Best Films to Watch in London and Stream This Week

We highlight the best of what's showing and streaming, including the new film from Hong Sang-soo and a terrifying doc about AI

Fancy a film but can't make up your mind? 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, either out in the world or in the comfort of your own home, WeLoveCinema has you covered…

 

New Releases

The Woman Who Ran

Where to watch it: Get London showtimes or watch it on 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: Get London showtimes

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).

 

iHuman

Where to watch it: Get London showtimes or watch it online

How scared should we be about the inevitable rise of artificial intelligence? Pretty darn scared, according to the scientists and experts in this fascinating and terrifying documentary about the rise of technology and its effect on our planet. Filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei interviews a variety of people, including Elon Musk's top scientist, and arrives at a disarmingly bleak conclusion (read our full review).

 

Dreamland

Where to watch it: Get London showtimes

Margot Robbie plays an unlikely bank robber in this entertaining crime thriller set during the Great Depression, with shades of Bonnie and Clyde. Some of the material might feel familiar in places, but the piece is elevated by Robbie's fantastic and dedicated lead performance as a charismatic fugitive who enlists a young teenager (Finn Cole) to her cause.

 

Il Mio Corpo

Where to watch it: Get London showtimes or watch it on Curzon Home Cinema

The lives of a Nigerian migrant and a young Italian boy are juxtaposed in this beautifully shot and moving docu-film from director Michele Panetta. It's a kind of constructed reality about two real people, playing themselves – Oscar, a lonely kid from a Sicilian fishing village, and Stanley, a migrant awaiting his visa – whose lives are destined to be drawn together.

Still in Cinemas and Streaming…

Mank

Where to watch it: Get London showtimes or watch it on 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, played here by Gary Oldman. As it 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: Get London showtimes

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.

 

The Prom

Where to watch it: Get London showtimes

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).

 

I’m Your Woman

Where to watch it: Get London showtimes

The always great Rachel Brosnahan, best known for her role in Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, stars in this throwback of a film about a housewife who's forced to go on the run as a result of her husband's criminal connections. Packed with great performances, especially from Brosnahan, it's a 70s inspired thriller that doesn't skimp on the character work (read our full review).

 

The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone

Where to watch it: Get London showtimes

Francis Ford Coppola has returned to the most divisive entry in his Godfather trilogy in order to make a few tweaks. But of all the changes, the most notable one might be the film's title, which swaps the original Part III for The Godfather Coda as though to finally agree on its less meaningful place within the wider story. Thirty years later, it remains a strange and uneven film, but this is the most definitive edition to date and an improvement on the existing cut.

Other Features

Repertory Rundown: What to Watch in London This Week, From Little Women to Sergio Leone

From classics to cult favourites, our team highlight some of the best one-off screenings and re-releases showing this week in the capital

Repertory Rundown: What to Watch in London This Week, From Coppola to Cross of Iron

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20 Best Films of 2023 (So Far)

With the year at the halfway point, our writers choose their favourite films, from daring documentaries to box office bombs

Repertory Rundown: What to Watch in London This Week, From Mistress America to The Man Who Wasn’t There

From classics to cult favourites, our team highlight some of the best one-off screenings and re-releases showing this week in the capital

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