mervyn-verstellung's - Favourites List
-
Monster (2023)Kaibutsu
When her young son Minato (Soya Kurokawa) starts to behave strangely, single mother Saori (Sakura Andô) knows that there is something wrong. Discovering that one of his teachers might be responsible, she storms into the school demanding answers. But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, shocking truths begin to emerge. - Director:
- Hirokazu Koreeda
- Cast:
- Sakura Andô, Eita, Soya Kurokawa
- Formats:
-
-
All of Us Strangers (2023)Strangers
One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam (Andrew Scott) has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal), which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. As a relationship develops between them, Adam is preoccupied with memories of the past and finds himself drawn back to the suburban town where he grew up, and the childhood home where his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell), appear to be living, just as they were on the day they died, 30 years before. - Director:
- Andrew Haigh
- Cast:
- Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Carter John Grout
- Formats:
-
-
The Quiet Girl (2022)An Cailín Ciúin
CoIm Bairead's beautifully understated feature debut finds a young girl coming to terms with loss and the importance of family in rural Ireland. Cait (Catherine Clinch), a quiet, neglected young girl, is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with relatives for the summer. At first intimidated by her new environment, she quickly blossoms in the care of Eibhlin (Carrie Crowley) and her farmer husband, Sean (Andrew Bennett). As this new home becomes an idyll for her, Cait senses that something is plaguing her new foster parents - an unspoken pain that Eibhlin and Sean never discuss, which Cait's youthful curiosity begins to uncover. - Director:
- Colm Bairéad
- Cast:
- Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett
- Formats:
-
-
The stunning debut from Scottish writer-director Charlotte Wells, 'Aftersun' juxtaposes a hopeful coming-of-age story with a poignant, intimate family portrait that leaves an indelible impression. At a fading vacation resort in the late 1990's, 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (Paul Mescal). As a world of adolescence creeps into view, beyond her eye Calum struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Twenty years later, Sophie's tender recollections of their last holiday become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father, she knew with the man she didn't, in Charlotte Wells' superb and searingly emotional debut film. - Director:
- Charlotte Wells
- Cast:
- Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall
- Formats:
-
-
When the glittering Las Vegas revue 'Le Razzle Dazzle' announces it will soon close, glamorous showgirl Shelly (Pamela Anderson) must reconcile the life she has built as she plans her next act. With an outstanding ensemble cast that includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Billie Lourd, and Kiernan Shipka, 'The Last Showgirl' is a joyous tribute to a long-gone Las Vegas - and all the women who made it glitter. - Director:
- Gia Coppola
- Cast:
- Pamela Anderson, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka
- Formats:
-
-
The long-awaited return to fiction filmmaking from Academy Award-winner Andrea Arnold (American Honey, Fish Tank), 'Bird' is a tender, striking and extraordinarily surprising coming-of-age fable about marginalised life in the fringes of contemporary society. 12-year-old Bailey (astounding newcomer Nykiya Adams) lives with her devoted but chaotic single dad Bug (Barry Keoghan) and wayward brother Hunter in a squat in Gravesend, north Kent. Approaching puberty and seeking attention and adventure, Bailey's fractured home life is transformed when she encounters Bird (Franz Rogowski), a mysterious stranger on a journey of his own. A wondrous portrait of the transition from childhood to adolescence that remains grounded in her typically empathetic social realism, Arnold's latest strides to the wildly poetic rhythm of her own drum. - Director:
- Andrea Arnold
- Cast:
- Nykiya Adams, Franz Rogowski, Barry Keoghan
- Formats:
-
-
One of Britain's best-loved and most critically acclaimed directors, Mike Leigh (Mr. Turner, Another Year), returns with this delightfully witty yet incredibly moving portrait of a modern Black British family. Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is a bad-tempered hypochondriac who never has a nice word to say about anyone. But as funny as her sharp tongue can sometimes be, it is having dire consequences for her family's wellbeing. - Director:
- Mike Leigh
- Cast:
- Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber
- Formats:
-
-
"I've been looking for a girl every Saturday night of my life", says Marty Piletti (Ernest Borgnine). Yet, despite all his efforts, this 34-year-old Bronx butcher remains as shy and uncomfortable around women today as on the day he was born. So when he meets Clara (Betsy Blair), a lonely schoolteacher who's just as smitten with him as he is with her, Marty's on top of the world. But not everyone around him shares Marty's joy. And when his friends and family continually find fault with Clara, even Marty begins to question his newfound love... until he discovers, in an extraordinary way, the strength and courage to follow his heart. - Director:
- Delbert Mann
- Cast:
- Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti
- Formats:
-
-
Johnny (David Thewlis) is a frenetic and destructive outsider who tears through the lives of others like an emotional tornado. On the run from Manchester, he seeks sanctuary with his ex-girlfriend Louise (Lesley Sharp) in London, where he immediately targets her vulnerable housemate Sophie (Katrin Cartlidge) with his unique blend of predatory charm. From there he embarks on a nocturnal odyssey across the city, dragging other disaffected souls into his orbit as he spirals towards his own personal apocalypse. - Director:
- Mike Leigh
- Cast:
- David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge
- Formats:
-
-
Bugonia (2025)Save the Green Planet Remake
A wildly entertaining psychological thriller, the film follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap a powerful CEO they believe is an alien out to destroy humanity. What begins as a paranoid act spirals into a battle of delusions and control - one as viscerally unpredictable as it is provocative. - Director:
- Yorgos Lanthimos
- Cast:
- Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Emma Stone
- Formats:
-