January’s must-see movies
Carey Mulligan pulls double duty, Mads Mikkelsen hits the bottle and Kiwi music legends go under the microscope in flicks headed our way, finds James Croot.
Normally the preserve of family-friendly lighter fare and awards-season dramas, the impact of Covid means January’s movie options look a little different this year.
With the Golden Globes and Academy Awards both delayed, the only potential contenders arriving this month are dropping onto streaming services, while cinemas continue to play an eclectic mix of titles.
Among the options for the school holidays are Milla Jovovich actioner MonsterHunter (today), French tale Spread YourWings (January 7), and animated features Dragon Rider (today), Dreambuilders (January 7), The Elfkins and Maya the Bee 3 (both January 14).
For documentary fans, there’s Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (January 7), and the handful of dramas coming our way include Wild Mountain Thyme (January 21), Summerland and the Siadirected Music (both January 28).
If you’re keen for a laugh, the options include Spain’s The People Upstairs (January 14), the starstudded Love, Weddings& Other Disasters and Irish crime comedy Pixie (both January 28).
For those watching from home, Apple TV+ will debut the Justin Timberlake-starring Palmer (January 29), Netflix’s lineup includes the documentary Crack: Cocaine, Corruption& Conspiracy (January 11), and Neon’s newbies include the Seth Rogen comedy An American Pickle (January 6) and Gloria Steinem biopic The Glorias (January 27).
However, after sifting through the everchanging lineups, Stuff has come up with this list of the 10 flicks we’re most excited to see over the next 31 days.
Another Round (January 28, Cinemas)
Danish acting royaltyMads Mikkelsen re-teams with the director of his critically acclaimed 2012 drama The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg, for this enthralling look at four middle-aged teachers who decided to shake up their lives by testing a theory that they will perform better with a constant amount of alcohol in their system.
As Tommy, Martin, Nikolaj and Peter push their experiment into riskier territory, the results becoming increasingly hilarious and disturbing in equal measures.
Antebellum (January 6, Neon)
After a brief appearance on cinema screens as part of November’s Terror-Fi Film Festival, this US thriller finally finds a New Zealand home on the Kiwi-owned streaming service. JanelleMonae plays a successful African-American author who finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover a mind-bending mystery before it’s too late.
‘‘While no zombie movie, it treats systemic racism as a kind of contagion that refuses to die, eating the brains of successive generations,’’ wrote Variety’s Peter Debruge.
Dawn Raid (January 21, Cinemas)
Directed by Oscar Kightley, this Kiwi documentary highlights the extraordinary, untold story of Dawn Raid Entertainment and its two founders Andy Murnane and Brotha D, the unlikely duo behind some of New Zealand’s biggest hip-hop and R’n’B artists including Savage, Mareko, Adeaze and Aaradhna.
As well as a ‘‘tale of achievement, community and cultural empowerment’’, Kightley says, it’s also a ‘‘narrative of failure, of crushing defeat and devastating loss’’.
The Dig (January 29, Netflix)
Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes and Lily James team up for this 1930s-set drama based on the 2007 novel of the same name by John Preston, which reimagines the events of the excavation of the Sutton Hoo burial site. That’s when a team uncovered a wooden ship from the Dark Ages on a woman’s Suffolk property.
Will screen in select Kiwi cinemas from January 14, before making its Netflix debut.
The Dry (Today, Cinemas)
Eric Bana stars in this much-anticipated, bigscreen adaptation of Jane Harper’s critically acclaimed novel about a federal agent who returns to his hometown to attend a funeral, only to find himself attempting to solve the mysteries surrounding two crimes that took place decades part.
‘‘An engrossing, smartly written and nicely paced thriller on a low burn,’’ wrote Graeme Tuckett.
One Night in Miami Outside theWire (January 15, Netflix)
In the global streaming service’s latest action flick, The Avengers’ AnthonyMackie plays an android officerwho teams up with a drone pilot (
Damson Idris) to try to stop a global catastrophe.
Filmed in Budapest, capturing the mayhem is Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom ( 1408, Escape Plan).
Penguin Bloom
(January 21, Cinemas)
Naomi Watts stars in this Australian drama inspired by the life of Sam Bloom, who after being left paralysed in a near-fatal fall, eventually finds solace from an unlikely source – an injured magpie. Andrew Lincoln, Rachel House and Jacki Weaver also feature.
‘‘It’s a credit to Watts’ performance and [Glendyn] Ivin’s understated direction that this woozy vision of emotional and physical healing sings,’’ wrote Time Out’s Stephen A Russell.
Pieces of a Woman (January 7, Netflix)
For anyonewho has experienced or witnessed childbirth, the first 30 minutes of Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo’s all-consuming and heart-wrenching tale will be some of the most intense and emotional drama you’ll see this and, perhaps, any year.
Shia LaBeouf and Vanessa Kirby ( The Crown’s original Princess Margaret) are simply stunning as the couple whose homebirth of their first child puts their relationship through the wringer. This year’s Marriage Story, it is now screening in a handful of cinemas before its Netflix debut.
Promising Young Woman
(January 7, Cinemas)
Debuting to rave reviews at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, in this black comedy, Carey Mulligan’s character exacts revenge on those who seek to take advantage of her. Adam Brody, Laverne Cox, Alison Brie and Jennifer Coolidge also feature.
‘‘By turns acidly funny and genuinely upsetting, Carey Mulligan’s Cassie is an avenging heroine for our time, and its gut-punch twists promise big audience reactions,’’ wrote New York Post’s Sara Stewart.