Best Films to Stream This Week in the UK

What to stream and rent this week, including Lin-Manuel Miranda's acclaimed musical and the latest oddity from Werner Herzog...

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

Hamilton

Where to watch it: Disney+

The long-awaited, original cast performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical phenomenon has arrived, forgoing its planned cinematic release in wake of the pandemic for an early unveiling on Disney+. A hip-hop retelling of the life of American “Founding Father” Alexander Hamilton, told primarily by way of a Black and Latino cast, Hamilton deserves every bit of praise that has come its way. This filmed recording captures exactly what has made the show such a smash hit all over the world – two and a half hours of pure musical bliss.

 

Family Romance, LLC

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Prolific German director Werner Herzog is back with one of his strangest films yet. It's a fictional drama about a real life Japanese company that specialises in renting out family members, not to mention a host of other wish fulfilment services. As is common with Herzog, the lines between what's real and what's not are blurred – a curio in every sense of the word (read our full review).

 

A White, White Day

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Writer-director Hlynur Palmason delivers this strange, psychological drama about a cop (played by Ingvar Sigurðsson) who has taken time off work after the death of his wife to get his life together. After stumbling on a photograph, though, he begins to suspect that his wife was having an affair. What happens next involves a series of unexpected narrative twists – and more false endings than you can count on a single hand (read our full review).

 

Welcome to Chechnya

Where to watch it: BBC iPlayer

This essential and vital documentary from filmmaker David France presents the unfiltered, distressing realities of LGBTQ+ Russians as they flee the torturous Chechen regime. A harrowing watch, which outlines the history of the region's anti-gay purges, and hones in on activists' nail-biting rescue attempts to help members of the queer community to safer territory (read our full review).

 

Lynn + Lucy

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

British short filmmaker Fyzal Boulifa makes his feature debut with Lynn + Lucy, a powerful exploration of female friendship and forgiveness, led by strong lead performances from Roxanne Scrimshaw and Nichola Burley. The story finds two best friends from Essex, now settled into normal lives with their partners, unaware that a tragedy is about to test their friendship in a huge way (read our full review).

 

The Booksellers

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

If you've ever wondered who lurks behind the musty tomes of an antique books store, this accessible, interesting documentary is for you. Set primarily within the New York independent book scene, The Booksellers explores a world most of us never grant a second thought, featuring interviews with some of the dedicated collectors still clinging to a fading business model (read our full review).

Still Streaming…

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Where to watch it: Netflix

Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams are an unlikely Icelandic pop duo dreaming of Eurovision success in this silly, joyful, and – at times – euphoric ode to the campiest of all contests. Directed by David Dobkin (Wedding Crashes) and boasting an array of earwormy original songs, it marks a welcomed return to form for Ferrell after a decade of misfires. Who knew? (read our full review).

 

Fanny Lye Deliver'd

Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema

Maxine Peake (outstanding) is the titular heroine in this gripping period folk horror tale – a kind of home invasion film thriller set in the late 17th century. Helmed by divisive British filmmaker Thomas Clay, it's a strange and genre-shifting story based around the arrival of a mysterious couple – played by Freddie Fox and Tanya Reynolds – who move in under Fanny's roof with vague intent. What are they hiding? (read our full review).

 

Athlete A

Where to watch it: Netflix

This vital and devastating Netflix doc explores one of the biggest sports scandal of our time, charting the decades of abuse suffered by the young women at the hands of USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Using interviews from the victims, investigators and those affected, Athlete A offers up a sobering portrait of complicity and asks that we do better (read our full review).

 

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 and the trans community at large. Featuring Lilly Wachowski, Jamie Clayton, Yance Ford, Chaz Bono, and Mj Rodriguez (read our full review).

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Reviews

The Innocent review – 60s-inspired heist movie with an existential twist

In his fourth feature film, writer-director Louis Garrel explores with wit and tenderness the risk and worth of second chances

Baato review – Nepal’s past and future collide in an immersive, fraught documentary

A mountain trek intertwines with a road-building project, granting incisive, if underpowered, insight into a much underseen world

The Beanie Bubble review – a grim new low for the “corporate biopic” genre

With none of the saving graces of Tetris, Air, or Barbie, this ambition-free look at the Beanie Baby craze is pure mediocrity

Everybody Loves Jeanne review – thoroughly modern fable of grief, romantic confusion, and climate anxiety

Celine Deveaux's French-Portuguese debut can be too quirky for its own good, but a fantastically written lead character keeps it afloat