We run down the week's best films to rent and stream, including a timely doc on trans representation and the latest from Olivier Assayas...
Going to the cinema might not be an option right now, but bringing the magic of the big screen directly into your home is – especially as studios opt to release the latest films on VOD platforms instead. What better way to take refuge from the bizarre situation currently gripping our world than with a host of unique, inspiring, and entertaining films?
As always, we've assembled the best of what’s showing (read as: streaming) and gathered them here to make choosing a great film as easy as possible. Whatever you're in the mood for, WeLoveCinema has you well and truly covered…
New Releases
Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen
Where to watch it: Netflix
Laverne Cox, star of Netflix's female prison drama Orange is the New Black, executive producers and features in this timely documentary about transgender representation on-screen. Sifting through the years, it highlights films like Silence of the Lambs and Dressed to Kill to explore the effect such portrayals have had on American culture. Featuring Lilly Wachowski, Jamie Clayton, Yance Ford, Chaz Bono, and Mj Rodriguez (read our full review).
Wasp Network
Where to watch it: Netflix
French auteur Olivier Assayas, best known for his playful meditations on the relationship between life and art, returns to similar territory once explored in his own Carlos. Here, a Cuban airplane pilot, played by Edgar Ramirez, flies to Florida in order to infiltrate an anti-Castro organisation, in a film based on a true story. Penelope Cruz and Ana de Armas round out the cast.
Dads
Where to watch it: Apple TV+
Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of legendary filmmaker Ron Howard, helms this breezy, likeable documentary about the joys of fatherhood. Making her documentary debut, Howard considers the lives of six dads from all over the world, alongside interviews from world famous fathers like Jimmy Fallon, Judd Apatow, Neil Patrick Harris, Ken Jeong, Jimmy Kimmel, Hasan Minhaj, and Will Smith.
Resistance
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Jesse Eisenberg stars in this well-meaning historical film about the life of Marcel Marceau, the legendary performer and mime whose efforts helped to save thousands of Jews from the Nazis. Directed by Venezuelan filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz, it co-stars Ed Harris and Clémence Poésy.
A Whisker Away
Where to watch it: Netflix
Japanese anime feature A Whisker Away tells the story of a young girl named Miyo Sasaki, who uses her ability to transform into a cat to attract the attention of her longtime crush. It's an animated film about a cat… need we say more?
On a Magical Night
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
The twelfth film from French filmmaker Christophe Honoré stars Chiara Mastroianni as a woman who holes up in the hotel across the street from her house to ponder her serial philandering. In a magical realist twist, she's visited by an array of lovers from the past, resulting in a film that's part martial farce, part screwball comedy, and part erotic drama – to varying degrees of success.
The Day After I'm Gone
Where to watch it: MUBI
When his daughter attempts suicide, a middle-aged father from Tel Aviv is forced to reconsider their relationship in this stylish drama from debut filmmaker Nimrod Eldar. Together they head to visit her mother's family on a journey of discovery.
Still Streaming…
Da 5 Bloods
Where to watch it: Netflix
Spike Lee's latest couldn't have come at a more appropriate time: an explosive, audacious, angry look at the experience of Black soldiers during the Vietnam war – and beyond. Lee powers his narrative through two separate timelines, dropping trademark flourishes and stylish embellishments, as a group of aged veterans head to Vietnam to dig up the treasure they buried there long ago. The influence of classic Treasure of Sierra Madre is strong; but Da 5 Bloods is as contemporary as filmmaking comes.
The King of Staten Island
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Judd Apatow – he of Knocked Up and Trainwreck and a million other Hollywood comedies – is back with yet another film built around the star persona of a somewhat divisive comedian: this time Pete Davidson (best known in the US for his work on Saturday Night Live) is cast as a loose version of himself, a wayward soul slacking off in Staten Island with his friends and family (read our full review).
New to Streaming…
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Opting for a colour-blind approach to casting, Armando Iannucci injects new life into an old classic, uniting Dev Patel (brilliantly charming as the titular hero) with a plethora of famous British faces, including Hugh Laurie, Ben Whishaw, Benedict Wong, Tilda Swinton, and Peter Capaldi. In a word: lovely (read our full review).
