Review

Best Films to Stream This Week in the UK

With the country in lockdown, we highlight the best new streaming releases, from devastating dramas to essential 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 heartfelt dramas, WeLoveCinema has you well and truly covered…

 

[New Releases]

Pieces of a Woman

Where to watch it: Netflix

Vanessa Kirby gives a remarkable performance in this devastating melodrama about a woman in the throes of loss, exemplified by an extraordinary 23-minute extended opening shot. As directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó, Pieces of a Woman is a profound and dizzying study of trauma, affirming Kirby as an actor of phenomenal talent (read our full review).

 

Robin's Wish

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

This considered and compassionate documentary is a successful attempt to reclaim Robin Williams’ death from the tabloid rumours concerning his death. Featuring interviews with those who knew him, Robin's Wish – made in collaboration by his widow – rebukes his status as a “sad clown” and sheds light on his then undiagnosed battle with Lewy Body Dementia (read our full review).

 

Deliver Us from Evil

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

South Korean filmmaker Hong Won-chan delivers yet another slick and violent action-thriller, this time about an assassin on a mission to rescue his nine-year-old daughter in Bangkok after she's kidnapped by organ harvesters. Epic hallway fights, brutal car chases, and commendable transgender representation… what's not to like? (read our full review).

[Still Streaming]

Yellow Rose

Where to watch it: Prime Video

West End breakout Eva Noblezada makes her film debut in a stirring musical drama about a young Fillipina woman trying to make it as a country star in Texas, co-starring her fellow Miss Saigon alumni Lea Salonga, who plays her mother. Packed with music, heart, and touching on themes of immigration and citizenship, it's a small film that packs a real punch (read our full review).

 

The Last Blockbuster

Where to watch it: Prime Video

This affable and nostalgic documentary finds its subject in the last ever Blockbuster video store, located in Bend, Oregon, and offers a much-needed look at a far simpler time. For those too young to remember… well, The Last Blockbuster grants an equally fascinating window into a world before instant streaming. Can you imagine? (read our full review).

 

Mayor

Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema

David Osit's documentary offers a fascinating, humorous, and humane profile of Musa Hadid, the Christian mayor of Ramallah, Palestine, during his second term in office. While Hadid strives to make the city as nice a place as possible, he also endeavours to end the occupation of Palestine. The result is an inspiring portrait of a dignified man battling a bizarre situation (read our full review).

 

Sing Me a Song

Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema

The intersection of ancient traditions and modern technologies lies at the heart of this curious documentary from filmmaker Thomas Balmés, which follows a young monk named Peyangki following the lift on the technology ban in his native Bhutan. As daily rituals are disturbed by the glow of his smartphone, Sing Me a Song poses interesting questions about our digital obsessions.

 

Soul

Where to watch it: Disney+

Pixar's 23rd film is a surreal, jazz-inspired foray into the space between life and death – a typically heartfelt and innovative exploration of talent and creativity, about a musician (Jamie Foxx) who enters a strange void and embarks on a journey of discovery. It's stunningly animated, deeply strange, and deliciously life-affirming – and landing on Disney+ just in time for Christmas (read our full review).

 

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets

Where to watch it: Curzon Home Cinema

One of the year's best films is this quasi-documentary about a Las Vegas dive bar, whose regular patrons come together for one final blowout before it closes its doors. Except the bar isn't in Las Vegas, and the patrons – most of them non-actors – have been gathered together for a fascinating vérité experiment that may or not be real. An intoxicating ode to fleeting connections and drinking into the early hours, it – somehow – makes for perfect Christmas viewing (read our full review).

 

Sylvie’s Love

Where to watch it: Prime Video

Eugene Ashe’s charming, old school romantic drama stars has the air of something plucked right out of the 1950s. Inspired, beautiful, and refreshingly sincere, Sylvie's Love tells the story of the daughter of a Harlem record shop owner, played by Tessa Thompson, who embarks on a beguiling romance with a saxophonist (read our full review).

Where to watch

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