Best Films to Watch in London This Week
All the movies worth catching in the capital, from an operatic documentary to the film that made "bullet time" cool...
Out and about this weekend? Fancy a film but can’t make your mind up what to see? Look no further: we’ve assembled the best of what’s on in London and gathered them here to make choosing a great movie as easy as possible. Whether it’s a heartbreaking romantic drama ignited by a taxi ride, or a chronicle of a submarine disaster that will shake you to the core, Walloh has you well and truly covered. No need to thank us.
Only You
The new film from Harry Wootliff strives to find the realism in the wake of that truly classic rom-com trope: the meet cute. After Elena (Laia Costa) and Jake (Josh O’Connor) end up sharing a taxi together on New Years’ Eve, their night of passion soon blossoms into love. Whereas this might have resulted in zany antics in another rom-com, however, there’s a lot more nuance to Only You. The result is a portrait of a romance that feels a lot like truth: brilliant and heart-breaking in equal measure, it captures the highs and lows of being in love by way of two actors who share a raw and glorious chemistry. If you come away from this one without feeling some inner sense of recognition, then you are likely dead already.
Get Only You showtimes in London.
Our Time
Our Time is no easy watch: at almost three hours, it’s a strange, indulgent, and – at times – even off-putting piece of cinema… especially when you realise that director Carlos Reygadas and his real life wife, playing the main characters, are almost certainly acting out a thinly-veiled version of their own relationship on-screen. But for all its indulgences, Our Time – telling the story of a poet/ranch owner whose relationship with his wife falls into despair after he learns she cheated on him – has a cathartic streak that pay offs. You can blame Reygadas for the runtime, but you have to admire him for utilising the medium – set amidst the gorgeous Mexican countryside, rarely depicted on screen – as pure confessional.
Get Our Time showtimes in London.
Never Look Away
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is a director who has tasted success and failure in equal measure: his political thriller The Lives of Others, released back in 2006, still stands as one of the best films about surveillance ever made. Then came The Tourist, an ill-judged Johnny Depp Euro-thriller which made his previous victory look like an accident. Thankfully Donnersmarck’s latest, Never Look Away, a gorgeously-designed melodrama based on the life of infamous artist Gerhard Richter, feels closer to his debut. Starring Tom Schilling, it’s undeniably excessive at three hours, but worth watching for the gorgeous production and aesthetic detail alone. The title, in that sense, is perfectly apt. Look away? You won’t want to.
Get Never Look Away showtimes in London.
Kursk: The Last Mission
Thomas Vinterberg was once known for his uncomfortable and acidic films adhering to the rules dictated by his own Dogme ‘95 movement. But the days of Festen are certainly behind us, as in recent years the filmmaker has sought broader fare. In 2015 there was an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, and now there is Kursk: The Last Mission, a retelling of the K-141 Kursk submarine disaster. Starring Colin Firth, Matthias Schoenaerts, and the always brilliant Léa Seydoux (never a bad thing), it’s a gripping portrait of a lesser-known but no less harrowing tragedy that fans of recent HBO pot-boiler Chernobyl are sure to find similarly fascinating, if occasionally hammy.
Get Kursk: The Last Mission showtimes in London.
Midsommar
The new crown prince of horror, Ari Aster, follows his sensational debut Hereditary with a trippy genre flick that also doubles as a break-up movie. Set almost entirely during the day, Midsommar follows a group of Americans as they venture off-grid to a remote Swedish village and find themselves at the mercy of a Pagan cult (uh-oh). Channeling classic folk horror The Wicker Man and featuring a stand-out performance from soon-to-be-a-household-name Florence Pugh, Midsommar is proof that Aster’s no one-trick-pony. Whilst it doesn’t quite reach the grief-stricken heights of his debut and its length might defeat some (it runs at a whopping 147 minutes), this is a gorgeous, hallucinogenic nightmare.
Get Midsommar showtimes in London or read our full review here.
Pavarotti
Ron Howard channels his inner documentarian for this portrait of the late, great Pavarotti, who became a famous opera tenor of such earth-shattering proportions only the surname was necessary. The no-fuss approach here is very typical of Howard, who has made a career from light, accessible blockbusters that charm in the moment; he doesn’t attempt to dissect Pavarotti as much as he sets out to celebrate him. You won’t come away feeling like you’ve been exposed to anything particular insightful, nor does the film play around with the form like the works of, say, Asif Kapadia. But Pavarotti is a worthwhile effort; if you’re unfamiliar with the story behind the man, this is an entertaining chronicle of an extraordinary life.
Get Pavarotti showtimes in London.
Apollo 11
Just when you thought we’d said all there was to say about the moon landing, along comes the best documentary ever made on the subject. Assembled entirely from gloriously-resorted archive footage (and fifty years in the making), Apollo 11 is proof that docs needn’t be overly stylised or padded out with endless talking heads: instead this one succeeds entirely on the sole brilliance of the mostly unseen, awe-inspiring footage assembled here, resulting in what now feels like the definitive account of a landmark mission. Riveting and totally refreshing in its simplicity, Apollo 11 is required viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in space travel – and that goes doubly for any landing conspiracy theorists out there.
Get Apollo 11 showtimes in London or read our full review here.
The Brink
Steve Bannon is best known today as the White House strategist who was fired by Donald Trump. This documentary, directed by Alison Kayman, finds Bannon in the aftermath of said firing as he flies about on a private jet, meeting with far-right leaders, one of which is (unfortunately) Britain’s own Nigel Farage. Kayman’s approach is to simply be in the room at the same time as her subject as he goes about his business, allowing his words and actions to speak for themselves. The “brink” of the title is left ambiguous – not a far cry away from the man at the centre of this bound-to-be-divisive but nonetheless intriguing film.
Get The Brink showtimes in London.
The Matrix
It would be fair to have assumed that The Matrix – twenty years after its first release – would have dated immensely, so reliant was its story on slow-mo special effects and ‘90s internet culture. The most remarkable thing, then, is to discover that it hasn’t dated at all. Not a bit. Instead the Wachowskis’ film still looks as incredible as it did back in ‘99 – a sci-fi thriller that makes today’s underwritten and overlong blockbusters feel like we’re getting shortchanged. Everything from Keanu Reeves’ stoic performance to the pop culture-mash-up approach feels perfectly rendered. And you won’t fight a tighter, more economical action movie screenplay anywhere. Don’t let the sequels tarnish your memory: this is a real masterpiece.
Get The Matrix showtimes in London.
Spider-Man: Far From Home
After six Spidey movies set in NYC, Far From Home bucks the trend and sends Peter Parker – the insanely likeable Tom Holland – on a summer vacay around Europe as he attempts to ditch the crime-fighting in favour of wooing the object of his affections (played by the ever-droll Zendaya). It isn’t before long before Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio has turned up from an alternate dimension, though, warning Peter of an impending threat. Given Far From Home’s status as the follow-up to Endgame, there was a fear it would flounder in the mess left by its predecessor. We needn’t have worried: this breezy summer romp brings Phase Three to a close in a fun and satisfying way. It’s also far weirder than it first appears (thanks, Jake).
Get Spider-Man: Far From Home showtimes in London or read our full review here.
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