Thiscracking Norwegian art-horror,written and directed by Eskil Vogt,appears to have no relation to the 1961 British film of the same title,except that each is about the dark powers of children. In this case,four outcasts find each other in the playground of a new high-rise block. Two sisters,one of them mute,befriend a mixed-race African girl who says she can hear other people’s thoughts. Through her,Anna begins to speak again. The fourth child is a lonely boy,also of mixed race,who can move small objects with his mind. His rage makes him dangerous. Vogt explores a wide terrain,but especially bullying. The story is shocking and at times confronting in its violence. It may be a film about children,but it is definitely not for them.PB
The Innocents is available to rent on Apple iTunes,Amazon Video,Microsoft Store,Fetch and Telstra TV.
Memoria
Nobody does “calming yet unnerving” like Thai genius Apichatpong Weerasethakul (best known forUncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives). His first feature made outside his homeland could beloosely described as a mystery story – one which starts from the premise that any culture is mysterious when seen from an outsider’s point of view. The outsider in question,played by Tilda Swinton,is a Scottish florist living in Colombia,who is woken one morning by a booming sound and sets out to track its origin. That’s about all there is as far as plot goes. But if you set aside expectations,adjust to the pace and,above all,listen closely,you may find yourself deeply and inexplicably absorbed.JW
Memoria is streaming on SBS On Demand.
Quo Vadis,Aida?
Jasna Djuricic’s Aida is working as an interpreter for the United Nations when Serbian troops march into her hometown of Srebrenica,led by infamous general Ratko Mladic. Bosnian writer-directorJasmila Zbanic’s film was years in the making,its production hampered by Bosnia’s lack of a film industry and the opposition of right-wing politicians. But its rocky trip to the screen has done nothing to dilute its power. The film captures the appalling intimacy of a war fought in streets where people once got along despite their differences. And after the shooting has stopped,you’re reminded that Srebrenica’s survivors are still sharing those streets with their tormentors. It’s a film so harrowing that you have to remind yourself to breathe. You won’t forget it.SH
Quo Vadis,Aida? is streaming on Binge and Foxtel Now.
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
The Oscar-nominatedDrive My Cargot more attention but of the two films by Japanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi to be released this year,this was my favourite. It’s atrilogy of tales of modern love in Tokyo,respectively involving a model confronting her ex-boyfriend,a mature-age student out to seduce one of her teachers,and a chance encounter between women who may have attended the same school. While there are no direct links between the stories,all three are built around lengthy,unpredictable dialogue scenes. A distinctive comic tone,bittersweet yet outrageous,prevails throughout. Hamaguchi is a real tease,which could also be said of several of his characters:what they’re really up to can be hard to fathom,but the guessing game is half the fun.JW
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is available to rent on Dendy Home Cinema.
Honourable mentions
All Quiet on the Western Front
Edward Berger’s visceral German war drama is a modern take on the Erich Maria Remarque novel that was adapted into a best-picture Oscar-winner with the same title in 1930. This version centres on 17-year-old Paul (Felix Kammerer),who forges a parent’s signature to join his friends on the Great War frontline. While there are similarities to1917,All Quiet is grittier and has more brilliantly memorable moments amid the senseless horrors on the battlefield.GM
All Quiet on the Western Front is streaming on Netflix.
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’sdizzying blend of melodrama,science fiction,martial arts and absurdism is a gamble that pays off. It’s a worthy vehicle for legendary action star Michelle Yeoh,playing a laundromat owner who literally finds her universe crumbling around her for reasons that have everything to do with her relationship with her adult daughter (Stephanie Hsu). Beneath all the pyrotechnics,this is the ideal companion piece toPetite Maman(see below). JW
Everything Everywhere All At Once is available to rent on Apple iTunes,Amazon Video,Google Play,YouTube,Microsoft Store,Fetch and Telstra TV.
Hive
A woman in a conservative Kosovan village tries to rebuild after her husband was killed in a massacre. Director Blerta Basholli looks at how one village has responded to war trauma. Thefilm is built on a towering performance by Yllka Gashi as the woman who decides to start her own business,despite the condemnation of the village. Based on a compelling true story.PB
Hiveis available to rent on Apple iTunes,Amazon Video,Google Play,YouTube and Fetch.
Parallel Mothers
Madrilenian maestro Pedro Almodovar takes a stock melodramatic plotline – babies swapped at birth – and turns it into adeep meditation on love and loss,with only occasional flourishes of the candy-coloured craziness and sexual athleticism we expect of him. Penelope Cruz and the much younger Milena Smit play two women who bond in the maternity ward. Their story of betrayal and reconciliation is mirrored in the larger backdrop of Spain’s recent history.SB
Parallel Mothers is streaming Binge and Foxtel Now.
Petite Maman
Celine Sciamma’s hit queer love storyPortrait of a Lady on Fire was on one level a reworking of the Orpheus myth.This follow-up for all ages brings the fantasy element into the foreground,and despite its outward small scale is no less seriously meant. Identical twins Gabrielle and Josephine Sanz,aged around eight when the film was shot,play strangers who meet in the woods in the French countryside and embark on a series of magical games.JW
Petite Mamanis available to rent on Apple iTunes,Google Play,YouTube and Fetch.
The Quiet Girl
Cait (Catherine Clinch),the middle child in a sprawling,dilapidated Irish family,is sent away to stay with Eibhlin and Sean - childless relatives on the other side of the country - while her mother gives birth yet again. Cait has learned the golden value of silence;she knows most of what she hears at home is too shameful to speak aloud and that there is no point talking back to the school bullies. So,she has no idea how to respond to Eibhlin’s kindness,which is as new to her as the pleasure of a hot bath,and it takes time for her to open up to gruff Sean,whose own quiet soul reaches out to hers. She also learns that even they have secrets.Colm Bairead’s lyrical Irish-language film,set in the ’60s,is a melancholy joy.SB
The Girl Quietis available to rent on Apple iTunes,Amazon Video,Google Play,YouTube,Microsoft Store and Fetch.
The Stranger
One of the best Australian films in a while,with Joel Edgerton as an undercover cop trying to lure a drifter into a confession. It’s based on Kate Kyriacou’s bookThe Sting:The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe’s Killer,but with many details changed. Morcombe’s family disowned the film,but it’s a serious and sober work. Director Thomas M. Wright delivers superb performances and an eerie tone.PB
The Stranger is now streaming on Netflix.
Three Thousand Years of Longing
George Miller’s film based on A.S. Byatt’s novella wasone of the year’s most audacious. It centres on Tilda Swinton as a hard-headed folklore expert and Idris Elba as the genie who bursts out of an antique bottle to offer her three wishes. The dramatised fairytales which follow have the burnished beauty of anArabian Nights illustration and Elba and Swinton’s scenes together play like a sophisticated romcom.SH
Three Thousand Years of Longing is available to rent on Apple iTunes,Amazon Video,Google Play,YouTube,Microsoft Store,Fetch and Telstra TV.
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