Friday Releases: Young Woman and the Sea & In A Violent Nature

Young Woman and the Sea

Directed by: Joachim Rønning
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Daisy Ridley stars as the accomplished swimmer who was born to immigrant parents in New York City in 1905. Through the steadfast support of her older sister and supportive trainers, she overcame adversity and the animosity of a patriarchal society to rise through the ranks of the Olympic swimming team and complete the staggering achievement — a 21-mile trek from France to England.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Daisy Ridley, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Stephen Graham, Christopher Eccleston, and Glenn Fleshler
Biography | Drama | Romance | Sport
PG (for thematic elements, some language and partial nudity)
USA (English)
129 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

In A Violent Nature

Directed by: Chris Nash
Studio: IFC Films | Shudder

When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it. The undead golem hones in on the group of vacationing teens responsible for the theft and proceeds to methodically slaughter them one by one in his mission to get it back — along with anyone in his way.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, and Charlotte Creaghan
Drama | Horror | International | Thriller
Not Rated
Canada (English)
94 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Jim Henson: Idea Man

Directed by: Ron Howard
Studio: Disney+

“Jim Henson Idea Man” takes us into the mind of this singular creative visionary, from his early years puppeteering on local television to the worldwide success of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and beyond. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard captures Henson’s restless creativity, ambition, and artistic evolution in the style and spirit of his complex subject, an artist who revolutionized television, inspired generations, and created some of the world’s most beloved characters. Featuring new interviews with Henson’s closest collaborators and children, as well as never-before-seen materials from his personal archives–including home movies, photographs, sketches, and diaries–Howard brings us an entertaining and insightful look at a man whose boundless imagination changed the world.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Fran Brill, Jennifer Connelly, Dave Goelz, Brian Henson, Jim Henson, Rita Moreno, and Frank Oz
Documentary | Biography
Not Rated
USA (English)
111 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

The Crow (1994 Re-Release)

Directed by: Alex Proyas
Studio: Miramax | Dimension Films

The night before his wedding, musician Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) and his fiancée are brutally murdered by members of a violent inner-city gang. On the anniversary of their death, Eric rises from the grave and assumes the gothic mantle of the Crow, a supernatural avenger. Tracking down the thugs responsible for the crimes and mercilessly murdering them, Eric eventually confronts head gangster Top Dollar (Michael Wincott) to complete his macabre mission.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

BACK TO THE TOP

The Dead Don’t Hurt

Directed by: Viggo Mortensen
Studio: SHOUT! STUDIOS

The Dead Don’t Hurt is a story of star-crossed lovers on the western U.S. frontier in the 1860s. Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps) is a fiercely independent woman who embarks on a relationship with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen (Viggo Mortensen). After meeting Olsen in San Francisco, she agrees to travel with him to his home near the quiet town of Elk Flats, Nevada, where they start a life together. The outbreak of the civil war separates them when Olsen makes a fateful decision to fight for the Union. This leaves Vivienne to fend for herself in a place controlled by corrupt Mayor Rudolph Schiller (Danny Huston) and his unscrupulous business partner, powerful rancher Alfred Jeffries (Garret Dillahunt). Alfred’s violent, wayward son Weston (Solly McLeod) aggressively pursues Vivienne, who is determined to resist his unwanted advances. When Olsen returns from the war, he and Vivienne must confront and make peace with the person each has become. Both a tragic love story and a nuanced depiction of the conflict between revenge and forgiveness, The Dead Don’t Hurt is a portrait of a passionate woman determined to stand up for herself in an unforgiving world dominated by ruthless men.

STARRING:

genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Viggo Mortensen, Vicky Krieps, Solly McLeod, Garret Dillahunt, Colin Morgan, Ray McKinnon, Luke Reilly, Atlas Green and Danny Huston
Drama | Western
R (for violence, some sexuality and language)
USA | Denmark | Mexico | UK | Canada (English, Spanish, & French)
129 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Handling The Undead

Directed by: Thea Hvistendahl
Studio: NEON

On a hot summer day in Oslo, the dead mysteriously awaken, and three families are thrown into chaos when their deceased loved ones come back to them. Who are they, and what do they want? A family is faced with the mother’s reawakening before they have even mourned her death after a car accident; an elderly woman gets the love of her life back the same day she has buried her; a grandfather rescues his grandchild from the gravesite in a desperate attempt to get his daughter out of her depression. Handling the Undead is a drama with elements of horror about three families, a story about grief and loss, but also about hope and understanding of what we can’t comprehend or control.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

BACK TO THE TOP

What You Wish For

Directed by: Nicholas Tomnay
Studio: Magnet Releasing

Ming Wang is an impoverished Chinese prodigy who flees Communist China to become a pioneering eye surgeon in America. When tasked with restoring the sight of an orphan who was blinded by her stepmother, Wang must confront the trauma of living through the violent uprising in his youth, the Cultural Revolution.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Nick Stahl, Tamsin Topolski, Randy Vasquez, Penelope Mitchell, and Juan Carlos Messier
Thriller
Not Rated
USA (English)
101 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Ezra

Directed by: Tony Goldwyn
Studio: Bleecker Street

EZRA follows Max Bernal (Bobby Cannavale), a stand-up comedian living with his father (Robert De Niro), while struggling to co-parent his autistic son Ezra (introducing William Fitzgerald) with his ex-wife (Rose Byrne). When forced to confront difficult decisions about their son’s future, Max and Ezra embark on a cross-country road trip that has a transcendent impact on both their lives. Directed by Tony Goldwyn, who also appears in the film alongside additional cast members Vera Farmiga, Rainn Wilson and Whoopi Goldberg, EZRA is an endearing and often funny exploration of a family determined to find their way through life’s complexities with humor, compassion, and heart.

STARRING:

genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg, Rainn Wilson, Tony Goldwyn, William Fitzgerald, and Robert De Niro
Comedy | Drama
R (for language, some sexual references and drug use)
USA (English)
100 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

The Great Lillian Hall

Directed by: Michael Cristofer
Studio: HBO Original + Max

As beloved Broadway star Lillian Hall (Jessica Lange) pours her heart, soul, and time into preparing for her next big role, she finds herself blindsided by confusion and forgetfulness. Battling against all odds to make it to opening night, while holding on to her fading memories and identity, she must navigate a tumultuous emotional journey — balancing her desire for the spotlight and the stark demands of the real world.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Lily Rabe, Jesse Williams, and Pierce Brosnan
Drama
TV-14
USA (English)
114 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Flipside

Directed by: Christopher Wilcha
Studio: Oscilloscope Laboratories

When filmmaker Chris Wilcha revisits the record store he worked at as a teenager in New Jersey, he finds the once-thriving bastion of music and weirdness from his youth slowly falling apart and out of touch with the times. FLIPSIDE documents his tragicomic attempt to revive the store while revisiting other documentary projects he has abandoned over the years. In the process, Wilcha captures This American Life icon Ira Glass in the midst of a creative rebirth, discovers the origin story of David Bowie’s ode to a local New Jersey cable television hero, and uncovers the unlikely connection between jazz photographer Herman Leonard and TV writer David Milch. This disparate collection of stories coheres into something strange and expansive–a moving meditation on music, work, and the sacrifices and satisfaction of trying to live a creative life.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Christopher Wilcha
Documentary
Not Rated
USA (English)
92 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

20,000 Species of Bees

Directed by: Estíbaliz Urresola Solaguren
Studio: Film Movement

In a small, sleepy village in the Basque Country, a sculptor named Ane and her three children arrive at her mother Lita’s home for summer vacation where they are surrounded by extended family and nosy neighbors. Ane and her mother’s relationship is strained — Lita disapproves of her daughter’s frayed marriage, career as an artist, and the way she parents her obstinate and mischievous children. Chief among them is eight-year-old Aitor, nicknamed Coco after it becomes clear that being referred to by the Aitor elicits feelings of distress in the child. Born biologically male, neither birth name nor the genderless nickname feel quite right, and Ane’s concern for her child grows as Coco becomes more withdrawn. The child’s only respite lies in the Basque hills, where Ane’s aunt Lourdes tends to the family’s beekeeping farm. Among the peaceful humming of bees and Lourdes’ open-minded guardianship, Coco slowly begins to confide in family and friends her discomfort in her body, eventually voicing a desire to be treated as a girl. As Coco explores her own developing identity over the summer, Ane and the rest of her family in turn must learn to accept the child as she is.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Sofía Otero, Patricia López Arnaiz, Ane Gabarain, Itziar Lazkano, and Martxelo Rubio
Drama | International
Not Rated
Spain (Spanish, Basque, & French)
128 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Summer Camp

Directed by: Castille Landon
Studio: Roadside Attractions

Simon (Théodore Pellerin) is a rising star in Montreal’s drag scene performing lively disco pop numbers weekly at his local club. Friendly with his fellow drag queens and supported by his sister, who delights in designing increasingly elaborate and beautiful costumes for his act, Simon vibrates with the passion of his adopted artistic community. When he meets Oliver (Félix Maritaud), the alluring new recruit at the club, their irresistible chemistry sparks an electric romance and a fulfilling creative collaboration. Their dynamic is mesmerizing and tender until Oliver’s dominant instincts and destructive behavior jeopardize Simon’s space in the spotlight. Simon has plenty of experience with tempestuous personalities — his mother, a bona fide opera diva, is back in his life after years on the road — but can he get out from under the shadow of their influence? Beautifully charting the highs and lows of falling in love and finding oneself in one’s art, writer and director Sophie Dupuis’s SOLO is a passionate feat of character-driven storytelling and visual extravagance, celebrating the drag world in all its splendor and heartache.

STARRING:

genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Beverly D’Angelo, Nicole Richie, Josh Peck, Betsy Sodaro, Dennis Haysbert, and Eugene Levy
Comedy
PG-13 (for sexual material, strong language and some underage smoking)
USA (English)
96 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

MoviePass, MovieCrash

Directed by: Muta’Ali Muhammad
Studio: HBO Original + Max

The unbelievable true story of Chelly Wilson, who escaped the Holocaust and built a porn cinema empire in New York City in the 1970s. Chelly was a Greek-born, Christmas-celebrating, Jewish grandma, who married men but was openly gay. This documentary charts her unlikely rise to wealth as a shrewd businesswoman on “The Deuce,” aka New York’s infamous 42nd Street.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Daymond John, Ted Farnsworth, John Fichthorn, Stacy Spikes, and Chris Kelly
Documentary | Comedy | Crime | Drama
TV-14
USA (English)
96 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Backspot

Directed by: D.W. Waterson
Studio: XYZ Films

An ambitious cheerleader (Devery Jacobs) faces both new adversity and the increased drive for perfection and triumph when she and her girlfriend are selected for an all-star cheer squad and its demanding head coach (Evan Rachel Wood). With a competition looming, Riley must navigate her drive with her crippling anxiety as one wrong move will bring her crashing to the ground.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Devery Jacobs, Evan Rachel Wood, Kudakwashe Rutendo, Shannyn Sossamon, and Wendy Crewson
Drama
Not Rated
USA | Canada (English)
93 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Deer Camp ’86

Directed by: L. Van Dyke Siboutszen
Studio: Panoramic Pictures

In the fall of 1986, six friends from Detroit travel north to partake in the annual tradition of deer hunting, but something horrific has been awakened. An ancient spirit seeks vengeance for the death of yet another Native American girl who’s gone missing or been murdered. In an ironic twist, the hunters have become the hunted.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Noah LaLonde, Jay J. Bidwell, Arthur Cartwright, Brian Michael Raetz, and Josh Dominguez
Comedy | Horror | Thriller
R (for bloody violence, some gore, pervasive language, and crude/sexual material)
USA (English)
85 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

The Young Wife

Directed by: Tayarisha Poe
Studio: Republic Pictures

On her wedding day, all that stands between a young woman and marital bliss with her soon-to-be husband is surviving the chaos and expectations of family and friends, each intensifying her spiraling panic.

STARRING:

genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Kiersey Clemons, Leon Bridges, Kelly Marie Tran, Michaela Watkins, Aya Cash, Sandy Honig, Brandon Micheal Hall, Lukita Maxwell, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Judith Light
Comedy | Drama
R (for language and some drug use)
USA (English)
97 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Big Boys

Directed by: Corey Sherman
Studio: Dark Star Pictures

A teenage boy’s unexpected crush turns a camping trip into a weekend of self-discovery in this heartwarming coming-of-age comedy.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Isaac Krasner, Dora Madison, David Johnson III, Taj Cross, and Emily Deschanel
Comedy | Drama
Not Rated
USA (English)
90 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

The Hangman

Directed by: Bruce Wemple
Studio: Epic Pictures

To mend their troubled relationship, a middle-aged door-to-door salesman, Leon, takes his teenage son on a camping trip into deep rural Appalachia. Little do they know of the mountainous region’s sinister secrets. A local cult has summoned an evil demon born of hate and pain, known to them as The Hangman, and now the bodies have begun to pile up. Leon wakes up in the morning to discover that his son is missing. To find him, Leon must face the murderous cult and the bloodthirsty monster that is The Hangman.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Lindsey Dresbach, Jessy Holtermann, LeJon Woods, Daniel Martin Berkey, and Jefferson Cox
Action | Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Not Rated
USA (English)
88 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Shadow Land

Directed by: James Bamford
Studio: Republic Pictures

Haunted by relentless nightmares foretelling his untimely demise, Former President Robert Wainwright summons his past psychiatrist, Elliott Dumont to his upstate residence to unravel the mystery. Dumont discovers the threat may be more real than imagined as they tackle a danger that lurks in the shadows of power.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Rhona Mitra, Jon Voight, Marton Csokas, and Philip Winchester
Thriller
Not Rated
USA (English)
89 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Protocol 7

Directed by: Andrew Wakefield
Studio: Abramorama

Based on real-life events, comes the corporate thriller, Protocol 7. Alexis Koprowski, a devoted mother and small-town family lawyer, Adrian Jay, a renegade doctor exiled from the medical profession, and Steve Schilling, a virologist at a prominent vaccine laboratory turned corporate whistleblower, work together to hold a large pharmaceutical corporation accountable for allegedly fraudulent test results behind a failing mumps vaccine. Protocol 7 takes us behind the corporate curtain, exposing a chain of command that devolves responsibility, prioritizes profits over people, and fosters an amoral mindset of “just following orders.”

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Rachel G. Whittle, Matthew Marsden, Josh Murray, Harrison Tipping, and Eric Roberts
Drama | Thriller
R (for some language)
USA (English)
88 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Guy Friends

Directed by: Jonathan Smith
Studio: Freestyle Digital Media

When Jaime, a self-described “guy’s girl,” and her boyfriend break up, all of her guy friends simultaneously profess their secret, undying love for her.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Kavita Jariwala, Katie Muldowney, Justin Clark, and Michael Dahlgren
Comedy
Not Rated
USA (English)
84 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes

Directed by: Sam Shahid
Studio: Greenwich Entertainment

An intimate look at pioneering artist George Platt Lynes, who took radically explicit photographs of the male nude. The documentary reveals Lynes’ gifted eye for the male form, his long-term friendships with Gertrude Stein and Alfred Kinsey, and his lasting influence as one of the first openly gay American artists.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Vince Aletti, Don Bachardy, Vincent Cianni, James Crump, and Jarrett Earnest
Documentary | Biography
Not Rated
USA (English)
96 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

The Uncivil War: America Divided

Directed by: Andrew Huff
Studio: Cap Studios

Tom and Byron have been best friends since childhood. Through forty years of friendship, they have experienced just about everything together. But that was before Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd as Floyd resisted arrest and Chauvin took his life. Tom is white, Byron is black. But that shouldn’t matter when they begin discussing the case, should it? After all, facts are facts. Or are they? What starts out as a simple conversation between two buddies discussing the case quickly escalates when their families and businesses are threatened. Will both men stick to their guns when their livelihoods and loved ones are at stake? In the year 2020, in a country that seems to hate itself, what chance could these two men stand at remaining friends? What chance did any of us have?

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Daniel Roebuck, Musetta Vander, Alexis Baca, Tanya Christiansen, and Kylee Nicole Peck
Drama
Not Rated
USA (English)
90 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Tacoma

Directed by: Jigeesh Magar
Studio: Buffalo 8

Two brilliant minds, each haunted by demons from personal tragedy, attempt to reinvent themselves through the discovery and formulation of a serum that transforms dying human organs into healthy ones. But the dangerous entanglements of one, and the dark, ominous presence that shadows the other, threaten to destroy not only their lives but the very purpose of their discovery for mankind.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Karrie Martin Lachney, Asher Deva, Eric Roberts, Joseph Stromberg, and Aylya Marzolf
Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Not Rated
USA (English & Spanish)
103 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

HAIKYU! The Dumpster Battle

Directed by: Susumu Mitsunaka
Studio: Crunchyroll

Shoyo Hinata joins Karasuno High’s volleyball club to be like his idol, a former Karasuno player known as the “Little Giant.” But, Hinata soon finds that he must team up with his middle school nemesis, Tobio Kageyama. Their clashing styles turn into a surprising weapon, but can they beat their rival Nekoma High in the highly anticipated “Dumpster Battle,” the long awaited ultimate showdown between two opposing underdog teams?

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Ayumu Murase, Kaito Ishikawa, Yuki Kaji, and Yuichi Nakamura
Animation | Comedy | Drama | Sport
PG-13 (for language)
Japan (Japanese)
85 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Invaders from Proxima B

Directed by: Ward Roberts
Studio: Buffalo 8

When a cute, wise-cracking alien from Proxima B named Chuck crash lands in their backyard, the Jankins family must work together to save their new fuzzy friend from a bizarre and dangerous array of weirdos that show up in hot pursuit. The stakes couldn’t be higher for Chuck, the Jankins, and maybe even all of planet Earth.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Christian Badami, Devin Barry, Travis Betz, Jeremiah Birkett, and Jhey Castles
Comedy
Not Rated
USA (English)
93 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

The Commandant’s Shadow

Directed by: Daniela Volker
Studio: HBO Documentary Films | Warner Bros Pictures

Follows Hans Jürgen Höss, the son of Rudolf Höss, the Camp Commandant of Auschwitz when he confronts his father’s involvement in the murder of over a million Jews during the Holocaust.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Adolf Hitler, Rudolf Hoess, Hans-Jürgen Höss, Kai Höss, Klemens Koehring, and Anita Lasker-Wallfisch
Documentary
PG-13 (for thematic content involving the Holocaust, some disturbing images, and smoking)
USA (English)
103 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Rowdy Girl

Directed by: Jason Goldman
Studio: Argot Pictures

After a spiritual awakening, a former Texas cattle rancher leaves the cruel cycle of animal agriculture and transforms her husband’s beef operation into a sanctuary. Executive produced by Moby, Rowdy Girl showcases the inspiring work of Renee King-Sonnen, who has lived on both sides of the fence, and proves that there is a common ground between farmers and vegans: a shared mission of compassion and sustainability. Jason Goldman’s verité style lovingly captures the dynamic connection between Renee, her husband Tommy and the hooved and feathered friends who inhabit Rowdy Girl Sanctuary.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Jennifer Barrett, Rodney Barrett, Jose Bustos, Renee King-Sonnen, and Valerie Peña
Documentary
Not Rated
USA (English)
72 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

The Keeper

Directed by: Angus Benfield & Kendall Bryant Jr.
Studio: LAMA Entertainment

A special group of military veteran hikers help a fellow vet battle depression, PTSD, and suicidal tendencies as he hikes the Appalachian Trail while carrying 363 military name tapes on a mission to prevent veteran suicide. A true story.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Carrie Keating, Angus Benfield, Bailey McCann, Daniel Knight, and Andrew Ferguson
Drama
R (for some language)
USA (English)
101 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP