Best Films to Stream This Week in the UK
From violent thrillers to strange documentaries, including a festive family drama and a '90s sci-fi classic remastered in glorious 4K
Going to the cinema might not be an option right now, but there are still plenty of great films to enjoy from the comfort of your own home. As always, we’ve assembled the best of what’s streaming across a multitude of platforms and gathered them here to make choosing the perfect film as easy as possible. Whatever you’re in the mood for, WeLoveCinema has you covered…
[New Releases]
Happiest Season
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis star in this wholesome hug of a Christmas movie about a lesbian couple who are forced to pretend they’re just friends during the holiday season. It’s a refreshingly lighthearted addition to the queer canon, with excellent supporting turns from Mary Steenburgen and Dany Levy, that’s sure to enter the pantheon of endlessly rewatchable Christmas classics (read our full review).
Overseas
Where to watch it: MUBI
This sad and empathetic documentary follows a group of Filipina women as they train at a finishing school before being sent to countries like Oman, Hong Kong, and Singapore to work as housekeepers. Like a cross between Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma and – as the women act out roleplays with their teachers – Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing, Overseas tackles an immensely complex subject with style and empathy. An essential study of the global workforce (read our full review).
Possesser
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Brandon Cronenberg’s sophomore feature is yet another freaky entry in the body horror canon. Taking his cues from his old man once more, he delivers a gory tale of corporate espionage about an assassin who takes control of other people in order to carry out her killings. Andrea Riseborough shines in what might her strangest role to date, in a film that poses timely questions about our modern obsession with technology (read our full review).
Total Recall
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Paul Verhoeven’s brilliantly bloodthirsty sci-fi yarn, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, is back with a beautiful 4K restoration. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Douglas Quaid, a construction worker who undergoes an implant procedure that inadvertently triggers faded memories of an alleged secret agent past. Soon, he’s off to Mars, fighting in a mutant rebellion, and trying to prevent an alien conspiracy. With its unforgettable score, landmark special effects, and bold set-pieces, it’s a masterpiece of ’90s excess that manages to be both high brow and low brow in equal measure (read our full review).
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[Still Streaming…]
Collective
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Anyone who has ever wanted more insight into the corrupt nature of the Romanian system need look no further than this gripping, infuriating documentary about the healthcare scandal that led to the unnecessary deaths of sixty-four people in a nightclub fire. Collective follows the work of journalists at newspaper Gazeta Sporturil as they attempt to bring those accountable to justice, resulting in an essential expose of a most preventable tragedies (read our full review).
Asia
Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema
The debut film from filmmaker Ruthy Pribar tells the story of young mother Asia (Alena Yiv) and her fractured relationship with daughter Vika (Shira Haas, star of Netflix’s Unorthodox), whose life is coming to an end due to an incurable disease and hopes to lose her virginity before she passes away. It’s familiar territory, but the superb performances – and a slick, 85 minute runtime – make this well worthwhile (read our full review).
Spree
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Stranger Things’ breakout Joe Keery stars in this cautionary black comedy of social media obsession from filmmaker Eugene Kotlyarenko, about a young man who’s willing to do anything to find fame. Taking place entirely inside his car, Spree is not for the faint of the heart, though it firmly stands as a testament to Keery’s range as an actor – and as a (read our full review).
To the Ends of the Earth
Where to watch it: MUBI
Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kirosawa, best known for his horror movies, changes lanes for this meditative travelogue about a TV host, played by Atsuko Maeda, who embarks on a life-altering trip around Uzbekistan. Part drama, part travelogue, it’s an unusually observed portrait of a mid-twenties crisis, with shades of Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. A beguiling gem (read our full review).
Eastern
Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema
A young girl is forced to honour the terms of a blood feud in first-time director Piotr Adamski’s weirdo crime-thriller, set in Poland, which also bears comparison to the early works of Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. Riffing on – and subverting – western movie tropes (“Eastern,” geddit?), it’s a gripping debut that’s unafraid to mix violence with social commentary and big questions about family and legacy (read our full review).
Love Child
Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema
Filmed over the course of a six year period, this moving, life-affirming documentary hones in on an Iranian family – Leila, Sahand, and young son Mani – as they seek asylum while situated in Istanbul, Turkey. Forced to flee Iran because of an illegal relationship (they were married to other people before meeting and had Mani out of wedlock), directors Eva Mulvad and Lea Glob evoke great empathy in their portrait of adrift refugees – though this is no miserable account. In fact, this family are defined by their relentless belief that things will work out in the end (read our full review).
This post was categorised in Archive.