As Homer Simpson found when he went to work for Hank Scorpio, idyllic communities are rarely what they’re cracked up to be.
The picture-perfect town of Victory might not have its own hammock district, but it’s most definitely too good to be true, as Florence Pugh finds out in Don’t Worry Darling.
There’s more trouble in paradise for a holidaying couple in Silent Land, while Ziggy rises once more as Moonage Daydream celebrates the genius of David Bowie.
Plus, Halloween comes early as the Dead Northern Horror Festival returns to City Screen…
New releases
Don’t Worry Darling
Cracks begin to appear beneath the surface of a seemingly perfect 1950s community in this psychological chiller starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles.
Pugh plays Alice, a housewife who lives a blissful existence with husband Jack (Styles, in his first lead role) in the utopian company town of Victory, where the wives cook and clean while their husbands carry out the organisation’s all-important work.
However, a series of troubling incidents cause Alice to start questioning the world around her, bringing her into conflict with her friends and Victory’s cult-like leader (Chris Pine).
It’s an intriguing change of pace for actor-director Olivia Wilde, the woman who made Booksmart one of the best-loved teen movies of the last decade – and who also co-stars in this twisty tale alongside Gemma Chan (Eternals) and KiKi Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk).
Cert 15, 123 mins | |
Cineworld, City Screen, Everyman, Vue | |
From Fri Sep 23 | |
More details |
Moonage Daydream
From 1975’s Cracked Actor to the more recent Five Years films, the enigmatic genius of David Bowie is a subject that keeps filmmakers and audiences alike coming back for more – and glowing reviews suggest that this kaleidoscopic new celebration of the much-missed rock icon is one you’ll want to catch on the big screen.
Helmed by director Brett Morgen – whose acclaimed previous works include the Rolling Stones doc Crossfire Hurricane and Cobain: Montage of Heck – and made with the full support of Bowie’s estate, the film foregoes the standard rock doc format to provide a more immersive portrait of the chameleonic star.
Morgen’s unconventional approach certainly seems to have paid off, with the film picking up five star(man) reviews from several critics – including Bowie obsessive Mark Kermode, who hails it as a ‘dazzling mashup of elegy, celebration and intimate portrait’.
Cert 15, 140 mins | |
Cineworld, City Screen, Everyman, Vue | |
From Fri Sep 23 | |
More details |
Silent Land
An entitled couple’s picture-perfect Italian holiday takes an unexpectedly dark turn in this debut feature from Polish director Agnieszka Woszczynska.
Annoyed to find that the swimming pool in their glamorous villa is empty, Anna (Agnieszka Zulewska) and Adam (Dobromir Dymecki) are then irked and unsettled by the arrival of the local handyman (Ibrahim Keshk) sent to fix it.
When the man dies in a tragic accident, the couple’s relationship comes under pressure as they struggle to deal with the aftermath.
Cert 15, 113 mins | |
City Screen | |
From Fri Sep 23 | |
More details |
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Dead Northern Film Festival
Fans of all things ghoulish, gory and gruesome will be flocking to City Screen this weekend as the Dead Northern Horror Festival returns to scare audiences silly once more.
Boasting a mix of independent horror features and shorts from across the world, the festival prides itself on celebrating Northern filmmaking talent in particular – and with many of the filmmakers present at the festival, it’s a great place for budding Wes Cravens to meet the directors, actors and producers who managed to make their blood-soaked visions a cinematic reality.
Add to that screenings of two UK horror classics (Dog Soldiers and 28 Days Later) – plus live events including a Victorian séance – and you’ve got a line-up to make every gore-hound’s jaws slaver in anticipation.
Tickets are £7.50 for an individual screening and £35 for a day pass – or for £85 you can book a pass to all the weekend’s film screenings. Full details and tickets are available on the Dead Northern website.
Other screenings
With the (very) long-awaited sequel finally due in cinemas at the end of the year, it’s time to fall profoundly in love with Pandora once more as Avatar returns to the big screen this week.
Which is great news if, like me, you’ve never actually got round to seeing James Cameron’s box office-devouring sci-fi epic (I know…but it all just sounded a bit naff and gimmicky at the time) – or if you just want to brush up on your basic Na’vi before the new one comes out.
It’s back for a ‘two-week limited engagement’ – which does admittedly sound like some kind of pre-nuptial try-before-you-buy scheme – and you can catch it daily at Cineworld, Everyman and Vue, with both 2D and 3D screenings available (Cineworld also have IMAX 3D).
Over at City Screen, they’re celebrating an altogether different cinematic milestone on Sun 25th with a reissue of Oldboy, the super-violent revenge thriller which introduced South Korean cinema to international audiences on its release in 2003, paving the way for Parasite’s Oscar glory many years later.
It’s showing as part of a brief season in honour of director Park Chan-wook, whetting audience appetites for his forthcoming new film Decision to Leave, which is due out next month.
Oenophiles can raise a glass (maybe not of Merlot) to Sideways on Tues 27th, when City Screen are showing Alexander Payne’s hit 2004 road trip comedy about a depressed wine snob and his soon-to-be-married best friend – they also have another 25th anniversary screening of Jackie Brown on Thurs 29th.
City Screen have previews of Finnish coming-of-age tale Girls Girls Girls on Tues 27th, and The Lost King on Weds 28th – the latter starring Sally Hawkins as the amateur historian who discovered the remains of Richard III in a Leicester car park.
If you’re looking for a blast of musical warmth to take the edge off the autumn chill, Everyman have just the thing with Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story (Thurs 29th), a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the city’s iconic Jazz & Heritage Festival featuring contributions from Bruce Springsteen and Katy Perry (and presumably also some jazz musicians).
Meanwhile, Vue’s trek through Middle Earth continues with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Fri 23rd – Sun 25th), while their epic James Bond season nears its endgame with 2015’s Spectre, which saw the titular shadowy organisation return to the Bondverse for the first time since 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever with, in retrospect, mixed results. Great opening though.
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Your budget family-friendly choice at City Screen this week is 2019’s animated adventure Abominable, (Sat 24th, tickets £3.00), while Cineworld’s Movies For Juniors strand has period sequel The Railway Children Return (Sat 24th, Sun 25th, £2.50) and Vue’s Mini Mornings selection is Pixar’s latest Lightyear (Sat 24th, Sun 25th) – which also has an Autism-Friendly screening at Vue on Sun 25th (tickets £2.49 for all screenings).
And finally, Vue’s season of Pixar classics continues with the brilliant Inside Out (Sat 24th, Sun 25th, Tues 27th – tickets £6.99 – £9.99), the film which, among its many delights, finally and decisively answered the question of just what is going on in your cat’s head…
Community cinema
Film at the Folk Hall’s latest screening this Friday is one of this year’s most purely enjoyable films, as Jim Broadbent takes to the dock in The Duke.
Based on a true story, this highly acclaimed comedy drama sees Broadbent playing Kempton Bunton, a retired Newcastle bus driver who achieved notoriety in the 1960s when he went on trial for the theft of a prestigious painting from the National Gallery.
A latter-day Robin Hood, Bunton had held the painting to ransom with the intent of persuading the government to invest more in care for the elderly.
It’s a crowd-pleasing underdog tale with real heart and soul, and a terrific performance from Broadbent – and was also the last dramatic feature made by the late Notting Hill director Roger Michell, whose final film, the documentary Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts (available on Amazon Prime), has been given fresh resonance in the wake of the Queen’s passing.
The screening takes place at the Folk Hall, New Earswick on Fri 23rd – doors are at 7pm and the film starts at 7:30pm.
Tickets can be reserved via Eventbrite, or you can secure them in person at the Folk Hall reception or by calling 01904 752211 – the price is £5.00 (£4.00 for concessions), and there are also a small number of free tickets available for those who need them.