Best Films to Stream This Week in the UK
With London cinemas temporarily closed, we highlight the best new releases on streaming platforms, from dramas to documentaries
Well, cinemas in London have closed their doors once again, so watching Wonder Woman 1984 on the big screen will sadly have to wait. Fear not: we’ve rounded up the best of the latest streaming releases to keep you entertained until the capital’s dream palaces return. Whatever you’re in the mood for, from great documentaries to touching dramas, WeLoveCinema has you well and truly covered covered…
[New Releases]
David Byrne’s American Utopia
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
David Byrne and Spike Lee join forces this relentlessly joyous celebration of music, life, and human connection – a spiritual successor to Byrne and Jonathan Demme’s 1986 iconic concert film Stop Making Sense that comes close to matching the original. Filmed in New York, it’s an enthralling showcase for the brilliance of Byrne‘s back catalogue, a bonafide Greatest Hits package with a contemporary and political spin. Above all, though, it’s just a whole lot of fun – a tonic for these troubled times (read our full review).
The Macaluso Sisters
Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema
Filmmaker Emma Dante adapts her own stage play about five sisters – Maria, Lia, Pinuccia, Katia and Antonella – who are left with no choice but to raise themselves after their parents are killed in 1980s Palermo. The resulting tale is frequently sunny, but one tinged with melancholy and sadness, as we watch the sisters grow over the film’s expertly paced 90 minutes.
Farewell Amor
Where to watch it: MUBI
This moving dance-drama from the Tanzanian-American writer-director Ekwa Msangiof tells the story of an Angolan woman who is reunited with her husband after spending 17 years in exile. The pair shack up in a tiny apartment in New York with their daughter, but find themselves bonding over a mutual love of dance. Their stories are told with warm and humanity in a touching, contemporary tale of lives lost and brought together again.
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
How deep is your love? Hardcore fans will be sure to treasure this in-depth chronicle of one of the most successful bands in music history – but newcomers also find this deep dive into their origins, fame, and legacy to be compelling viewing, too, as Frank Marshall’s documentary exposes every side to a band who are certainly beloved, but whose talent is often overlooked (read our full review).
The Racer
Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema
This engaging sports drama, directed by Kieron J. Walsh, hones in on the plight faced by a “support rider,” played here in an excellent and determined performance by Louis Talpe. He stars as a fictional Belgian cyclist whose job is to motivate his team’s star cyclist during a race, and whose mix-up with doping pulls him unexpectedly towards an early retirement. Co-starring Iain Glen.
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[Still Streaming…]
The Woman Who Ran
Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema
The latest from South Korean genius Hong Sang-soo tells a typically low-key and conversational tale of a woman who has three enlightening encounters with three friends while her husband is away for work. It doesn’t sound like much, but in typical Hong fashion the tiny details and quiet suggestions of this Rohmer-esque tale linger with you (read our full review).
Cocoon
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
No, not a remake of the Ron Howard film about old people rejuvenated by aliens, but a German-language coming-of-age drama, set in modern day Berlin, about a fourteen-year-old teenager’s sexual awakening. Directed by Leonie Krippendorff, it’s stylishly shot and thoughtfully written, with a great lead performance from rising star Lena Urzendowsky (read our full review).
Mank
Where to watch it: Netflix
David Fincher’s first film in six years is a reinvention of the history of Citizen Kane: an ambitious, monochrome musing on the life and legacy of Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, as played in a typically chameleonic performance by Gary Oldman. As Mank grapples with themes of authorship, it repositions Orson Welles’ classic – “the greatest film ever” – and poses bold questions about the movies and our relationships to the things we create (read our full review).
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Where to watch it: Netflix
The final film to feature the late, great Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a testament to his unique brand of talent and charisma. Directed by George C. Wolfe, it tells the true story of a 1927 recording session in which the titular “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey, played here with remarkable vigour by Viola Davis, clashes with her horn player (Boseman). The result is a jazzy yet dramatically weighty gem that deftly showcases the brilliance of its leads (read our full review).
The Prom
Where to watch it: Netflix
Love him or loathe him, the Ryan Murphy train is showing no signs of slowing down. His latest – The Prom – takes the Glee creator into familiar waters – it’s a musical, based on the Broadway show of the same name, about a group of down-on-their-luck singers who descend on a teenage prom. With big stars like Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman leading the way, it’s hardly subtle. But it’s also an over-the-top, glittering explosion of campy fun (read our full review).
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