Here’s our pick of some of the best films around, that are currently available for streaming. Our selection includes recent releases, old favourites that we’ve screened at Phoenix over the years, and some lesser-known gems that you might not have seen before.
★★★★ – The Times. Picking up a slew of awards on the international festivals circuit, Magnus von Horn’s impressive second feature explores the contradictions and freedoms of a life lived on social media. Fitness guru and Instagram celebrity Sylwia Zajac (Magdalena Koleśnik) has a coterie of loyal employees and a huge following. But an on-screen revelation forces Sylwia to confront her deepest insecurities.
“charming coming-of-ager” – Sight & Sound. Based on Joanna Rakoff’s memoir My Salinger Year, Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) plays young graduate and aspiring writer Joanna who lands a job with JD Salinger’s fearsome literary agent Margaret (Sigourney Weaver). Tasked with handling Salinger’s fan mail, Joanna faces new challenges when the author decides to publish a new book.
“★★★★ – a fantastic and very funny exercise in tension” – Empire. Attending a day-long shiva (a Jewish gathering after a funeral) college student Danielle is faced with overbearing relatives and rattled by awkward encounters with an ex-girlfriend and also her secret sugar daddy, who arrives unexpectedly with his wife and baby. MyPhoenix Members & Friends get 90 days free access to MUBI.
“★★★★ – A touch of David Lynch” – Observer. Life behind the gates of the palm-tree-lined streets of The Villages in Florida is explored in this mesmerising portrait of America’s largest retirement community, from director Lance Oppenheim. Challenging stereotypes about ageing, Some Kind of Heaven follows four residents still striving to find happiness in this “Disneyland for retirees”. Also available on Curzon Home Cinema.
“★★★★ – dizzying but gripping comedy” – Guardian. Aubrey Plaza (April Ludgate from the superb Parks and Recreation) stars in this razor sharp meta-movie about a filmmaker who is attempting to recharge her creative batteries with a stay at a rural retreat. Things begin to unravel, however, when she becomes involved with the couple she is staying with, and her inner demons begin to manifest in intense and surprising ways.
“★★★★ – Billie Piper’s ambitious, darkly funny directorial debut suggests the arrival of a new filmmaker with a vision, verve and a voice” – Empire. Career-driven single mother Mandy is juggling her work as a writer with parenting a ‘difficult’ child and her own parents’ issues. When she meets the troubled and traditional Pete, the sparks fly in this daring anti-romcom. Also available on BFI Player.
“★★★★ – a terrific central performance from Steven Brandon… is the driving force of this heartfelt British independent picture” – Observer. Luke, an independent young man with Down’s syndrome, is forced to live in a care home after his mother passes away. Frustrated by the rules of his new home, he sneaks out to explore the countryside and meets a young woman whose friendship gives him hope and purpose.
“★★★★ – Carey Mulligan is tremendous in this horror-swept romcom” – Telegraph. In a society she views as apathetic towards unchecked male sexual desire, Cassie gives up her once promising future to enact revenge upon predatory men who cross her path. Oscar and BAFTA-winning writer-director Emerald Fennell’s timely and wickedly funny revenge comedy pulls no punches.
“★★★★ – one of the most eye-opening documentaries you’ll see” – Telegraph. Pieced together from theologian John Hull’s audio diaries, this visually stunning documentary offers a personal and profound insight into his experience of slowly losing his eyesight, and blends aesthetics and narrative to produce a visceral, almost religious experience.
★★★★ – Empire. Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) stars as Kit, a British Vietnamese man returning to Saigon for the first time in over 30 years, after his family fled during the Vietnam War. No longer familiar with this country and unable to speak his native language, Kit journeys from Saigon to Hanoi in search of a place to scatter his parents’ ashes.