With the country still in lockdown, we highlight the best new streaming releases, from charming comedies to fascinating docs
With the UK in another state of lockdown, we'll have to wait a while longer for the proper big screen experience. Fear not: we’ve rounded up the best of the latest streaming releases to keep you entertained until the capital's dream palaces return. Whatever you're in the mood for, from great documentaries to moving dramas, WeLoveCinema has you well and truly covered…
New Releases
Rams
Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema
The acclaimed 2015 Icelandic comedy-drama gets an Australian-set remake, shifting the action to a warmer climate but sacrificing none of the original's offbeat charm. Sam Neill and Michael Caton star as two sheep farmers who also happen to be estranged brothers, forced put aside years worth of resentment after their flocks are threatened. Miranda Richardson co-stars.
A Glitch in the Matrix
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Are we all actually living inside a computer simulation, just like in The Matrix? Room 237 director Rodney Ascher tackles the subject with his usual blend of archive footage, animation, and fan theories, not to mention interviews with the scientists and philosophers all pushing a theory that's growing in popularity every day. Mind-bending, at the very least (read our full review).
Greenland
Where to watch it: Prime Video
A Gerard Butler disaster movie that is not a disaster… who'd have thought? Based on the actor's previous foray's into this much-maligned sub-genre, it would have been easy to assume the worst of Greenland. In fact, this is a far more restrained piece of work than you might expect, for the most part eschewing overblown CGI in favour of sharp thrills and genuinely felt family drama.
Little Big Women
Where to watch it: Netflix
A stubborn matriarch (played by Grace Chen) must come to terms with the death of her estranged husband in this award-winning family drama from Taiwan, which was snapped-up by Netflix. Chen won the Golden Horse for Best Actress for her performance here, but the entire ensemble shine bright in a film that's by turns moving, funny, and poignant.
Still Streaming…
The Dig
Where to watch it: Netflix
Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan star in this irresistible historical romance, which reimagines the events of the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo, in which British archaeologists discovered a Viking ship buried beneath the soil. With the easy-going appeal of a BBC Sunday night drama, it boasts charm in (ahem) spades. Lily James and Johnny Flynn round out the cast (read our full review).
Beginning
Where to watch it: MUBI
A woman strives to get her life back together in the aftermath of a violent extremist attack on a Jehovah's Witnesses church in this gorgeous and contemplative drama from Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili. Featuring a stunning lead performance by Ia Sukhitashvili, it's no wonder this was Georgia's entry for this year's Oscars (read our full review).
The Furnace
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Roderick MacKay’s directorial debut tells the story of a bandit and an Afghan cameleer who venture through the country's unforgiving landscape, and is as brutal as it is spiritual. Featuring fine performances from stars David Wenham and Ahmed Malek, not to mention a sense of history to match its palpable heat, it's yet another fine addition to the revisionist western canon (read our full review).
The Capote Tapes
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
This fascinating documentary grapples with the long-standing question: who was Truman Capote? Using never-before-heard audio tapes in a bid to uncover the truth of the enigmatic writer, The Capote Tapes explores legacy – and makes a convincing case that Capote's whirlwind of a life might be his most fascinating work of all (read our full review).
Assassins
Where to watch it: Various streaming services
Another documentary to reaffirm that life is indeed far stranger than fiction, Assassins tells the remarkable – and frankly mind-blowing – story of the two women who were duped into killing Kim Jong-un's brother, Kim Jong-nam, who claimed to have acted under the impression they were taking part in a prank TV show. It really does need to be seen to be believed (read our full review).
Quo Vadis, Aida?
Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema
Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Žbanić’s helms this harrowing but arguably essential film about the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, as seen through the eyes of a UN translator – the titular Aida, played by Jasna Djuričić – as she desperately tries to lead her family to survival. It's a difficult subject, but Žbanić proves herself more than up to the task: the result is an appropriately distressing testament to those who lost their lives – one that refuses to pull its punches (read our full review here).
