March has been the quickest month of the 12 months thus far, and for me it has been one other month stuffed with dramatic TV exhibits and attention-grabbing motion pictures from the most effective streaming providers. This month, I used 5 completely different streaming platforms similar to Netflix, Prime Video and even Mubi to get myself within the temper for a brand new season – and it actually helped.
There have been loads of new titles to look at this month, and I could not consider a greater method to kick off my month-to-month roundup than by mentioning the most-watched Netflix present Adolescence, a present that has been inescapable and one which has actually divided viewers. As at all times, I wish to fill out my listing with a steadiness of flicks I’ve by no means seen and re-watches, and two of my newer watches come from current Oscar-winner Sean Baker, which has compelled me to go to his earlier works subsequent month.
It was one other tough one to slim down to simply 9, however that is when you’ve got watched loads of good things and I’m decided to maintain up this momentum – deliver on April.
Adolescence (2025)
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Creators: Jack Thorne & Stephen Graham
Age score: TV-MA
Episode size: ~51 minutes
Where to stream: Netflix (US, UK and AU)
Adolescence is the present that everybody is speaking about proper now, and rightly so. In a world the place violence towards ladies has develop into a daunting epidemic there’s by no means been a extra necessary time for a present like this to emerge, and for that we have now Stephen Graham to thank.
The present’s one-shot filming strategy is nothing new to Graham who starred within the one-take drama Boiling Point (2021) – one other thrilling watch that I urge you to look at. Set throughout 4 hour-long episodes the restricted collection follows the Miller household, whose youngest little one Jamie (Owen Cooper) is arrested for the homicide of a lady in his college 12 months.
Flipping the script on the traditional ‘whodunnit’ story line, Adolescence is an exploration of why he did it, bringing consideration to the motivations that fuels males to commit cruel acts of violence towards ladies and younger women, on the identical time providing an perception to the consequences crimes like this have on the dad and mom and the household of the perpetrator.
The Substance (2024)
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Director: Coralie Fargeat
Age score: R
Length: 141 minutes
Where to stream: Mubi (US & UK)
I’ve watched The Substance twice and albeit, I am unable to get sufficient of it. If me, I like a film with a robust underlying commentary of tradition and society – particularly when its thrown in your face in essentially the most absurd and inventive manner. For me, Coralie Fargeat smashed it out of the park with The Substance from the writing, cinematography, and all the way in which all the way down to its distinctive use of symbolism.
When getting older actress and fading superstar Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is let go from her TV job, she’s confronted with the cruel realities of neglect that girls of her age face within the leisure trade. But her probability at an prolonged profession presents itself when she makes use of a black market drug that creates a youthful model of herself performed by Margaret Qualley. Switching between Elisabeth and her younger-self each seven days, Elisabeth lastly feels seen, however it comes with strict phrases and situations that when abused, lead to catastrophic penalties.
Anora (2024)
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Director: Sean Baker
Age score: R
Length: 139 minutes
Where to stream: Hulu (US)
I beloved Demi Moore in The Substance, however there’s one thing concerning the fierceness but weak nature of Mikey Madison’s efficiency in Anora that had me laughing, crying, and the whole lot in between. There’s little doubt that she deserved the Best Actress Oscar, and Sean Baker lastly obtained his flowers for his directing, enhancing, and writing skills.
In Brooklyn, New York City, Ani (Madison) is a younger intercourse employee with a robust sense of self and admirable confidence. One night time throughout her shifts she meets Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of an extremely rich Russian oligarch and spoiled wealthy child. The two fall right into a relationship quite shortly, leading to a hasty marriage, however when the information of their marriage reaches Vanya’s household in Russia they ship a band of henchmen after them to annul the wedding.
Jurassic Park (1993)
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Director: Steven Spielberg
Age score: PG-13
Length: 122 minutes
Where to stream: Starz (US); Netflix (UK); Prime Video, Paramount Plus (AU)
It’s embarrassing for me to confess however I had by no means seen Jurassic Park from begin to end. It’s a type of motion pictures that I’ve caught glimpses of, however that is it. I watched this on one in all my sick days, and it was the most effective film I might’ve picked, which I gave an instantaneous 4.5 stars on Letterboxd. And it is not simply because I’m obsessive about Laura Dern.
Palaeontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Dern), and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are reached out to by billionaire mogul John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to make a journey to a brand new theme park island he is been creating. When they arrive, they’re amazed to seek out that the park is dwelling to every kind of dinosaur species which have been cloned utilizing prehistoric DNA. It’s nothing like they’ve ever seen earlier than, however issues flip left when an influence failure shuts down the park’s safety, leaving the dinosaurs roam wild whereas the guests hatch a plan to flee.
Tangerine (2015)
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Director: Sean Baker
Age score: PG-13
Length: 122 minutes
Where to stream: Max, Hoopla (US); Prime Video, Freevee, Mubi (UK)
I used to be actually having a Sean Baker month wasn’t I. After being fascinating by Anora, it impressed me to revisit Baker’s earlier works which have been sitting in my watchlist for months and months. Naturally, I began with Tangerine – a film shot totally on an iPhone 5S.
While I believe Anora is the strongest of the 2, Tangerine remains to be nonetheless one other entertaining watch a few completely different form of intercourse employee with a comedic revenge storyline. On Christmas Eve intercourse employee Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is launched from jail after serving a 28-day sentence. When she returns to regular life she discovers that her boyfriend and pimp has been dishonest on her throughout her time behind bars. Furious, she and her greatest buddy enterprise throughout town to trace him and his mistress all the way down to enact their revenge.
Priscilla (2023)
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Director: Sofia Coppola
Age score: R
Length: 113 minutes
Where to stream: Max (US); Mubi (UK); Stan (AU)
I postpone watching Coppola’s Priscilla Presley biopic purely as a result of over-saturation of the Elvis Presley hype that was ignited in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (2022), so now that I’ve allowed the time to go I gave it a watch. While I believed it was a mean biopic and one which I’m not in a rush to look at once more, there is no denying that it is cinematography and visible components are the film’s important USP.
As you possibly can in all probability inform from the title, Priscilla does what it says on the tin and chronicles the occasions of Priscilla and Elvis’ relationship from their very first assembly proper up till the final day of their marriage. Teenager Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) meets rock n’ roll legend Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) for the primary time, an individual who she sees otherwise to the famous person persona he initiatives to the remainder of the world, placing Priscilla’s point-of-view on the forefront, displaying her facet to the story.
Rivals (2024)
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Directors: Elliot Hegarty, Dee Koppang O’Leary & Alexandra Brodski
Age score: TV-MA
Episode size: ~48 minutes
Where to stream: Hulu (US); Disney+ (UK and AU)
I do not watch as many TV exhibits as I do motion pictures, and I do not know what was going by means of me this month however TV exhibits are slowly making their manner into my streaming calendar little by little. As quickly as I completed the primary episode of Rivals, I used to be hungry for extra of its drama, scandal, and lust – fortunately, a second season is on the way in which.
Unapologetically British in its nature, Rivals brings Jilly Cooper’s 1988 novel of the identical identify to life packing a solid of British icons David Tennant, Danny Dyer, and Katherine Parkinson. Following a collection of intertwining teams and households and of upper-class backgrounds, Rivals follows the long-standing battle between TV studio boss Tony Baddingham (Tennant) and ex-Tory Minister for Sport Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell). As the stress between them grows, others are dragged into the combination and a ruthless battle for the highest spot is sparked.
Black Swan (2010)
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Director: Darren Aronofsky
Age score: R
Length: 108 minutes
Where to stream: Max (US); Disney+ (UK and AU)
As far as performing performances go, Natalie Portman actually pushed herself in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller, and it labored. For me, it is a type of performances that you just simply cannot take your eyes off of, particularly on the subject of her character’s descent into insanity and decided chase for perfection.
Passionate ballerina Nina (Portman) eat, sleeps, and breathes her craft, and is likely one of the most devoted dancers on the New York City Ballet. She lands her dream function because the lead in Swan Lake to play each White Swan and Black Swan, a job that requires each fragility and sensuality. Nina has all of the qualities wanted for the right White Swan, however newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis) embodies the Black Swan. Nina feels the pressures of getting the steadiness between the 2 personas, however when she begins to embrace her darker facet she takes a flip for the worst and begins to lose grip on her psychological stability.
Nickel Boys (2024)
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Director: RaMell Ross
Age score: PG-13
Length: 140 minutes
Where to stream: Fubo (US); Prime Video (UK and AU)
When I noticed that Nickel Boys had been added to Prime Video, I noticed this as the right alternative to problem myself and skim Colson Whitehead’s novel of the identical identify earlier than watching its Oscar-nominated adaptation. It’s protected to say that the film did greater than honor its literary predecessor, and it is distinctive first-person perspective challenges the norms of fleshing out a robust narrative.
In the Nineteen Sixties deep south through the Jim Crow period, Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) is a vivid scholar and admirer of Martin Luther King, whose inspiring speeches gas him with optimism for a brighter future. He has a profitable future forward of him, however that is stripped away from him when he is despatched to reform college Nickel Academy for against the law he did not commit. When he meets fellow inmate Turner (Brandon Wilson), whose view of the world is the exact opposite to Elwood’s, the 2 kind an alliance to energy themselves by means of the brutal and abusive teachings of Nickel.
Whitehead’s story is a robust account of friendship set within the again drop of the Civil Rights Movement, bringing gentle to the cruel realities of deep southern tradition and racism through the Nineteen Sixties.
