Ava
Ava (Jessica Chastain) is a deadly assassin who works for a black ops organization, traveling the globe specializing in high profile hits. When a job goes dangerously wrong she is forced to fight for her own survival.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Chastain is utterly convincing in another tough-as-nails role.” – Boyd van Hoeij, Hollywood Reporter
“…the film’s heart belongs to its non-action scenes: simply staged face-offs between Chastain’s Ava, a recovering alcoholic and former teenaged delinquent, and supporting characters played by Geena Davis, Common, Joan Chen, Jess Weixler, John Malkovich, and other performers skilled enough to make words sting like slaps.” – Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
“It connects for the most part, providing a moviegoing ride and Chastain an opportunity to participate in the genre, making for a terrific gut-rot brutalizer.” – Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com
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The Assistant
The Assistant follows one day in the life of Jane (Julia Garner), a recent college graduate and aspiring film producer, who has recently landed her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul. Her day is much like any other assistant’s – making coffee, changing the paper in the copy machine, ordering lunch, arranging travel, taking phone messages, onboarding a new hire. But as Jane follows her daily routine, she, and we, grow increasingly aware of the abuse that insidiously colors every aspect of her work day, an accumulation of degradations against which Jane decides to take a stand, only to discover the true depth of the system into which she has entered.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“It’s one of the best, most gripping, and smartest films of 2020.” – Alissa Wilkinson, Vox
“Green’s approach to stories — finding larger truths rather than focusing on the most sensational aspects — vaults The Assistant into extraordinary territory, as it sheds light not only on the actions of abusers in power, but on the people around them, who can’t or won’t do anything to change the status quo.” – Karen Han, Polygon
“The Assistant is a stealth bomb of a movie: It barely makes a noise but it leaves a crater in your heart.” – Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Available Formats:
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H is for Happiness
A twelve year old girl with boundless optimism and a unique view of the world, is inspired by the strange new boy at school and sets out to mend her broken family – whatever it takes.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“There is much to appreciate in this film; much to like. You don’t just watch it in big bright colours; you remember it in big bright colours too.” – Luke Buckmaster, The Guardian
“Provides feel-good entertainment for the entire family without pandering — and definitely without sacrificing style or substance.” – Alissa Simon, Variety
“Finding its genial, quirky groove early, John Sheedy’s family film flirts with tweeness but ultimately bubbles with the same spark as its can-do protagonist.” – Sarah Ward, Screen Daily
Available Formats:
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Always and Forever
Nicole seems to have it all — a great job, an adoring husband — but her perfect world is shattered when her childhood friend is suddenly found dead. The tragedy reunites Nicole with her best friends from years ago, but they each soon find themselves in danger, targets of a deranged stalker. Nicole knows this can’t be a coincidence. The secrets of their past are coming back to haunt them and this deadly nightmare is just beginning for the girls who long ago pledged their loyalty “always and forever.”
Description provided by Rotten Tomatoes.
“Finally the strong Black-lead thriller we needed, with a noteworthy plot twist.” – Alisha Netis, Black Girl Nerds
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The Swordsman
A swordsman who is going blind is forced to raise his sword again to save his daughter, who has been kidnapped by a slave dealer.
Description provided by Rotten Tomatoes.
“The Swordsman will successfully scratch that martial arts itch.” – Douglas Davidson, Elements of Madness
“Writer/director Choi Jae-hoon has crafted a surprisingly ruminative and moody action flick about power and politics.” – William Schwartz, HanCinema
“If you’ve loved Korean action cinema in the past, or tend to be a big fan of swordplay cinema, The Swordsman is going to serve you a healthy dose of poised and principled ass-whooping.” – Ed Travis, Cinapse
Available Formats:
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Save Yourselves!
Jack (John Reynolds) and Su (Sunita Mani) are a hip Brooklyn couple who, like many of their friends, find themselves dependent on technology and unable to put down their phones. Fearing their mindless scrolling may impact their connection with each other, they seize the chance to head to an isolated cabin in the woods, vowing to unplug from the outside world for a week. Sheltered from texts and push notifications, they are blissfully unaware that the planet is under attack. As strange events unfold, the couple must figure out a way back to civilization—or what’s left of it.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“In a miserable year filled with grim cinematic fare, this eminently re-watchable science-fiction comedy provides a much-needed spark of lighthearted exultation.” – Alex Savaliev, Film Threat
“A diversion like Save Yourselves! might just save your week.” – Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press
“The quirky Save Yourselves! is not necessarily a genre reinventor but a good example of how much fun you can have on a non-studio budget.” – Kristen Yoonsoo Kim, New York Times
Available Formats:
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Young Hearts
Two high schoolers fall into first love, only to discover life is a lot more complicated than they could ever imagine.
Description provided by Metacritic.
“The beauty of Young Hearts lies in how authentic it feels.” – Sabina Dana Plasse, Film Threat
“There’s a genuine sense of familiar warmth throughout the film that’s hard to describe — it’s almost like a time machine that makes you yearn for those youthful days again.” – Nicolás Delgadillo, Geeks of Color
“At its (very large) heart, this movie is about reminding us that high school romance is innocent, yes, but it also comes with difficulties. Dealing with those difficulties is part of the adolescent experience – an experience portrayed wonderfully here.” – Allen Adams, The Maine Edge
Available Formats:
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The Secrets We Keep
In post-WWII America, a woman (Noomi Rapace), rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband (Chris Messina), kidnaps her neighbor (Joel Kinnaman) and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she believes he committed against her.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The genre elements are nicely balanced by the adult drama embodied in the lead quartet’s performances, especially Rapace’s turn that is part femme fatale, part damaged soul.” – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
“With a small cast and a handful of locations… The Secrets We Keep blends the best of B-movie thrillers and black box theatre.” – Matthew Monagle, Austin Chronicle
“A bracing thriller and a startling examination of our country just after World War II.” – Asher Luberto, The Playlist
Available Formats:
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Synonyms
In Paris, things do not exactly get off to a good start for the newly arrived Yoav. He knocks on the door of the flat where he’s supposed to stay, only to discover the place is empty. While he is taking a bath there, his belongings are stolen. Yet this young Israeli, who has arrived with such great expectations, will not be dissuaded that easily. Desperate to erase his origins, Yoav sees becoming French as his only hope for salvation. Step one is to replace his language. From now on, he will not utter a single word of Hebrew and his dictionary becomes his constant companion. The necessary visits to the Israeli embassy annoy Yoav – he finds his compatriots to be a total burden – but the naturalization test also has its pitfalls. And the young French couple whom he befriends has some rather strange ideas about how to help him. Based on the real life experiences of writer-director Nadav Lapid’s (The Kindergarten Teacher, Policeman), Synonyms explores the challenges of putting down roots in a new place. Yoav’s attempts to find himself awaken past demons and open up an existential abyss in this tragicomic puzzle that wisely knows how to keep its secrets.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“One word for Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms, a movie with a hero obsessed with words, is astonishing. Other words apply to this Israeli feature, in subtitled French and Hebrew, that’s set in Paris. They include, in no particular order, fascinating, infuriating, frightening, lyrical and befuddling. Plus deadpan funny and frequently stunning as a bittersweet ode to contemporary France, one that’s suffused with New Wave verve.” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
“That’s part of the beauty of this film: It games out very real, very human impulses to their surreal breaking points, only to uncover even greater truths.” – Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
“Breathtaking in the way it careens from one scene to the next in a whirlwind of personal and political meaning all but impossible to grasp in full measure, the film is an excoriation of Israel’s militant machismo and a self-teasing parody of Parisian stereotypes, embodied by actor Tom Mercier in this astonishingly audacious debut.” – Jay Weissberg, Variety
Available Formats:
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Synchronic
When New Orleans paramedics and longtime best friends Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan) are called to a series of bizarre, gruesome accidents, they chalk it up to the mysterious new party drug found at the scene. But after Dennis’s oldest daughter suddenly disappears, Steve stumbles upon a terrifying truth about the supposed psychedelic that will challenge everything he knows about reality—and the flow of time itself.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The kind of brainy, absorbing, all-out thrilling cinema that’s in dangerously short supply these days.” – Jason Bailey, The Playlist
“Synchronic splices together science fiction, heart, and humor to create one hell of a potion, one you’re going to soak up as soon as possible.” – Ryan Larson, Consequence of Sound
“Moorhead and Benson don’t overlook the more amusing aspects of the scenario… And the duo deliver shocks, scares and a resonant payoff.” – Glenn Kenny, New York Times
Available Formats:
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Rendez-Vous
Lili and Eduardo meet for the first time after connecting on a dating app. Eduardo arrives late but with a good reason in a place like Mexico City: he was mugged and they took his phone so he couldn’t text her to say he was running late. While at first everything seems to be going fine, when Lili finds Eduardo’s phone in his jacket, things take an unexpected and terrifying turn for the worse.
Description provided by Rotten Tomatoes.
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The Last Resort
Long before Art Deco was a movement and prior to the arrival of Miami Vice and MTV Spring Break, South Beach was home to the largest cluster of Jewish retirees in the country. Drawn by the small apartments, low cost of living, sunny weather, and thriving cultural life, they came by the thousands seeking refuge from the Northeast’s brutal winters. By the 1970s, these former New Yorkers had turned from seasonal visitors to year-round residents, making Miami Beach home to a population that was primarily over 70 and overwhelmingly Jewish. The Last Resort takes audiences on a journey to the iconic Miami Beach of that era through the lens of young photographers Andy Sweet and Gary Monroe. With camera in hand, they embarked on an ambitious 10-year project to document this unique chapter in the city’s history, which would soon be erased by the turbulent 1980s.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The Last Resort could have been a slight, sunny picture postcard from Biscayne Bay. A piece of fluff that would delight our cravings for the past — whether or not we were actually around to observe that not too distant past firsthand. But instead it’s a heartfelt and jubilant love letter to a paradise found, lost, and reclaimed — Miami’s South Beach.” – Paul Parcellin, Film Threat
“Awash in colour and sunlight, the doc The Last Resort is both a modern cultural history of the confounding should-be-paradise that is Miami Beach, and a loving bio of a young, short-lived photographer who froze one of its moments in time.” – Jim Slotek, Original Cin
“In 70 short minutes, directors Dennis Scholl and Kareem Tabsch skillfully pack their Miami Beach-centric documentary, The Last Resort, with a wealth of visual, emotional, social, cultural and historical significance.” – Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
Available Formats:
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The Sacrament
The Sacrament follows two Vice media correspondents as they set out to document their friend’s search to find his missing sister. They travel outside of the United States to an undisclosed location where they are welcomed into the world of Eden Parish, a self-sustained rural utopia comprised of nearly 200 members. At the centre of this small, religious, socialist community is a mysterious leader known only as Father. As their friend reunites with his sister, it becomes apparent to the newcomers that this paradise may not be as it seems. What started as just another documentary shoot soon becomes a race to escape with their lives.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The found footage format has been milked to death of late… but here it’s used to fully immerse the viewer, ensuring that the characters speak directly to the audience and, with the removal of the third wall, throws them straight into the lion’s den to create maximum discomfort. ” – Leigh Clark, Cinevue
“It’s a film that purists might insist isn’t horror in the strictest sense, though this slow-burning investigation of unseemly goings-on at a rural Christian commune is frightening in any genre language.” – Guy Lodge, Variety
“It makes savvy use of the well-worn found-footage format, modulating its creepy scenario with considerable skill.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
Available Formats:
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Still Life
Sam Ming makes a trip to the City of Fenjge to find his ex-wife and daughter. He has not seen them for several years.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“More than a million people have been displaced in central China in the cause of generating electrical power to meet the needs of the future; Jia’s flowing river of a picture washes over a few of them as they adjust to life’s currents in the present.” – Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
“The first great film of the year. It’s beautiful but so much more—full of subtle feeling, framed by a monstrous, eroding landscape.” – Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
“A modern master of postmodern discontent, Jia Zhang-ke is among the most strikingly gifted filmmakers working today whom you have probably never heard of.” – Manohla Dargis, New York Times
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Eternal Beauty
When Jane (Sally Hawkins) is dumped at the altar she has a breakdown and spirals into a chaotic world, where love (both real and imagined) and family relationships collide with both touching and humorous consequences.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“This is substantial and rewarding.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“Eternal Beauty, whilst it is not entirely devoid of cliché, provides a much-needed, deeply human alternative to the noisy and tragic narratives about hallucinatory derangement, terror, and victimisation that we may have come to expect from films about madness.” – Thomas Alexander, Cinevue
“A brilliant Sally Hawkins stands atop Craig Roberts’ perceptive look at mental illness. Small but beautifully formed.” – Ian Freer, Empire
Available Formats:
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Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission
During World War II, Lt. Royal Stratton leads a mission to save the lives of nine downed airmen adrift in enemy waters of the South Pacific.
Description provided by Rotten Tomatoes.
“…remarkable and effective… These are stories that absolutely needed to be told.” – Rob McNeil, Chicago Film Scene
“… highlights the true heroics soldiers, pilots and many others showed during World War II.” – Darren Lucas, Movies Review 101
Available Formats:
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Sea Fever
Siobhán’s a marine biology student who prefers spending her days alone in a lab. She has to endure a week on a ragged fishing trawler, where she’s miserably at odds with the close-knit crew. But out in the deep Atlantic, an unfathomable life form ensnares the boat. When members of the crew succumb to a strange infection, Siobhán must overcome her alienation and anxiety to win the crew’s trust, before everyone is lost.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“This is an intimate film with grand ideas, a small boat floating on a giant ocean, and the extraordinary discovery at the heart of the narrative is outweighed by the sense as a filmgoer that we’re seeing a talented director coming to the surface, sticking her tendrils in, and reshaping our expectations as we’re taken along for the journey.” – Jason Gorber, /Film
“The initial draw of Sea Fever might be as a monster movie, but this is a profoundly humane and humanist film whose ideas stays with you longer than the nightmares.” – Kimber Myers, The Playlist
“Despite some overly literal tributes to the films that inspired it (namely Alien, Jaws, and The Thing), Sea Fever’s vision of humanity’s insignificance in the face of nature is exactly the sort of awe-inspiring message some of us need to hear right now.” – Katie Rife, A.V. Club
Available Formats:
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Sons of Denmark
Denmark four years into the future. After a major bomb attack in Copenhagen, radicalization and ethnic tensions are running high, and a racist leader is leading the polls. 19-year old Zakaria is afraid, wanting to do something.
Description provided by IMDb.
“[A]n ambitious, provocative, politically charged thriller from Danish feature-debutant Ulaa Salim.” – Neil Young, Hollywood Reporter
“Danish film-maker Ulaa Salim’s provocative debut tackles the rise of the far right with more righteous passion than many similar films this year.” – Simran Hans, Observer
“In many respects, the film serves as a cautionary tale — not of a dark future, but of a time that’s already upon us, which makes Salim’s debut feature all the more terrifying and affecting.” – Brent Hankins, Lamplight Review
Available Formats:
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Tulsa
An alcoholic biker confronts his demons when he meets the 9-year-old daughter he never knew existed.
Description provided by Rotten Tomatoes.
“An involving and entertaining faith based film that will touch your heart and cause your eyes to leak. Young actress Livi Birch has a bright future ahead of her.” – Jackie K. Cooper, Entertainment Insiders
“Tulsa is a feel everything movie, one that will touch your heart no matter what faith (or lack thereof) you subscribe to.” – Caroline Madden, Video Librarian Magazine
“A heartwarming drama that unexpectedly brings more smiles than tears. A great performance by newcomer Livi Birch will captivate you.” – Federico Furzan, Screentology