MOVIES TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND
‘CAN YOU SEE US?’
Can You See Us?, marking the first Zambian film on Netflix, is a tale that is inspired by a true life story. Rejected by his father at birth, a boy with albinism navigates a childhood of bullying, tragedy and cautious hope in this coming-ofage drama. Through a little boy, Joseph, who lives with albinism, the film highlights the many challenges he faces growing up and how music and love become his solace and strength to overcome. Can You See Us? will explore crucial topics in our society that revolve around albinism and the stigma. It tells the tale of a young boy living with albinism who overcomes the stigma around his skin tone and how music becomes his solace and joy.
‘SISTER DEATH’
Sister Death (Spanish: Hermana Muerte) is a 2023 Spanish supernatural horror film directed by Paco Plaza and written by Jorge Guerricaechevarría and Plaza which stars Aria Bedmar. In 1939 Spain, a young girl is revered by the townsfolk for her seemingly holy visions. Ten years later, novitiate Narcisa arrives at a convent that has been reformed into a school for girls following the war. Narcisa is greeted by Sister Julia and the Mother Superior; the latter of whom is enthused to have the ‘holy girl’ from the news who inspired the community among their ranks.
‘THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER’
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (also known as Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter in some international markets) is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by André Øvredal and written by Bragi F Schut Jr. On August 6, 1897, the merchant ship Demeter washes ashore in England. Among the wreckage found by the police is the log kept by her Captain, Eliot. One month earlier, the Demeter makes port in Varna, Bulgaria, to pick up cargo for transportation to London. The shipment, consisting of multiple large wooden crates, is transported by locals from Romania.
‘THE BOY AND THE HERON’
During the Pacific War in Tokyo, Mahito Maki loses his mother Hisako in a hospital fire. Mahito’s father Shoichi, an air munitions factory owner, marries his late wife’s sister, Natsuko. They evacuate to her rural estate. Mahito, distant to the pregnant Natsuko, encounters a peculiar grey heron leading him to a sealed tower, the last known location of Natsuko’s architect granduncle. After a school fight, Mahito deliberately injures himself. The heron, now speaking, entices Mahito with promises of finding his mother. Mahito is nearly taken by a supernatural swarm of toads but Natsuko saves him with a whistling arrow, inspiring him to craft his own bow and arrow. The arrow is magically imbued with true aim after it is fletched with the heron’s feather. Mahito’s reading of a book left by Hisako is interrupted when ill Natsuko disappears into the forest. Leading one of the estate’s elderly maids, Kiriko, into the tower, Mahito is deceived by a watery imitation of his mother made by the heron, which dissolves at his touch. Affronted, he pierces the heron’s beak with his arrow, revealing a flightless creature, the Birdman, living inside it. A wizard appears, ordering Birdman to guide Mahito and Kiriko as all three sink into the floor.