Best Films to Stream This Week in the UK

From a playful Romanian crime thriller to a documentary about romantic comedies, here are our picks for what to watch online...

Going to cinema might not be an option right now, but bringing the magic of the big screen directly into your home is – especially as more 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 movie as easy as possible. Whatever you're in the mood for, WeLoveCinema has you well and truly covered…

 

New Releases…

The Whistlers

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Romanian filmmaker Corneliu Porumboiu has made a career from purposely uneventful dramas satirising his native country's awkward bureaucratic systems. His latest, crime thriller The Whistlers, couldn't be more different. Set on La Gomera, an island in the Canaries, it follows a police officer tasked with infiltrating a crime syndicate by learning a secret whistling language, unravelling with a Tarantino-like playfulness.

What we said: The Whistlers forgoes the dreariness of small offices and stacks of paperwork for a noir-ish thriller about a police officer – playful, pulpy, and packed with incident for incident’s sake (read our full review).”

 

Infinite Football

Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema

Not one, but two Corneliu Porumboiu films arrive on VOD platforms this week – and what a double bill! As a sort-of sequel to his own The Second Game, Infinite Football offers yet another documentary about the beautiful game. Playful, personal, and self-aware, it hones in on Porumboui's childhood friend, Laurențiu Ginghină, who – following an injury – spends his time trying to improve football by tweaking the rules.

 

The Wretched

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

After moving to stay with his dad for the summer, teenager Ben quickly becomes obsessed with the weird goings on next door. But what is affecting his dad's neighbours, and what's all this about an ancient witch?Jean-Paul Howard and Piper Curda star in this Stephen King-inspired horror film that also feels like its directors, brothers Drew and Brett Pierce, are channeling their love for all things Spielberg.

 

Becoming

Where to watch it: Netflix

Sharing a title with her acclaimed autobiography of the same name, Becoming reaffirms what we already know about Michelle Obama as it takes a behind-the-scenes look at her book tour: that she's smart, progressive, and important. An entirely authorised account, produced by the Obamas themselves, it isn't exactly revealing, but offers an accessible portrait of one of the era's most defining woman.

 

Romantic Comedy

Where to watch it: MUBI

There is a tendency these days to cast an analytic eye over the genres and sub-genres that have come to define modern popular culture. Elizabeth Sankey's observant, video essay-like documentary Romantic Comedy takes a deep dive into what makes this fabled genre tick – one that has fallen out of favour in recent years, and now seems tinged with nostalgic.

 

Camino Skies

Where to watch it: Curzon Home Video

Six pilgrims – all of them dealing with their own personal and physical traumas – come together for an 800 kilometre-long pilgrimage in this spiritually-minded and uplifting documentary, which charts their epic journey trekking Spain's Camino de Santiago route.

 

Still Streaming…

The Assistant

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Unofficially dubbed as “the Weinstein movie,” The Assistant hones in on twentysomething Jane, played by a brilliant Julia Garner, as she navigates the toxic work environment perpetuated by her unseen boss over the course of a day. An unflinching look at broken power structures, it's more than just a #MeToo thriller, but a demand that we do better.

What we said: Utilising an ambient soundscape of keyboard-tapping and coffee-brewing in place of a traditional musical score, Green creates an environment of endless dread, where every ring of the phone feels like a bomb about to explode (read our full review).”

 

Ema

Where to watch it: MUBI

Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín refuses to be put in a box, having moved effortlessly between social-political works like No and biopics like Jackie over the course of his career. His latest, Ema, starringMariana Di Girolamo and Gael Garcia Bernal, might be his strangest yet. With a story about an adoption gone wrong, it pulsates with a bold and unique energy – and it's streaming for free for one day, May 1st, on MUBI.

What we said:The woozy atmosphere, emphasised by Nicolas Jaar's electronic score and Sergio Armstrong's neon-addled cinematography, makes up for any ambiguity, for the film itself – part relationship drama, part music video, part experimental dance piece – is pleasurable to watch on purely aesthetic terms (read out full review).”

 

A Secret Love

Where to watch it: Netflix

The 65-year relationship between Pat Henschel and Terry Donahue, two women – one American, one Canadian – forms the basis of touching Netflix documentary A Secret Love, a vivid, moving portrait of love thriving in an unfair world.

What we said: A Secret Love skilfully uses its limited scope to tell a heartfelt tale about the perseverance of love against all opposition, be it governmental bigotry, or the simple reality of time’s effect on us all (read our full review).”

New to Streaming…

1917

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Sam Mendes' thrilling World War I drama – shot as though to appear as a continuous, unbroken take – charts the mission of two young soldiers tasked with delivering a message that could save thousands of lives. It's technically dazzlingly, heart-in-your-mouth stuff, packed with cameos from basically every British actor who ever lived, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, and Colin Firth.

What we said: Who would have guessed the best video game movie ever made didn’t actually need to be based on one? (read our full review).”

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

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

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