Movie of the Week

• The Monkey

Cinemas

• I’m Still Here
• September Says
• I Am Martin Parr

Re-Releases

• Picnic at Hanging Rock

CAST: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy, Nicco Del Rio, Christian Convery

CREW: Osgood Perkins (director, writer), Dave Caplan, Michael Clear, Chris Ferguson, Brian Kavanagh-Jones and James Wan (producers), Nico Aguilar (cinematographer), Graham Fortin and Greg Ng (editors)

PLOT: Twin brothers Hal and Bill (both Convery) find a vintage toy monkey in their father’s attic, but after a mysterious string of violent deaths linked directly to the monkey, the brothers discard it and put their traumas to rest. Years later, the deaths are reignited, and the now-adult Hal and Bill (both James) must reconcile and destroy the monkey for good…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Fresh from terrifying audiences with last year’s standout horror Longlegs, writer-director Osgood Perkins is putting his devilish touch all over this haunting new tale of terror
• Perkins adapts the short story of the same name by the legendary Stephen King, with Conjuring creator James Wan serving as one of the producers
• Theo James puts in a pair of formidable lead turns as the twin brothers at the centre of the carnage, while there’s also room for some eye-catching performances from the likes of Tatiana Maslany and Elijah Wood
• Expect some gnarly gore as the malevolent monkey of the title inflicts a wave of murder and destruction in its creepily demented path
• Along with Longlegs, this movie should cement Perkins as one of today’s most stylish and effective horror filmmakers

The Monkey is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 February 2025

CAST: Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello, Guilherme Silveira, Valentina Herszage, Luiza Kosovski, Barbara Luz, Cora Mora, Humberto Carrão, Maeve Jinkings, Caio Horowicz, Camila Márdila, Charles Fricks, Luana Nastas, Isadora Ruppert, Daniel Dantas, Maitê Padilha, Carla Ribas, Pri Helena, Antonio Saboia, Maria Manoella, Marjorie Estiano, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, Olívia Torres, Fernanda Montenegro

CREW: Walter Salles (director), Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega (writers), Maria Carlota Bruno, Martine de Clermont-Tonnerre and Rodrigo Teixeira (producers), Warren Ellis (composer), Adrian Teijido (cinematographer), Affonso Gonçalves (editor)

PLOT: In 1970s Brazil, former congressman Rubens Paiva (Mello) lives an idyllic life with his wife Eunice (Torres) and their children in their beachside house. One day, Rubens is unceremoniously taken in for questioning by local militants, only to never be seen again, forcing Eunice and her family to deal with their unspeakable loss…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• This heartbreaking but oddly reaffirming real-life tale of life under Brazil’s military dictatorship is a definite must-watch for anyone with a beating heart
• The film, based on the memoir by Rubens and Eunice’s son Marcelo Rubens Paiva, is the first feature in more than ten years for director Walter Salles, best known for his Oscar-winning Che Guevara adaptation The Motorcycle Diaries
• Fernanda Torres gives the performance of a lifetime in a role that won her the Golden Globe for Best Actress (Drama) and is currently nominated for an Oscar for it too (with the film also receiving a nod for International Feature Film, and even a surprise Best Picture nomination!)
• In Brazil, the film became a massive box office hit, surpassing major blockbusters like Venom: The Last Dance and Red One during its opening weekend, and eventually becoming Brazil’s highest-grossing film since the pandemic
• It is undeniably powerful stuff, especially in its harsh depiction of authoritative rule that could well become vital in a few years if international politics keeps descending towards fascism

I’m Still Here is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 February 2025

CAST: Mia Tharia, Pascale Kann, Rakhee Thakrar, Rachel Benaissa, Barry John Kinsella, Claire Caulfield, Niamh Moriarty, Charlie Reid, Levi O’Sullivan, Amelia Valentina Pankhania, Sienna Rose Velikova

CREW: Ariane Labed (director, writer), Ed Guiney, Lara Hickey, Chelsea Morgan Hoffmann and Andrew Lowe (producers), Balthazar Lab (cinematographer), Bettina Böhler

PLOT: July (Tharia) has a strangely close relationship with her protective sister September (Kann), one that their mother Sheela (Thakrar) seems uncertain how to handle. After September is suspended from school, July begins to assert her own independence, leading to a series of strange events that are exemplified when Sheela takes the sisters to a remote family home in Ireland…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Greek-born actor Ariane Labed – recently seen (albeit briefly) in the Oscar contender The Brutalist – makes her filmmaking debut with a darkly oddball tale of sisterhood
• Labed adapts Daisy Johnson’s novella Sisters, and gives the already alarming narrative a peculiar flavour that recalls the films of the Greek Weird Wave
• Young actors Mia Tharia and Pascale Kann deliver a pair of fine-tuned performances as the eerily codependent sisters at the centre of the chaos, while Sex Education standout Rakhee Thakrar portrays their long-suffering mother
• Its deadpan absurdism and increasingly twisted plot will definitely please fans of the earlier works of Yorgos Lanthimos, who coincidentally happens to be Labed’s husband
• You may well come out of it without ever being able to look at your own sibling in the same way again!

September Says is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 February 2025

CAST: Martin Parr, Grayson Perry, Bruce Gilden

CREW: Lee Shulman (director), Emmanuelle Lepers (producer), Erik Wedin (composer), Maxime Kathari (cinematographer), Raphaëlle Martin-Holger (editor)

PLOT: The eccentric life and career of Martin Parr, one of Britain’s most prolific and gifted photographers…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• In this humorous documentary, viewers are given a snapshot of the world in which Martin Parr, the iconic British photographer, exclusively resides
• Filmmaker Lee Shulman follows 70-year-old Parr on a cross-country road trip doing what he does best: taking pictures of the weirdest and most wonderful aspects of British culture
• Parr’s life and career is retold using many of his past photos and other archival footage, which gives the audience a clearer idea of his diverse talents
• Several other prominent photographers like Grayson Perry and Bruce Gilden are also interviewed to give their perspective on Parr’s contribution to the world of photography
• If this is your first encounter with Martin Parr, or if you’ve been following his illustrious career for years, it’s a pleasant and pleasingly eccentric portrait that you’ll want to cherish forever

I Am Martin Parr is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 February 2025

CAST: Rachel Roberts, Dominic Guard, Helen Morse, Jacki Weaver, Anne-Louise Lambert, Margaret Nelson, John Jarratt, Wyn Roberts, Karen Robson, Christine Schuler, Jane Vallis, Vivean Gray, Martin Vaughan, Kirsty Child, Frank Gunnell, Tony Llewellyn-Jones, John Fegan, Kay Taylor, Peter Collingwood, Garry McDonald, Olga Dickie, Jenny Lovell

CREW: Peter Weir (director), Cliff Green (writer), Hal McElroy and Jim McElroy (producers), Russell Boyd (cinematographer), Max Lemon (editor)

PLOT: In 1900 Australia, a group of girls attending the prestigious private school Appleyard Cottage, run by its cold-hearted headmistress Mrs Appleyard (Roberts), embark on a day trip to Hanging Rock, where several students and their teacher Miss McCraw (Gray) suddenly and mysteriously disappear, leading to a troubling set of events that threaten the school’s future…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The iconic Australian psychological thriller makes its return to cinemas with an all-new 4K restoration in celebration of its 50th anniversary
• It was the first major adaptation of Joan Lindsay’s best-selling 1967 novel, and arguably the most famous as it became a critical darling and a box office hit, introducing international audiences to the Australian New Wave
• The adaptation was also an early triumph for director Peter Weir, who would later become known for films like The Truman Show and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
• Its haunting atmosphere and moody cinematography help to create a chilling sensation as the central mystery consumes so much around it, to where any proper resolution would undermine its power
• Fifty years later, the film is best remembered not just as a successful adaptation, but also as a compelling study of suppressed young womanhood that rings even truer today

Picnic at Hanging Rock is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 February 2025