Movie of the Week

• Snow White

Cinemas

• The Alto Knights
• Flow
• Y2K
• Santosh
• Ne Zha 2
• When Autumn Falls
• Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
• The Thinking Game
• Brief History of a Family
• The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru

Streaming/On-Demand

• O’Dessa
• Audrey

Re-Releases

• Bad Boys
• Just Another Girl on the I.R.T

CAST: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap, Ansu Kabia, Hadley Fraser, Lorena Andrea, Dujonna Gift, Colin Michael Carmichael, George Appleby, Samuel Baxter, Jimmy Johnston, Idriss Kargbo, Jaih Betote, Freya Mitchell, Jeremy Swift, Martin Klebba, George Salazar, Andy Grotelueschen, Tituss Burgess, Jason Kravits, Andrew Barth Feldman, Patrick Page, Emilia Faucher

CREW: Marc Webb (director), Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson (writers), Jared LeBoff and Marc Platt (producers), Jeff Morrow, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (composers), Mandy Walker (cinematographer), Mark Sanger (editor)

PLOT: Snow White (Zegler), a princess living under the tyrannical rule of an evil queen (Gadot), is forced to flee her kingdom and take refuge in a woodland cottage, where seven eccentric dwarfs happen to live…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Disney’s run of live-action remakes continues with their new musical reimagining of the studio’s landmark first animated feature
• Rachel Zegler embodies the wondrous spirit of the titular princess, while Gal Gadot is on menacing form as the intimidating fairy-tale villain
• This new version recontextualises numerous aspects of the original film, from some of its outdated plot points to the nature of the iconic seven dwarfs themselves
• Oscar-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have created a plethora of new songs to go along with many of the memorable ones from the 1937 original
• Whatever your opinions of Disney’s live-action remakes can be, you can’t deny that there’s magic to be had from witnessing the first-ever animated film be lovingly recreated in the modern age

Snow White is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: Robert De Niro, Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci, Michael Rispoli, Michael Adler, Ed Amatrudo, Joe Bacino, James Ciccone, Anthony J. Gallo, Wallace Langham, Belmont Cameli, Louis Mustillo, Frank Piccirillo, Matt Servitto, Robert Uricola

CREW: Barry Levinson (director, producer), Nicholas Pileggi (writer), Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler, David Winkler and Irvin Winkler (producers), David Fleming (composer), Dante Spinotti (cinematographer), Douglas Crise (editor)

PLOT: In 1950s New York, Italian-American mob boss Vito Genovese (De Niro) attempts to claim control of the city by ordering the assassination of his former friend turned rival gangster Frank Costello (also De Niro)…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• No, you’re not seeing double: there are indeed TWO Robert De Niros headlining this gripping crime drama
• De Niro plays both Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, whose bitter rivalry would ultimately bring about the end of Mafia rule over New York
• The actor reunites for the fifth time with director, Barry Levinson, who previously made awards favourites like Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam, Bugsy and more
• Some impressive production values have gone into replicating the uneven atmosphere of 50s New York and its then-rampant criminal underbelly
• It’s a strong old-fashioned mobster flick with not one but two excellent performances by a movie icon

The Alto Knights is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: N/A

CREW: Gints Zilbalodis (director, writer, producer, composer, cinematographer, editor), Matiss Kaza (writer, producer), Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman (producers), Rihards Zalupe (composer)

PLOT: After its home is consumed by a great flood, a solitary black cat boards a boat also carrying a dog, a lemur, a capybara and a secretarybird, all of whom the cat must learn to get along with as they sail towards a potential new home…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The sophomore feature of Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis, after his debut Away (now back in cinemas after being re-released last week), is a phenomenal achievement of animation
• It was created entirely within the free open-source graphics software Blender, and manages to boast visuals that put some of the more prominent animation studios and their own in-house systems to shame
• In a rare decision for a family-friendly animated film with animals as its main characters, there is no dialogue whatsoever, with Zilbalodis telling his story exclusively through visuals
• Critics and awards bodies across the world have lavished praise upon the film, with the film winning both the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature, as well as a nomination for Best International Feature Film, making it the first Latvian movie to be recognised in that category as well as multiple categories
• Children and adults alike will marvel at how maturely this film treats its audience, offering plenty of resonating themes that are timeless and emotionally powerful – all without uttering a single word

Flow is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison, Daniel Zolghadri, Lachlan Watson, Eduardo Franco, Mason Gooding, Kyle Mooney, Fred Durst, Charlton Howard, Miles Robbins, Alicia Silverstone, Tim Heidecker, Jacob Moskovitz, Lauren Balone, Ellie Ricker, Kevin Mangold, Sage Sedlacek

CREW: Kyle Mooney (director, writer), Evan Winter (writer, producer), Matt Dines, Alison Goodwin, Jonah Hill, Christopher Storer and Cooper Wehde (producers), Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans (composers), Bill Pope (cinematographer), David Marks (editor)

PLOT: On New Year Eve 1999, teenager Eli (Martell) and best friend Danny (Dennison) decide to crash an exclusive high school party, where Eli’s crush Laura (Zegler) is due to attend. However, when midnight strikes, all technological devices begin a violent worldwide uprising, forcing the teens to fight back before humanity is enslaved…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The end of the world has never looked so nostalgic in this hilarious retro comedy that shows a very different vision of the new millennium
• SNL veteran Kyle Mooney directs, co-writes, and even has a supporting role opposite prolific young actors like Rachel Zegler (in her second film this week), Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison and others, many of whom weren’t even alive in 1999!
• Mooney lends a creatively absurd lens to the alternate-universe apocalypse, including some inventive deaths involving various pieces of technology
• A soundtrack of late-90s hits keeps the momentum pumping – and there’s even a cameo from Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst for good measure
• It’s a fun comedy that will not only have you laughing hard but also fondly remembering a very different point in time

Y2K is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: Shahana Goswami, Sunita Rajwar, Sanjay Bishnoi, Kushal Dubey, Nawal Shukla, Pratibha Awasthi

CREW: Sandhya Suri (director, writer), James Bowsher, Balthazar de Ganay, Mike Goodridge and Alan McAlex (producers), Luisa Gerstein (composer), Lennert Hillege (cinematographer), Maxime Pozzi-Garcia (editor)

PLOT: In Northern India, recently widowed Santosh (Goswami) inherits her late husband’s job as a police constable, but soon uncovers a sinister web of corruption when she investigates a murder…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• This gripping Hindi-language crime thriller applies a much-needed feminist perspective on some of life’s harsh realities
• Lead actor Shahana Goswami is captivating as an unlikely cop who encounters some chilling enemies during a seemingly straightforward procedural
• Writer-director Sandhya Suri makes a compelling feature debut, for which she was BAFTA-nominated as well as numerous BIFAs including Best British Independent Film
• The film was also selected as the United Kingdom’s entry for the recent International Feature Film Oscar, a year after the country triumphed with The Zone of Interest
• Its rough depiction of certain acts of violence may be understandably tricky for some to digest, but that’s part of the film’s ultimate power as a compelling thriller that refuses to leave your mind

Santosh is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: Lü Yanting, Joseph Cao, Han Mo, Lü Qi, Zhang Jiaming, Wang Deshun, Li Nan, Yu Chen, Zhou Yongxi, Yang Wei

CREW: Yu Yang (director, writer), Wenzhang Liu (producer), Roc Chen, Wan Pin Chu and Rui Yang (composers), TBA (editor)

PLOT: After their mortal bodies are destroyed by a lightning strike, powerful warriors Ne Zha (Yanting) and Ao Bing (Mo) become spirits and are forced to share the same body until their regular selves are regenerated…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The animated Chinese epic that everyone’s talking about is finally ready to be experienced by UK audiences
• If it wasn’t apparent from the number in the title, this is a sequel to the hit 2019 Chinese blockbuster Ne Zha, which was also directed and written by Yu Yang, and based loosely on local mythology
• To the shock of many in the Western world, the film recently became the first animated film to gross over $2 billion at the worldwide box office (much of it from China alone), and by default the highest-grossing animated film of all time, marking the first instance a non-English and non-American film has done it
• It is also the biggest film in Chinese history, with merchandise and toy sales also becoming their own in-country phenomenon
• Beyond the incredible box office is an engaging action-adventure with dazzling animation and a massive scale that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible

Ne Zha 2 is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: Hélène Vincent, Josiane Balasko, Ludivine Sagnier, Pierre Lottin, Garlan Erlos, Sophie Guillemin, Malik Zidi, Paul Beaurepaire, Michel Masiero

CREW: François Ozon (director, writer, producer), Philippe Piazzo (writer), Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine (composers), Jérôme Alméras (cinematographer), Anita Roth (editor)

PLOT: Michelle (Vincent) is a retired woman living in a small Burgundy village who eagerly anticipates the arrival of her beloved grandson Lucas (Erlos) for the summer. However, when an apparent mistake throws everything into disarray, she finds comfort in Vincent (Lottin), the recently-paroled son of her friend and neighbour Marie-Claude (Balasko)…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The latest film from French auteur François Ozon is an intriguing mystery-thriller with shades of the Oscar-winning Anatomy of a Fall
• Acting veteran Hélène Vincent illuminates the screen as a character whose true intentions you’re never quite sure of until the final moments
• The events of the film are loosely based on a real-life incident in Ozon’s life, though hopefully they weren’t nearly as dramatic as in the actual movie!
• Setting the scene is the stunning rural backdrop of Burgundy, France, an area that has surprisingly not been shown that often on-screen
• It’s a film that will keep you guessing, and then leave you shocked when the truth is finally revealed, whatever it may be

When Autumn Falls is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: Maggie Barrett, Joel Meyerowitz, Brenda Bufalino, Denise Wolff, Sarah Meister

CREW: Jacob Perlmutter (director, producer, cinematographer), Manon Ouimet (director, producer), Signe Byrge Sørensen (producer), Diogo Strausz (composer), Josh Mallalieu and Estephan Wagner (editors)

PLOT: Maggie and Joel are married artists whose relationship is put to the test when Joel becomes Maggie’s caregiver after an accident…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• This intimate and emotional documentary highlights the fluctuating balance of a marriage between two competing creative talents
• Central to the film is the long-lasting bond between artist Maggie Barrett and her much more famous photographer husband Joel Meyerowitz
• The cracks of their union begin to show in raw footage of the couple debating and arguing about where their true priorities lie
• Filmmakers Manon Ouimet and Jacob Perlmutter also capture some tender moments of the elderly couple going through numerous changes together
• It’s a sweet ode to companionship in the twilight years of life, while also serving as a humorous but in parts quite moving look at what it is to love without question

Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: Demis Hassabis

CREW: Greg Kohs (director, cinematographer), Gary Krieg (producer), Dan Deacon (composer), Steven Sander (editor)

PLOT: Visionary scientist Demis Hassabis and his team at DeepMind, one of the world’s leading AI laboratories, attempt to crack the dilemma of artificial general intelligence…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Step into the scientific world of AI in a fascinating documentary that explores the human progression toward a major gain in modern technology
• Filmmaker Greg Kohs shot the film across a five-year period, keeping the camera on the various scientists as they go on a rollercoaster journey of highs and lows
• Central to the film is Demis Hassabis, the visionary whose commitment to scientific breakthrough, including within the field of AI, is alluring to say the least
• Some of the numerous successes covered in the film include the historic introduction of AlphaFold, a program that answered a 50-year-old question mark in biology
• As AI continues to dominate the news cycle, and increasingly in all our lives, here’s an intriguing look at the human people behind the wonders it can bring to our society

The Thinking Game is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: Feng Zu, Keyu Guo, Xilun Sun, Muran Lin

CREW: Jianjie Lin (director, writer), Ying Lou, Yiwen Wang and Yue Zheng (producers), Toke Brorson Odin (composer), Jiahao Zhang (cinematographer), Per K. Kirkegaard (editor)

PLOT: In China, after the repeal of the country’s one-child policy, young Wei (Lin) forms a bond with schoolmate Shuo (Sun) and soon introduces him to his middle-class parents (Zu and Guo), only for a strange and alarming series of events to consume the family…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• A family comes undone in unexpected ways in this dark and moody Chinese thriller
• Filmmaker Jianjie Lin makes his feature debut with a European co-produced film that echoes Yorgos Lanthimos’s own eerie family drama The Killing of a Sacred Deer
• The film explores the fallout of Chinese society following the end of the country’s controversial one-child policy, which was designed to suppress overpopulation but ended up causing all sorts of trouble for families
• It made an impression at film festivals across the world, including Sundance – where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in Dramatic World Cinema – and Berlin among many others
• Both a shocking portrait of suppressed family life and a fiery commentary on the restrictions of the Chinese government, this is an unusual but worthwhile viewing experience

Brief History of a Family is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: Li Fang, Brian Finch, Tony Banham, Lin Agen, Dennis Morley, William Beningfield

CREW: Li Fang (director, producer), Li Gong (director, editor), Ming Fan (director), Nicolas Errèra (composer), Florian Zinke (cinematographer), Tianming Li (editor)

PLOT: In 1942, a Japanese ship called the Lisbon Maru was secretly carrying several British prisoners of war, when an American submarine unknowingly struck and sunk the ship off the coast of China. In the present day, filmmaker Li Fang leads a crew in extensive historical research and eventually an excavation mission to uncover the long-buried secrets of the ship…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The untold story of an obscure event from the Second World War is brought to the surface in a documentary that pays profound respect to the tragic victims
• Chinese filmmaker Li Fang, along with co-directors Ming Fan and Li Gong, recreates the stories of those onboard the titular ship through heavily researched artefacts, and interviews with their descendants
• It became an unexpected box office hit in China, with the glowing reviews highlighting its fierce dedication to giving the lost victims a voice after more than eighty years
• However, Oscar consideration went out the window when the film – originally submitted as China’s entry for the International Feature Film award – was disqualified for not meeting the minimum language requirements
• Nonetheless, it’s a fascinating slice of historical factual entertainment that sheds light on a forgotten tragedy during an already tragic period of history

The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru is showing in cinemas from Thursday 20 March 2025

CAST: Sadie Sink, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Murray Bartlett, Regina Hall, Mark Boone Junior, Pokey LaFarge, Marinko Prga

CREW: Geremy Jasper (director, writer, composer), Michael Gottwald and Noah Stahl (producers), Jason Binnick (composer), Rina Yang (cinematographer), Jay Rabinowitz and Jane Rizzo (editors)

PLOT: In a dangerous post-apocalyptic world, O’Dessa (Sink) is a farm girl who sets out on a journey to retrieve a lost family heirloom. Her search brings her to a city where she meets her one true love, a young man named Euri (Harrison Jr.), but she must face off against the tyrannical Plutonovich (Bartlett) in order to free his soul…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Following the controversial plight of Emilia Pérez comes an all-new rock opera that blows the Netflix awards contender out of the water
• The madcap musical epic is the brainchild of writer-director Geremy Jasper, who previously impressed with his Sundance rap saga Patti Cake$
• Stranger Things star Sadie Sink leads the formidable cast, which also include Kelvin Harrison Jr., The White Lotus breakout Murray Bartlett, and an unrecognisable Regina Hall
• Aside from the passionate musical numbers, expect some wacky post-apocalyptic sets and costumes to dominate the psychedelic neon-lit environments
• With no less than 16 original songs on its soundtrack, this is a movie musical that you may just well fall in love with over and over again

O’Dessa is streaming exclusively on Disney+ from Thursday 20 March 2025

CAST: Jackie van Beek, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Josephine Blazier, Hannah Diviney, Aaron Fa’aoso, Fraser Anderson, Gael Ballantyne, Jeanda St James, Tiare Brooks, Darren Gilshenan, John McNeill, Kylie Loveday, Greg Moody

CREW: Natalie Bailey (director), Lou Sanz (writer), Diya Eid, Dan Lake, Shannon Wilson and Michael Wrenn (producers), Alex Cameron (composer), Simon Ozolins (cinematographer), Katrina Barker (editor)

PLOT: Ronnie Lipstick (van Beek), a forgotten soap opera star, has spent most of her adult life trying to shape her daughter Audrey (Blazier) into the star that Ronnie has always wanted to be. However, when Audrey falls into a coma, a desperate Ronnie assumes her daughter’s identity to attend a prestigious acting masterclass that could launch Audrey’s career…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Get ready to feel all kinds of uncomfortable in this darkly funny Australian comedy about the lengths one will go for fame and success
• New Zealand actor and filmmaker Jackie van Beek gives a hilarious lead turn as a narcissistic mother who monstrously exploits her daughter’s condition for self-gain
• Natalie Bailey makes her feature directorial debut after making episodes of numerous TV shows like The Thick of It and Retrograde
• The film gained attention at film festivals across the world, from London to SXSW, and even gained numerous nominations at several homegrown awards bodies
• Both uncomfortably hilarious and hilariously uncomfortable, it’s a film that pulls no punches in exposing how devious some people can be in their pursuit of notoriety

Audrey is available to rent/buy on digital platforms from Monday 17 March 2025

CAST: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Téa Leoni, Tchéky Karyo, Theresa Randle, Joe Pantoliano, Marg Helgenberger, Nestor Serrano, Julio Oscar Mechoso, Saverio Guerra, Anna Thompson, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Imperioli, Vic Manni, Frank John Hughes, Ralph Gonzales, Marc Macaulay, Emmanuel Xuereb, John Salley, Karen Alexander, Shaun Toub, Kim Coates, Michael ‘Bear’ Taliferro, Ed Amatrudo, Lisa Boyle

CREW: Michael Bay (director), Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland and Doug Richardson (writers), Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson (producers), Mark Mancina (composer), Howard Atherton (cinematographer), Christian Wagner (editor)

PLOT: In Miami, narcotics detectives and best friends Mike Lowery (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) are tasked with finding the person responsible for stealing $100 million worth of heroin from the evidence storage room in the police department…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The first wild entry in the long-running buddy-cop action franchise is back on the big screen in celebration of its 30th anniversary
• Will Smith and Martin Lawrence made quite the pair as the two wisecracking cops at its centre, with sharp chemistry and comedic timing to go along with their action-movie badassery
• It was also the feature directorial debut of Michael Bay (and is, coincidentally, perhaps the most restrained that the filmmaker’s explosive style has ever been)
• Though reviews at the time were mixed, the film became a box office hit, paving the way for three more sequels over the following three decades
• As if all of that wasn’t enough, it’s produced by legendary duo Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, who brought their usual crowd-pleasing energy to an action favourite that has remained beloved all these years later

Bad Boys is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025

CAST: Ariyan A. Johnson, Kevin Thigpen, Ebony Jerido, Chequita Jackson, Jerard Washington, Tony Wilkes, Karen Robinson, Johnny Roses, Kisha Richardson, Monet Cherise Dunham, Wendell Moore, William Badgett

CREW: Leslie Harris (director, writer, producer), Erwin Wilson (producer), Eric Sadler (composer), Richard Connors (cinematographer), Jack Haigis (editor)

PLOT: Chantel Mitchell (Johnson), a 17-year-old living in Brooklyn, dreams of leaving her unidyllic life behind for college and a career as a doctor, but faces numerous personal challenges that could derail everything she hopes for…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The ahead-of-its-time Brooklyn-set coming-of-age comedy makes its overdue return to cinemas more than thirty years since its debut with an all-new 4K restoration
• It gained attention for its then-unique perspective of female adolescence, as well as for the honest and feisty lead performance by Ariyan A. Johnson
• Despite critical acclaim, filmmaker Leslie Harris struggled to get another feature made (this is, to date, her only narrative film), a sad fact that highlights the harsh treatment of Black female directors in the industry
• Nevertheless, the film is remembered for being a pioneering representation of Black-led stories in cinema, arguably paving the way for some of today’s better-remembered examples
• With a sequel long-rumoured to be in development, now’s as good a time as any to check out the original and experience the impact it made at the time

Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. is showing in cinemas from Friday 21 March 2025