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The best new movies to watch on streaming this week feature some big-name stars as well as some of the most acclaimed performances of 2024. Movies from all types of genres are available on streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Peacock, and Paramount+, with titles that will appeal to audiences of all ages and all tastes. With awards season heating up, this week features a lot of new titles on streaming that fans are likely to see represented at the 2024 Oscars.

Two actors who have been earning big awards attention are Kieran Culkin and Sebastian Stan with both of their respective acclaimed projects, A Real Pain and A Different Man, finding new streaming homes. There are also some big-name stars with big comebacks on the way as Cameron Diaz stars in her first movie in over a decade with Back in Action while Jennifer Lopez is earning some of the...

Night Call ties the action thriller format with political commentary that gives the movie a unique symmetry and emboldens the message it depicts. The French film also features remarkably talented actors in all central roles. The direction, Michiel Blanchart's feature-length directorial debut, is refined and delivers one clear voice throughout. All things considered, Night Call is a stirring and compelling film that immediately grabbed my attention and maintained it throughout its runtime.

Night Call follows Mady, a student and nighttime locksmith, who becomes entangled in a perilous manhunt after aiding Claire, a woman with a hidden agenda. When Mady discovers that Claire has stolen valuable property from the dangerous Yannick, he must navigate the night to clear his name.

Runtime  97 minutesGenres  Thriller, ActionCast  Valentin Wilbaux, Carole Trevoux, Graham Guit, Claire Bodson, Laura Masci, Jonathan Feltre, Natacha Krief, Toni D'Antonio, Marco Maas, Sam Louwyck, Guillaume Kerbusch, Romain Duris, Mustii, Jonas BloquetDirector  Michiel BlanchartWriters  Michiel Blanchart,...

A Black locksmith runs afoul of ruthless gangsters after opening the wrong door in a European city wracked by Black Lives Matter protests. Night Call gets style points as a slickly-shot crime noir thriller, but dramatically fails with illogical exposition and a flawed use of racial unrest to drive the narrative. The easily duped protagonist becomes the textbook "Magical Negro" stereotype common in cinema and railed against by filmmaker Spike Lee. Our hero throws self-preservation to the wind for eye-rolling gallantry when he could have rectified his own dire situation.

On a fateful night in Brussels, Belgium, Whiz-Lock employee Mady Bela (Jonathan Feltre) dutifully answers his cell and responds to those in need. He drills through locked doors to help hapless inhabitants back into their abodes for 250 Euros. Mady listens to classic musical CDs until a call from Claire (Natacha Krief) leads him to a convenience store. He follows her to a nearby apartment.

Jérémy Clapin’s French-language Meanwhile On Earth is a heady dose of minimalist science fiction. No laser beams, no interstellar wars. It’s in the same camp as Coherence or The Vast of Night, earthbound thrillers that underexpose sci-fi elements. Clapin translates the alienation of grief into an alien encounter rooted in emotional importance over extraterrestrial engagement. Meanwhile On Earth dances between genre disinterest and grounded storytelling, seeking forgiveness through soulful themes that confront psychological unknowns with an ungraspable sense of ambiguity.

Megan Northam stars as Elsa ​​Martens, the sister to missing astronaut Franck Martens (Sébastien Pouderoux in voice only). Elsa hears Franck speaking in her mind, and then another voice intrudes. A disembodied entity requests Elsa provide five individuals to be inhabited by invisible cosmic beings, and in return, they’ll release Franck. Nobody else can hear the voices, leaving Elsa to question whether Franck might return home after nearly three years.

Meanwhile on Earth (Pendant ce temps sur Terre) from writer/director Jeremy Clapin (I Lost My Body) is a slow-burn sci-fi story of grief and loss, and arrested development. The film stars Megan Northam (The Passengers of The Night) as Elsa, a budding illustrator and sister to famed astronaut who never returned from a fateful space mission. In her small French town, her brother Franck even has a bronze statue immortalizing him…which she routinely vandalizes to make him look like a superhero. Needless to say, it’s been hard for Elsa and her family to move on and Franck is never far from their thoughts.

In a bizarre twist, Elsa is contacted by her brother after she enters a paranormal vortex while gazing at the stars. But when her connection to Franck is cut short, and an unknown entity begins communicating with Elsa, she learns that she has been...

In Meanwhile on Earth (Pendant ce temps sur terre) a strange sci-fi/maybe-horror drama a woman in her 20s begins hearing her brother who was lost in space years ago, launching her into a dangerous and morally dubious mission to bring him back. Meanwhile on Earth makes for a subversive extraterrestrial movie with an ambiguous ending, as voices from beyond also start speaking to Elsa (Megan Northam) and demand she perform a series of tasks to get Franck (Sbastien Pouderoux) back. Yet the French indie film, for all its unique aspects, oddly resonates with some mainstream Hollywood media.

Meanwhile on Earth

Director Jrmy ClapinRelease Date September 13, 2024Distributor(s) Metrograph PicturesWriters Jrmy ClapinCast Sam Louwyck, Dimitri Dor, Sbastien Pouderoux, Megan Northam, Catherine SaleRuntime 89 MinutesGenres Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller Meanwhile On Earth Showcases Some Fascinating Visuals Steeped In Sci-Fi Vibes

Meanwhile on Earth opens with a beautiful shot of a space shuttle's interior,...

“Meanwhile on Earth” is a new live-action science fiction feature, directed by Jérémy Clapin, starring Megan Northam, Catherine Salée, Sam Louwyck, Roman Williams and Sofia Lesaffre, releasing November 8, 2024 in theaters:

“…’Elsa’ (Northam), along with her family, is struggling following the disappearance of her brother ‘Franck’, an astronaut who vanished during his first mission.

“While stargazing one night, Elsa is shocked to receive contact from Franck, but her joy is short-lived when she learns of the dark and troubling forces behind Franck’s reappearance…

“…forcing her to confront the lengths she will go for the brother she once feared was gone forever.

Click the images to enlarge…...

"The hotel is shrinking!" This film premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival and will be touring festivals before it opens sometime in 2025. From director Tallulah, Mr. K is another new Kafka story to get lost in. "Crispin Glover brings his best to Tallulah's delightfully Kafkaesque tale of a traveling magician who finds himself in a hotel full of unusual guests — with no way out." After spending the night in a remote hotel, Mr. K is stuck in a claustrophobic nightmare when he discovers that he can't leave the building. Glover stars with the ensemble cast featuring Sunnyi Melles, Fionnula Flanagan, Bjørn Sundquist, Dearbhla Molloy, Barbara Sarafian, Jan Gunnar Røise, Esmée van Kampen, & Sam Louwyck. TIFF teases more: "Though Glover's Mr. K expresses admirable patience and fortitude in the face of many curveballs, he inevitably starts to come undone. Conversely, Schwab grows ever more exacting in her control of the film's unabashedly peculiar tone.

In writer-director Jérémy Clapin’s downbeat science-fiction film Meanwhile on Earth, the promises of the future are already the naïve and tarnished daydreams of the past, while the present is a matter of inexorable decline. Lit in wintry tones of disillusionment, nearly every shot in Clapin’s follow-up to I Lost My Body evokes a kind of post-Futurist mood. At the same time, there are flashes of nostalgia for what we thought the present could be—if only we had believed in those daydreams hard enough for them to become reality.

The film tells the story of Elsa (Megan Northam), a young woman whose brother, Franck (voiced by Sébastien Pouderoux), has disappeared into the vacuum of outer space on an exploration mission. Her talent as an illustrator motivates Meanwhile on Earth’s several animated daydreams, in which she meets with Franck on a spacecraft that suggests something out of a Mœbius comic.

"A stunning sci-fi experience." Metrograph Pics has revealed another teaser for the indie sci-fi film titled Meanwhile on Earth, from French filmmaker Jérémy Clapin. It's now rescheduled to open in November, shifting a few months from the initial September date for a better fit later in the fall. This first premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival earlier in the year. Jérémy Clapin is the same director who made the excellent animated film I Lost My Body, which anyone can now watch on Netflix. In this new film, a young woman is contacted by her missing brother, an astronaut who vanished on a mission, but all is not what it seems in this sci-fi thriller. The intro from Berlinale explains: "Siblings Elsa & Franck were always very close. When Franck mysteriously disappeared during a space mission three years ago, everything changed for Elsa. Since then, the 23-year-old has struggled to move on with her life.

"No one will ever know we are among you." Metrograph Pictures has revealed an official trailer for an indie sci-fi film titled Meanwhile on Earth, from French filmmaker Jérémy Clapin. This premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, and opens in art house theaters in the US starting in September this fall. Jérémy Clapin is the same director who made the excellent animated film I Lost My Body, which anyone can now watch on Netflix. In this new film, a young woman is contacted by her missing brother, an astronaut who vanished on a mission, but all is not what it seems in this sci-fi thriller. The intro from Berlinale: "Siblings Elsa & Franck were always very close. When Franck mysteriously disappeared during a space mission three years ago, everything changed for Elsa. Since then, the 23-year-old has struggled to move on with her life. One day she is contacted by an...

Grief is a concept that everyone with a heart can relate to, but it’s not always something that everyone with a brain can deal with. Riffing on Jean Cocteau’s 1950 classic Orphée and giving it a very modern makeover, French writer-director Jérémy Clapin explores that very paradox with Meanwhile on Earth, a strange, poetic, and endearingly surreal meditation on the counterintuitive ways in which we react when confronted with loss.

In a very literal way, Clapin has been here before, with his acclaimed and surprisingly poignant 2019 animated film I Lost My Body, in which the disembodied hand of a pizza delivery boy goes on a journey to find the rest of itself. This much more cryptic follow-up pushes the notion a whole lot further, and whether it works or not will be in the eye of the beholder.

The loss this time is felt by Elsa (Megan Northam), who...

The first batch of titles for the Panorama sidebar section for the 2024 Berlin Film Festival were revealed today and we’ve got a Sundance Film Festival pair of international premieres in Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun and Jane Schoenbrun‘s I Saw the TV Glow. We also find Les Paradis de Diane by Carmen Jaquier and Jan Gassmann and world premiere status for Jérémy Clapin‘s Pendant ce temps sur with Megan Northam, Catherine Salée and Sam Louwyck. Here are the selections. The competition titles will be announced next month.

All Shall Be Well by Ray Yeung | with Patra Au Ga Man, Maggie Li Lin Lin, Tai Bo, Leung Chung Hang, Fish Liew Chi Yu

Hong Kong, China 2024

World premiere

When her partner Pat unexpectedly dies, Angie is left to worry about the flat in which the couple lived together for over 30 years.…...

Films starring Saoirse Ronan and Justice Smith are set for Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section.

Panorama announced its first 11 titles on Thursday, seven of which are world premieres. The lineup includes Nora Fingscheidt’s “The Outrun,” which stars Ronan as an antihero who must embark on a journey to find herself. “After years of excess in London, she seeks silence and self-reflection in her Scottish homeland,” the film’s logline reads.

Directed by Jane Schoenbrun, “I Saw the TV Glow” — which stars Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine and Danielle Deadwyler, among others — is also part of the program. In a press release, the festival called the film “one of the most idiosyncratic and fascinating works of the year, effortlessly crossing boundaries of genre, gender and trauma in this eye- and soul-opening trip.”

The annual Panorama Audience Award will be presented on Feb. 25. Berlin Film Festival is set to take place beginning Feb.

Crispin Glover, Sunnyi Melles, Fionnula Flanagan star in the film.

LevelK has boarded world sales on Dutch drama Mr. K starring Crispin Glover, which has wrapped filming and is now in post-production.

Back To The Future star Glover plays the eponymous character, a travelling magician who finds himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare when he can’t find the exit of the hotel he just slept in. His attempts to get out only entangle him further with the hotel and its curious inhabitants.

LevelK has released a first look at the film, above. Paradiso will release the title in Belgium.

Written and directed by Tallulah Schwab,...

The trailer has debuted for Jessica Woodworth’s sci-fi epic “Luka,” which has its world premiere in the Big Screen Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Films Boutique is handling international sales.

The film is Woodworth’s take on Dino Buzzati’s “The Tartar Steppe,” in which she crafts a fantasy of post-truth lunacy. Geraldine Chaplin plays the twisted General in a drama tinged with the conjured terrors of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” and the rapturous brotherly love of Jean Genet’s “Un chant d’amour.”

In the film, Luka, a young and ambitious soldier, embeds himself in Fort Kairos where heroic warriors defend the remains of civilization. His hopes to serve as an elite sniper are crushed when he is assigned to maintenance and must submit to the code of Kairos: obedience, endurance and sacrifice. As he rises through the ranks, Luka finds joy and strength in friendships with Konstantin,...

Luka

Shot in glorious B&w and Super 16mm, Belgian-American filmmaker Jessica Woodworth mounted this solo adventure utilizing the backdrop of Sicily back in October of ’21. Before being selected for the upcoming edition of Rotterdam, Luka was known as “Fortress” and was in the works dating back to 2017’s TorinoFilmLab. Jonas Smulders toplines the project sharing the screen alongside Geraldine Chaplin, Samvel Tadevossian, Jan Bijvoet, Sam Louwyck, Django Schrevens and Hal Yamanouchi. As we already know Woodworth was part of the filmmaking team with Peter Brosens beginning with Khadak which preemed at the Venice Days, followed by 2009’s Altiplano in the Cannes Critics’ Week, 2012’s The Fifth Season as a comp title in Venice, The King of the Belgians in Venice’s Orizzonti and The Barefoot Emperor a Toronto selection.…...

Like most parents, Marie (Laure Calamy) just wants to make sure her 17 year old son has the best chance to follow his dreams. What Adrien wants is to become a chef, but the school Marie wants to get him into is expensive. Marie has been a prostitute, by choice, for many years. She’s not shy about her job; Adrien knows what she does, she’s honest about it when applying for a loan, and happily stands at the front of protests with other sex workers. However, she’s not bringing in enough for Adrien’s tuition fees, so rather than continuing to scrape a living working from home, she calls in a favour from Bruno (Sam Louwyck) to get a job in the strip club/brothel he runs, leading to fallout with Adrien and the other girls in the club.

There are films about sex workers in almost every genre,...

Last week we got the first set of titles that will (for the most part) premiere at the 2022 San Sebastián International Film Festival. Earlier today, the Donostia folks lassoed thirteen films for their New Directors section. They include projects that we’ve been keeping an eye out on for a good stretch including Laura Baumeister‘s Daughter of Rage – a social issue drama that has taken its sweet time in post (there might be some Efx elements). We also find Dinara Drukarova‘s Le Grand Marin – which was co-wrote with Raphaëlle Desplechin and sees Drukarova, Dylan Robert, Antonythasan Jesuthasan and Sam Louwyck in the book to film project set in Iceland.…...

Wildebeest Trailer — Nicolas Keppens and Matthias Phlips‘ Wildebeest (2018) short film has been released by Ghent and Vimeo. The Wildebeest trailer stars Chris Boni, Sam Louwyck, Wilson Adje Gilles, and Annelore De Donder. Crew Nicolas Keppens and Matthias Phlips wrote the screenplay for Wildebeest. Koen Baeyens was the voice acting director for the short [...]

Continue reading: Wildebeest (2018) Short Film: A Middle-aged couple are Left Behind in the Wilderness during a Safari Trip...

"We keep our clothes on when we're on holiday!" Time for something a bit strange and wild. Wildebeest is an animation + live-action short film from Belgium by filmmakers Nicolas Keppens and Matthias Phlips. Going on a safari is a dream for many. For middle-aged couple Linda and Troyer, it turns into a horribly real adventure when they get left behind in the wilderness. With the voices of Chris Boni and Sam Louwyck as Linda and Troyer. "Both are based on a type of citizen we often met in the streets of our hometown near Ghent, Belgium. They could have been neighbors," the filmmakers explain. This is extra kooky and funny but there's a sweet side to it that makes it all worthwhile by the end. I dig the Gary Larson-esque character designs, they're a perfect fit for the savanna. To turn on subtitles - click the [Cc] button in the right corner.

Geraldine Chaplin, Jonas Smulders star.

Berlin-based sales firm Films Boutique has boarded Jessica Woodworth’s Belgian feature Fortress starring Geraldine Chaplin and Jonas Smulders.

It has released a first-look image of the film, which is in post-production, above.

Fortress shot for six weeks in Sicily in autumn 2021, with filming in black-and-white on Super 16mm film. US-Belgian filmmaker Woodworth wrote the screenplay, adapted from Dino Buzzati’s 1940 novel The Tartar Steppe.

It is about a young soldier, hungry for battle, who embeds himself in an isolated fort where men wait in vain for an enemy to strike. Jan Bijvoet and Sam Louwyck also star.

In the opening scene of Chino Moya’s grimmer-than-Grimm dystopian fairy tale collection, “Undergods,” a pair of grungy near-future garbagemen scour the ruins of a ghostly former metropolis looking for bodies. Like the Black Plague cleanup crew in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” — the occasionally too-efficient “bring out your dead!” guys — it doesn’t matter whether the corpses they come across are even fully deceased: The collectors toss the bodies into the back of their cart either way. Should the poor souls turn out to still be alive, they can always sell them for precious cans of scarce food back at the depot.

Moya’s vision may be bleak — and “vision” is the right word to describe the Spanish-born director’s stunning capacity to create images and atmosphere — but there’s something unnervingly familiar about the world he creates in his feature debut. Between that twisted introductory vignette and...

Stars: Johann Myers, Géza Röhrig, Michael Gould, Hayley Carmichael, Ned Dennehy, Khalid Abdall, Eric Godon, Tanya Reynolds, Tadhg Murphy, Jan Bijvoet, Kate Dickie, Sam Louwyck, Adrian Rawlins | Written and Directed by Chino Moya

I’ve mentioned it many times before but I really enjoy a good anthology movie. I’m not sure exactly why but from the classic eighties horror anthologies to the more modern takes on genres, they always grab my attention. Undergods manages to have a style and tone like no other anthology I have seen before.

The ‘wrap-around’ works much better than many other anthology movies, as we see two street scavengers, K & Z, who are loading dead bodies into their truck while chatting about their dreams. These chats lead to the other ‘segments’ of the movie. This wrap-around introduces us to the world that it is all set in. A bleak, industrial ‘future’ that is full of grey,...

Gravitas Ventures has acquired North American rights to Undergods, a fantasy thriller anthology movie directed by Chino Moya in his feature directorial debut. A May 7 day-and-date release in theaters and on-demand is planned.

The pic is a collection of darkly humorous fantasy tales about failed societies and doomed fortune told via a pair of corpse collectors who roam the desolate streets of an unknown city chatting humorously about their dreams, in which a series of men see their worlds fall apart through a visit from an unexpected stranger.

Geza Rohrig, Johann Meyers, Ned Dennehy, Hayley Carmichael, Michael Gould, Khalid Abdalla, Jan Bijvoet, Eric Godon, Tanya Reynolds, Tadhg Murphy, Katariina Unt, Sam Louwyck, Kate Dickie, Adrian Rawlings and Burn Gorman star.

Gravitas’ VP Acquisitions Tony Piantedosi negotiated the deal with Kirk D’Amico of Myriad Pictures, which continues to handle worldwide sales.

***

Veteran TV director Matthew Penn has been set to Badge of Trust,...

Jumbo Trailer — Zoe Wittock’s Jumbo (2020) movie trailer has been released by Dark Star Picture. The Jumbo trailer stars Noemie Merlant, Emmanuelle Bercot, Bastien Bouillon, Sam Louwyck, Barbara Hellemans, Jimmy Raphaël, Chris Caligo, Stephen Rohde, Idao Daccrissio, Noah Daccrissio, Eduard Nemcsenko, Jonathan Bartholmé, and Tracy Dossou. Crew Zoé Wittock wrote the screenplay for Jumbo. Thomas [...]

Continue reading: Jumbo Trailer: Noémie Merlant Forms an Attachment to a Amusement Park Ride in Zoe Wittoc’s 2020 Film...

"Have you ever felt something for an object?" Dark Star Pictures has released an official US trailer for the French indie Jumbo, which originally premiered at last year's Sundance & Berlin Film Festivals. Finally! I've been waiting for this to get released, because it's an underrated, kinky, quirky gem that deserves to be seen. Jeanne, a shy young woman, works in an amusement park. Fascinated with carousels, she still lives at home with her mother. That's when Jeanne meets Jumbo, the park's new flagship attraction. The two start an unexpected romance that cannot be defined. Noémie Merlant (from Portrait of a Lady on Fire) stars, with Emmanuelle Bercot, Bastien Bouillon, Sam Louwyck, and Tracy Dossou. I reviewed this from Berlinale last year, saying it's "uniquely original, surprisingly serious, and impressive." A worthy discovery. Here's the official US trailer (+ intl. poster) for Zoé Wittock's Jumbo, direct from Dark Star's YouTube...

UK distributor also sets release date for Tim Mielants’ ‘Patrick’.

Anti-Worlds Releasing has secured UK and Ireland rights to Zoé Wittock’s Jumbo from Paris-based WTFilms.

The surreal French drama received its world premiere in competition at Sundance earlier this year and was also selected for the Berlinale, playing in the Generation 14plus strand.

It marks the directorial debut of Belgian director Wittock and stars Noémie Merlant as a shy fairground worker who becomes attracted to one of the carousel rides. The cast also include Emmanuelle Bercot and Sam Louwyck.

Anti-Worlds was founded last year by producer Andy Starke of...

Stars: Johann Myers, Géza Röhrig, Michael Gould, Hayley Carmichael, Ned Dennehy, Khalid Abdall, Eric Godon, Tanya Reynolds, Tadhg Murphy, Jan Bijvoet, Kate Dickie, Sam Louwyck, Adrian Rawlins | Written and Directed by Chino Moya

I’ve mentioned it many times before but I really enjoy a good anthology movie. I’m not sure exactly why but from the classic eighties horror anthologies to the more modern takes on genres, they always grab my attention. Undergods manages to have a style and tone like no other anthology I have seen before.

The ‘wrap-around’ works much better than many other anthology movies, as we see two street scavengers, K & Z, who are loading dead bodies into their truck while chatting about their dreams. These chats lead to the other ‘segments’ of the movie. This wrap-around introduces us to the world that it is all set in. A bleak, industrial ‘future’ that is full of grey,...

In a desolate and decrepit cityscape, presumably in the time after some unspecified apocalypse, K (Johann Myers) and Z (Géza Röhrig) drive a garbage truck, picking up the dead bodies that lie strewn along their route. This is just the framing device for writer/director Chino Moya’s first feature, which drifts and digresses into other stories, all centring on a man whose familial equilibrium is disrupted by the sudden arrival of an outsider. A neighbour (Ned Dennehy) shows up at Ron (Michael Gould) and Ruth’s (Hayley Carmichael) door; a foreign inventor (Jan Bijvoet) proposes a project to Hans (Eric Godon) and Dom’s (Adrian Rawlins) life is turned upside down when his wife Rachel’s (Kate Dickie) first husband (Sam Louwyck) mysteriously reappears after fifteen years.

In the stories involving married couples, Moya seems to be building an allegory about the lack of communication, drawing parallels between the...

Following his acclaimed debut feature “Der Bunker,” Germany’s Nikias Chryssos’ returns to dark fables with a timely tale of a mysterious cult in “A Pure Place.”

The offbeat coming-of-age tale follows two young siblings who live in a secret community on a remote Greek island, isolated from the rest of the world, which they consider impure and dangerous.

Chryssos, who stems from a Greek-German family, describes “A Pure Place” as a “magical, poetic” story inspired by Greek mythology that explores “the contrast between light and darkness, cleanliness and purity.”

In the film, the pristine community on the island is served by child slaves who toil down in the darkness below. The young boy Paul, played by Claude Heinrich, must challenge the obsessive community in order to free his sister Irina (Greta Bohacek) from the nefarious machinations of the cult leader (Sam Louwyck).

Like fairytales that offer allegories of the real world,...

“Fortune favors the bold,” is a cornily-overused phrase that continues to be “overused” with purpose. Belgium’s Zoé Wittock could have scripted another lookalike coming-of-age teen romance. Instead, the daredevil filmmaker dares to explore a taboo-defying love story that wafts of concession stand popcorn and industrial lubrication oils in Jumbo. Intimacy posed as a malleable generality, still emotional, and attributed to internal pleasures versus external expectations. It’s cotton-candy sweet, visually poetic with a carnival’s neon-saturated exuberance, and without an ounce of “shame” to be felt by someone experiencing her brand of happiness. What’s so bad about being “weird,” anyway?

Jeanne Tantois (Noémie Merlant), an amusement park employee, is more excited than most for the funfair’s latest attraction: Move It. Customers see a stomach-churning spinny machine, but Jeanne sees a companion. Margarette (Emmanuelle Bercot) wishes her daughter would find sexual awakenings with a man who won’t...

Even before coronavirus, Brazil’s film sector was in extraordinary trouble, victim of a near 18-month freeze on government film funding under far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

Now, many executives fear a radical shake out. “We have the incentive freeze, coronavirus, economic crisis, need for a new audiovisual law,” says Fabiano Gullane, one of Brazil’s biggest film-tv producers. The shingle has drama “Paloma,” from Marcelo Gomes, on tap.

“I fear for the future of medium-sized and small companies in Brazil,” he says. “They are near 100% dependent on [federal film agency] Ancine, [and] may well not have the cash-flow to survive the crisis.”

Adds producer Rodrigo Teixeira: “If we don’t have access to subsidies, production will stop, not only because of the pandemic but also the way Brazilian film financing is structured.”

The double crisis will push Brazilian companies into producing for TV as well as Brazil’s digital platforms.

Last October,...

“Another day working as the nighttime janitor at the tiny French amusement park. Everyone keeps asking me if they can fuck the Tilt-a-Whirl ride. Buddy, they won’t even let me fuck it.”

This line isn’t precisely in the script, but as if adapted from the mind of dril, the new drama Jumbo follows Jeanne (Portrait of a Lady on Fire star Noémie Merlant) and her intense, erotic, and heartfelt relationship with the new attraction at the theme park she works at. A five-armed spectacle of excitement and thrills, the ride is given some loosely sketched-out psychology in the form of fantastical neon light responses and electronic, almost alien humming as the two converse, but the story’s perspective is tied solely with Jeanne. As intriguing a narrative set-up as this might be, Zoé Wittock’s feature debut sways too emotionally simplistic and cookie-cooker in structure to rouse up much passion.

La Casa de Antiguidades

Brazil’s João Paulo Miranda Maria seems primed for international success with his feature debut La Casa de Antiguidades (Memory House), produced by Didar Domehri and starring Antonio Pitanga, Ana Flavia Cavalcanti and Belgium’s Sam Louwyck. Sebastian Lelio Dp Benjamin Echazarreta (Gloria; A Fantastic Woman), who also worked on Flora Lua’s upcoming Luz, serves as cinematographer. Maria’s 2015 short Command Action premiered at Cannes and his 2016 short The Girl Who Danced with the Devil competed in the Cannes short program, winning a Special Mention.…...

Jumbo

Belgian born Zoé Wittock promises to be a breakout director in 2020 with her debut Jumbo, (which the Sundance folks describe a “world of self-discovery and exhilaration for her literal object of desire“) a Belgian-French-Luxembourg co-production produced by Anais Bertrand, Annabella Nezri and Gilles Chanial. Her cast is headed by Noemie Merlant, writer/actor/director Emmanuel Bercot and Sam Louwyck. Thomas Buelens will serve as Dp.

Gist: Jeanne is a shy young woman who lives at home with her mother and works in an amusement park.…...

Didar Domehri’s Paris-based company, Maneki Films, is on board to produce “Memory House,” the feature debut of young Brazilian director João Paulo Miranda Maria, whose short films have played in Cannes and Venice.

The director started developing the script of “Memory House” in 2015 as part of the Next Step Program, a workshop created by Cannes’ Critics’ Week to help the directors of the 10 shorts playing in the sidebar to make their feature debut. Miranda Maria then took part in Cannes’ Cinéfondation program, and presented his project at the Paris Coproduction Village, an industry event organized by the team behind Les Arcs European Film Festival.

Miranda Maria has earned critical praise for his three shorts, “Command Action,” which played at Critics’ Week in 2015; “The Girl Who Danced With the Devil,” which won Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016; and “Meninas Fomicida,” which played at Venice in 2017.

Lensed by Benjamín Echazarreta,...

Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sami Bouajila, Sveva Alviti, Sam Louwyck, Kevin Janssens, Kaaris, Alice Verset | Written by Jérémie Guez | Directed by Julien Leclercq

In The Bouncer, Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Lukas, a tough nightclub bouncer struggling to raise his 8-year-old daughter. One day, Lukas loses control during an altercation with a client and ends up in jail, while his daughter is taken away from him. Things take an unexpected turn when Interpol recruits Lukas to bring down a Dutch ringleader operating from Belgium in exchange for his daughter’s custody.

You’ve got to hand it to Jean-Claude Van Damme. Unlike his contemporaries whochurn out action movies like its still the ’90s, making themselves look stupid in incompetent fight scenes and risible love scenes with younger co-stars, Van Damme has instead aged gracefully on-screen – embracing his age with roles that still require him to kick arse but also, thankfully,...

Never Grow Old is a dark, gritty western from Irish writer/director Ivan Kavanagh. A trio of repugnant outlaws take over a bleak frontier town. Their lawless, godless ways clashing with the fire and brimstone preachings of a temperance movement. Never Grow Old is an unforgiving look at human nature. The rain and mud soaked setting matching the ugliness of the premise. The film is absolutely riveting. John Cusack has his best performance in years as the terrifying and murderous villain.

The film opens in the frontier town of Garlow. The year is 1849. Emile Hirsch stars as Patrick Tate, an Irish undertaker and carpenter struggling to make ends meet. He has a beautiful pregnant wife, Audrey (D&#233borah Fran&#231ois), and two small children. The family is happy, even under the strict religious rule of the town preacher (Danny Webb); who has banned liquor and prostitution.

A stormy night brings...

"If something happens to my daughter, I'll kill you." Blue Fox Entertainment has released a new official Us trailer for the French action thriller titled The Bouncer, formerly known as Lukas (the lead character's name - used for its release in France). After an altercation sends a nightclub bodyguard into jail, he is forced to collaborate with the police to save his life and his daughter. His mission: infiltrate the organization of a dangerous Flemish gang leader to secure his freedom and gain custody of his 8-year-old daughter. Belgian superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Lukas, with a cast including Sveva Alviti, Sami Bouajila, Sam Louwyck, Kaaris, Kevin Janssens, Alice Verset, and Dimitri Thivaios. This looks like it might have some badass action, but the rest of it just seems so cliche with all the usual gangster tropes. Have at it. Here's the official Us trailer (+ new Us poster) for Julien Leclercq's The Bouncer,...

Other Angle Pictures handles worldwide rights.

Blue Fox has acquired rights to recent Fantastic Fest North American premiere The Bouncer starring jean-Claude Van Damme.

Blue Fox has set a January 11, 2019, theatrical launch for the French and English-language film directed by Julien Leclercq from a screenplay by Jérémie Guez.

Labyrinthe Films produced with Leclercq, Guez, Aimée Buidine, and Julian Madon. Other Angle Pictures represents international rights and introduced the project at Afm 2017.

The Bouncer centres on Lukas, a tough nightclub doorman struggling to raise his eight-year-old daughter. When an altercation lands him in jail, Lukas is forced to collaborate with the...

Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Bertrand Mandico's The Wild Boys (2017), which is receiving an exclusive global online premiere on Mubi, is showing from September 14 – October 14, 2018 as a Special Discovery.“I’m sick to death of this self. I want another.”—Orlando, Virginia Woolf, 1928Bertrand Mandico’s The Wild Boys depicts a metamorphosis from male to female, set against a landscape of gender fluidity. Upon a cursory glance, Mandico’s cinema seems to exist to be deconstructed. Like his short films, his first feature occupies an epicene world that collapses the binaries of biological sex and gender, extrapolating a dilemma described in Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” which addresses men’s creation and spectatorship of images of women on film. In The Wild Boys, Mandico complicates the spectatorship of biological sex in that the titular boys are all played by women.

The Bouncer Trailers Julien Leclercq‘s The Bouncer / Lukas (2018) movie trailers star Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sveva Alviti, Sami Bouajila, Sam Louwyck, Kaaris, and Kevin Janssens. The Bouncer‘s plot synopsis: “Lukas (Van Damme), a nightclub bouncer in his fifties who’s taken punches, litteraly and figuratively, struggles to raise his 8 year old daughter. One day, Lukas loses [...]

Continue reading: The Bouncer (2018) Movie Trailers: Jean-Claude Van Damme joins Interpol for Custody of His Daughter...

It is always a suspect decision to call a film “indescribable,” at least when assessing it as a whole. Certain aspects may and often do elude one’s ability to comprehend on a moment by moment basis, but in general a movie, especially one which adheres to a set narrative, can be summed up purely in terms of subject matter, theme, and so on. It might not necessarily be the case that there is nothing new under the sun, but it is quite difficult, at least at this point in the evolution of art, to create a narrative consisting of totally uncharted territory.

With that said, is The Wild Boy indescribable? On the most fundamental level, the directorial debut feature of Bertrand Mandico is certainly not: its structure and central conflict is more-or-less a direct cross between the rebellious coming-of-age story and the sea adventure. But it would be equally...

Don't mess with dad. Yes, he's still making movies!! Jcvd is back in another action movie, this one is titled The Bouncer, also known as Lukas originally for its release in France. Belgian superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme plays Lukas, a nightclub bouncer in his fifties who's taken punches, literally and figuratively, and struggles to raise his 8-year-old daughter. When he's arrested, the only way to get his daughter back is to work with Interpol to bring down a Dutch crime kingpin operating from Belgium. Also starring Sveva Alviti, Sami Bouajila, Sam Louwyck, Kaaris, Kevin Janssens, Alice Verset, & Dimitri Thivaios. This actually looks good. I dig how brooding and exhausted Jcvd seems, yet he's still always ready to fight. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Julien Leclercq's The Bouncer, direct from YouTube: And here's a different French version of the trailer for The Bouncer aka Lukas, also on...

Racer and the Jailbird Trailer Michaël R. Roskam‘s Racer and the Jailbird / Le Fidèle (2017) teaser trailer stars Matthias Schoenaerts, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Kerem Can, Sam Louwyck, and Stefaan Degand. Racer and the Jailbird‘s plot synopsis: “Roskam’s highly anticipated film takes place in the fast-paced world of racing, and centers on [...]

Continue reading: Racer And The Jailbird (2017) Teaser Trailer: Adèle Exarchopoulos Searches for a Way to Race & Love...

(Update: We have been provided a trailer with English subtitles)  It was back in February that we shared the first teaser for Gilles Coulier's Belgian crime drama Cargo and, already, we were much impressed by what was on offer. Veteran character actor Sam Louwyck - I first came across him in Ex Drummer and his presence in anything since has been a sure fire mark of quality - takes the lead inwhat promises to be one of the stronger pictures of the year. In the cold waters of the North Sea, Leon Broucke jumps overboard from his fishing boat in front of his eldest son, Jean. The old man slips into a deep coma, leaving his son with a huge debt and responsibility for the...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Though there are no English subtitles on the first trailer for Gilles Coulier's Belgian crime drama Cargo there really aren't any required to capture the attention and demonstrate that there just may be something special going on here. Veteran Belgian character actor Sam Louwyck - you know his face if you've been paying any attention to recent Belgian cinema at all - plays a key part, which is always a sign of quality, and the visuals really speak for themselves. In the cold waters of the North Sea, Leon Broucke jumps overboard from his fishing boat in front of his eldest son, Jean. The old man slips into a deep coma, leaving his son with a huge debt and responsibility for the family business. The...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

When the Night Has Come: Grandrieux Laments Lost Love

Seven years have passed since provocateur Philippe Grandrieux’s 2008 film Un Lac, and he remains somewhat of an acquired taste, though considering the subject matter, Malgré la nuit (Despite the Night) is surprisingly less galvanizing than his early features. The narrative, should we indeed call it thus, couldn’t be more simple, roughly concerning a British bloke returning to Paris to reconnect with his lost love. His reasons for leaving or returning aren’t apparently of importance once he disappears into a sort of Parisian ether, where passionate memories are pierced by a current state of abject degradation upon reconnecting with his troubled object of affection. The take away is more of a cerebral, extrasensory experience, existing as a diluted nightmare where pleasure and punishment are doled out in equal measure, which is hardly a surprise for those accustomed to Grandrieux’s filmography.

The Wonders

Directed by Alice Rohrwacher

Italy, 2014

Gelsomina (Maria Alexandra Lungu) is a 12 year-old head of household in a family of beekeepers. Her father Wolfgang (Sam Louwyck) keeps a tight watch on the business in their isolated plot of land in the Tuscan region. Two new events – the arrival of a reality TV show, and of a young boy, Martin (Luis Huilca) – change her world dramatically.

The opening of Alice Rohrwacher’s transcendent film is at once beautifully disjointed and metaphorical. A group of hunters move through the pitch-blackness only to suddenly and surprisingly come across the beekeeper’s house, secluded almost to the point of comedy.

The setup feels allegorical: the hunters are the real world, Gelsomina and company are a fiction, and the reality TV show will somehow bridge that gap. It’s not the only moment where Rohrwacher’s film feels nearly magical – a camel in the backyard,...