THE KISSING BOOTH 2 (12)
HHHHH IN 2018, Netflix released the gooey teen romance The Kissing Booth based on the novel penned by Beth Reekles.
Two years later, Vince Marcello returns to the director’s chair for a sequel based on Reekles’ second book, which he has adapted for the screen with Jay Arnold.
In the first film, high school student Elle Evans (Joey King, pictured) fell madly in love with reformed bad boy Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi) and declared her love before he left for Harvard.
In the follow-up, Elle returns to school for her senior year and hopes to maintain a long-distance relationship with Noah.
The thorny issue of trust arises when Noah grows close to pretty college student Chloe (Maisie Richardson-sellers) and Elle bonds with new classmate Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez).
As hormones rage, Elle must decide to whom her heart belongs as she pursues a place at her dream college with dutiful best friend Lee (Joel Courtney). ■ Exclusively on Netflix.
LIFE begins at 34 in director Alex Thompson’s awardwinning comedy drama about a rudderless singleton, who confronts deep-rooted fears and insecurities after she fumbles her way into a position of responsibility caring for a six-year-old girl.
Saint Frances coolly navigates hot button topics – abortion, post-natal depression, breastfeeding in public – with understated elegance and candour.
The script, co-written by Thompson and lead actress Kelly O’sullivan, revels in the minutiae of everyday life and, refreshingly, does not blow out of proportion the central character’s stumbles on her way to self-enlightenment.
The aftermath of a one-night stand, which might be played for gross-out giggles or discomfort in clumsier hands, is a catalyst for genuine tenderness, while a potentially harrowing consultation about the termination of an unplanned pregnancy is casually punctuated by an ultrasound technician who asks, “Do you want to know if it’s twins?”
Pacing is deliberately slow to allow contemplative words to breathe and the cast to fully inhabit richly drawn roles including a star-making turn from wunderkind Ramona Edith-williams as the Frances of the title, who strikes a perfect balance between cuteness and precocity.
Bridget (O’sullivan) is a restaurant waitress clamouring for direction in her uneventful life.
“You’re in your 20s, it gets better,” a stranger assures her at a party.
“Actually I’m 34,” coolly responds Bridget.
The same night, she sleeps with nice guy Jace (Max Lipchitz) and falls pregnant.
With Jace’s unwavering support, Bridget opts for a termination shortly before she attends an interview for the
DEEP BLUE SEA 3 (15),
Charin Alvarez as Maya, above left, and Lily Mojekwu as Annie
position of nanny in an affluent suburb of Chicago.
Annie (Lily Mojekwu) and Maya (Charin Alvarez) are looking for someone to care for their bright, rambunctious daughter Frances (Edithwilliams).
The mothers are taken aback by Bridget’s unvarnished honesty when they probe her relationship with her older brother.
“He has a job and a house
THE second sequel to the 1999 horror thriller Deep Blue Sea. Marine biologist Emma Collins (Tania Raymonde) is determined to make the world a better place, unlike her ex-boyfriend, Richard Lowell (Nathaniel Buzolic), who has always prized money over ethics. He is the wealthy patron behind a mid-ocean laboratory, in the Mozambique channel, where Emma and her research team observe the mating rituals of great white sharks. Genetically enhanced bull sharks head to the breeding ground to create dangerously fast and intelligent hybrids. Emma and co. are trapped on crumbling stilt houses as the flesh-hungry fish prepare to attack.
■ Download/stream from July 28 and available from August 24 on DVD.
and is very responsible. We don’t have a lot in common,” she responds.
Bridget lands the job as a last-minute replacement for the preferred candidate and awkwardly integrates into the family. She witnesses tension between Frances’ mothers and forges a deep bond of trust with her obstinate charge, who asserts that it is better for an adult to read her a book because “hearing it helps my brain development”.
Saint Frances is a beautifully calibrated portrait of lives in chaotic motion, underpinned by sparkling on-screen rapport between O’sullivan and scene-stealer Edithwilliams, particularly in a divine church confessional.
Confident writing complements the excellent performances, cherishing the gradual development of the characters.
“I don’t know why I’m crying. I’m an agnostic feminist!” remarks Bridget as she opens the floodgates to openly discuss her feelings.
We know why we are crying – because Thompson’s picture trades unabashedly in raw emotion and we buy every heartfelt and bittersweet word.
YOU DON’T NOMI (18)
DUTCH director Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 film Showgirls – starring Elizabeth Berkeley as a grifter, who employs her feminine wiles to clamber up the ladder of stripping success in Las Vegas – was met with a deafening chorus of derision from critics and bombed at the box office. In the intervening 25 years, Verhoeven’s picture has gained an unlikely status as a cult classic and sparked impassioned debate about sex and gender, which strike a deeper chord in the current climate. This documentary looks back at the making of Showgirls and examines the film’s legacy with contributions from film critics, cultural scholars and ardent fans.
■ Download/stream now and available from July 27 on DVD.