzilla films). Introducing Sherlock Holmes spin-off Enola Holmes, where she showcases her natural charisma playing the forgotten Holmes sister in what turns out to be a fun and family-friendly reinvention of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic, with a good amount of talking to the camera. Henry Cavill, meanwhile, co-stars as Sherlock (read our full review).
Tesla
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
A most unconventional biopic for a most unconventional man. Ethan Hawke stars as the infamous engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla in a film that throws out the rulebook in order to deliver something that’s very odd indeed (hint: it’s narrated from the future, by one of Tesla’s former lovers, who happily admits she might be making the whole thing up). There’s karaoke, also, not to mention Kyle MacLachlan as man of the lightbulb Thomas Edison. Tesla is weird – but would anything else have made sense? (read our full review).
Rocks
Where to watch it: Get London showtimes
As a brilliant, London-set drama about a Nigerian British girl and her little brother, Rocks arrives as one of the most acclaimed releases of the year. Written by Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson and directed by Sarah Gavron (who helmed the far inferior Suffragette), it unfolds as an endlessly creative and entertaining social-drama about life in the East End and a bold evocation of Black teenage life. Unfolding with an improvisational quality and packed with great performances, Rocks is an unmissable triumph.
This post was categorised in Archive.