From actual cinema releases to streaming gems, including a comedy about a dysfunctional nanny and a modern Korean classic made monochrome...
Fancy a film but can't make your mind up what to see? Look no further: we’ve assembled the best of what's showing in London, plus the latest streaming releases, and gathered them here to make choosing a great movie as easy as possible. Whatever you're in the mood for, out in the world or in the comfort of your own home, WeLoveCinema has you well and truly covered…
New Releases
Saint Frances
Where to watch it: Get London showtimes
The comedian and actor Kelly O'Sullivan writes and stars in a funny, life-affirming drama about a woman who befriends the six-year-old she's hired to nanny, unraveling, almost, as a series of interconnected vignettes about growing up, womanhood, and facing up to reality. O'Sullivan is masterful in the lead role; this dense and lovingly detailed film is a showcase for her talent (read our full review).
Alice
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Josephine Mackerras writes and directs this intriguing drama, set in Paris, about a woman – played by Emilie Piponnier – facing financial ruin after her husband spends all their money on escorts. In order to care for her child, she opts to become a high-end prostitute herself, Mackerras' film probing interesting questions about motherhood, sexuality, and the relationship between the two.
How to Build a Girl
Where to watch it: Amazon Prime Video
Beanie Feldstein, making waves after her appearance in teen comedy Booksmart, delivers a charismatic and endearing performance – not to mention a convincing Wolverhampton accent! – in this adaptation of Caitlin Moran's best-selling novel, about a young girl thrown into the music journalism industry. Alfie Allen, Paddy Considine, and Sarah Solemani round out the cast.
The Traitor
Where to watch it: Get London showtimes or stream on Curzon Home Cinema
Marco Bellocchio’s The Traitor is a crime saga-gangster film, written by the director himself, spanning three decades and based on the true tale of the anti-mafia Maxi trial of 1986. It's a vast and sprawling film, peppered with fantastically memorable sequences, featuring a standout turn from Pierfrancesco Favino as real life mobster turned informant Tommaso Buscetta, whose story, alternated with scenes of courtroom drama, is told in flashback.
Parasite: Black-and-White Version
Where to watch it: Get London showtimes or stream on Curzon Home Cinema
Bong is back, baby! South Korean masterpiece Parasite, this year's Best Picture winner, has been given a whole new look. Why? Writer-director Bong Joon-ho claims he approved this black-and-white version to evoke the feeling of “classic cinema.” Whether or not it enhances or detracts from the film's themes of social standing and class division is left entirely up to you. Safe to say it looks gorgeous either way (read our full review).
Still Streaming…
Clemency
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Alfre Woodard delivers one of the best performances of the year – perhaps of the 2010s – in this admittedly dour death row drama that doubles as an emotionally-charged character study. She plays Bernadine, a prison warden whose personal and professional life begins to unravel after years of overseeing executions in an unspecified US state. Directed by Chinonye Chukwu, it's tightly-controlled, gripping, and deeply affecting (read our full review here).
Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
And the prize for the film with the most intriguing title goes to…! This strange and surreal animated retelling of filmmaker Luis Buñuel's battle to make his second film, Land Without Bread, finds him down and out in Spain, facing crises both personal and professional. An affectionately told and uniquely animated tribute to a master of cinema (read our full review).
Father Soldier Son
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
A wounded soldier and his family are the subjects of this intimate and emotional documentary from Netflix. Shot over the course of a decade and made in conjunction with the New York Times, Father Soldier Son explores patriotism, masculinity, and the effects of war through the subtleties of daily life – and with a refreshingly apolitical approach.
Finding the Way Back
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Awkwardly retitled for overseas distribution, Finding the Way Back (originally just The Way Back) follows Ben Affleck's alcoholic construction worker as he finds redemption coaching a high school basketball team. The pieces might sound familiar, but this is Affleck's most dedicated performance in years, a movie that worked as therapy for the actor following years of personal turbulence (read our full review).
Greyhound
Where to watch it: Apple TV+
Tom Hanks returns to the same territory as Sully and Captain Phillips in a yet another movie about a competent captain facing a crisis at sea – this one based on the true story of the 37-strong convoy of ships who manoeuvred through enemy waters at the height of World War II. If this is just what Tom Hanks movies are now, we're completely fine with that (read our full review).
