mervyn-verstellung's - Rented List

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"Benediction" explores the turbulent life of First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon (Peter Capaldi / Jack Lowden).

Having survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War, he was decorated for his bravery and became a vocal critic of the government's continuation of the war when he returned from service. His poetry was inspired by his experiences on the Western Front and he became one of the leading war poets of the era. Adored by members of the aristocracy as well as stars of London's literary and stage world, Sassoon embarked on affairs with several notable men as he attempted to come to terms with his homosexuality. At the same time, broken by the horror of war, his life became a quest for salvation, trying to find it within the conformity of marriage and religion. His is the story of a troubled man in a fractured world, searching for peace and self acceptance, something which speaks as meaningfully to us in the modern world as it did then.

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While staying at an isolated island resort, James (Alexander Skarsgård) and Em (Cleopatra Coleman) are enjoying a perfect vacation of pristine beaches, exceptional staff, and soaking up the sun.

But guided by the seductive and mysterious Gabi (Mia Goth), they venture outside the resort grounds and find themselves in a culture filled with violence, hedonism, and untold horror. A tragic accident leaves them facing a zero tolerance policy for crime: either you'll be executed, or, if you're rich enough to afford it, you can watch yourself die instead.

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A classic tale is reborn through the inspired imagination of cinematic dream-weaver Guillermo del Toro, directing alongside Mark Gustafson.

Realised through boundary-pushing, breathtakingly intricate stop-motion animation, this dark rendering of the fable of the puppet boy and his maker - which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature - daringly transfers the story to Fascist Italy, where the irrepressible Pinocchio gradually learns what it means to be human through his experiences of war, death, and sacrifice. This 'Pinocchio' imbues the oft-told tale with a bold new resonance about living with courage and compassion.

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"Bones and All" is a story of first love between Maren (Taylor Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee (Timothée Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter.

It's a liberating road odyssey of two young people coming into their own, searching for identity and chasing beauty in a perilous world that cannot abide who they are.

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When neighbors John (Aaron Moorhead) and Levi (Justin Benson) witness supernatural events in their Los Angeles apartment, they realise documenting the paranormal could inject some fame and fortune into their wasted lives.

An ever-deeper, darker rabbit hole, their friendship frays as they uncover the dangers of the phenomena, the city and each other.

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12-year-old gymnast, Tinja (Siiri Solalinna), is desperate to please her image-obsessed mother, whose popular blog presents their family's idyllic existence.

One day, after finding a wounded bird in the woods, Tinja brings its strange egg home, nestles it in her bed, and nurtures it until it hatches. The creature that emerges becomes her closest friend and a living nightmare, plunging Tinja beneath the impeccable veneer of her family and into a twisted reality that her mother refuses to see.

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In the late 19th century, Denmark regards Iceland as its territory, which extends beyond matters of geography and governance to the spiritual health of the population. So Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove), a Lutheran priest, is sent by the Church of Denmark to establish a parish.

Ever an optimist, Lucas believes his faith will guide him, even when he is warned of the obstacles, including a people who may be less than welcoming. 'Godland' makes the most of a breathtakingly austere Icelandic landscape in its story of a man on a singular mission.

Moving the action out of the woods and into the city, Evil Dead Rise tells a twisted tale of two estranged sisters, played by Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan, whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.

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With her first and only feature film - a hard-luck drama she wrote, directed, and starred in - Barbara Loden turned in a groundbreaking work of American independent cinema, bringing to life a kind of character seldom seen on-screen.

Set amid a soot-choked Pennsylvania landscape, and shot in an intensely intimate verite style, the film takes up with distant and soft-spoken Wanda (Barbara Loden), who has left her husband, lost custody of her children, and now finds herself alone, drifting between dingy bars and motels, where she falls prey to a series of callous men - including a bank robber who ropes her into his next criminal scheme. An until now difficult-to-see masterpiece that has nonetheless exerted an outsize influence on generations of artists and filmmakers, Wanda is a compassionate and wrenching portrait of a woman stranded on society's margins.

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Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a terrifying new killer resurrects the Ghostface mask. As the deaths mount, Woodsboro's new targets must seek help from the survivors of the original Ghostface attacks.

Now, only Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), former sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) can find a way to stop the filler when everyone is a suspect.

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14 year old Maria (Lea Van Acken) is a member of a strict branch of Catholicism that rejects all the reforms that were made in the Church since the 1960s. Maria lives her everyday life in the modern world, yet yearns to follow Jesus fully, to become a saint and go to heaven.

Christian, a boy she meets at school, almost draws Maria away from her goal with an invite to join the school's gospel choir, but her strictly pious mother (Franziska Weisz) pulls her back in line, seeing his tentative approaches as a temptation to sin, along with participating in what she sees as the 'Devil's music'. Told in fourteen individual tableaus that parallel Christ's journey to his crucifixion, 'Stations of the Cross' is both an indictment of fundamentalist faith and the articulation of an impressionable teen's struggle to find her own path in life.

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Somewhere in Europe, mid-20th century, Albert (Paul Hilton) is employed to look after Mia (Romane Hemelaers), a girl with teeth made of ice. Mia never leaves their apartment, where the shutters are always closed. The telephone rings regularly and the Master enquires after Mia's wellbeing.

Until the day Albert is instructed that he must prepare the child to leave...

Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican (Russell Crowe), 'The Pope's Exorcist' follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy's terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.

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Tina (Camille Rowe) and Ben (James Jagger) are a couple of young youtubers specialized in underwater exploration videos. While diving in a remote lake, they discover a house submerged in deep waters.

What was initially a unique finding soon turns into a nightmare when they understand the house was the scene of atrocious crimes. Trapped, with their oxygen reserves falling dangerously, Tina and Ben realize the worst is yet to come: they are not alone in the house.

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From David Cronenberg, the master of body horror, comes a beguiling new tale. As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations.

With his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), celebrity performance artist, publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. Timlin (Kristen Stewart), an investigator from the National Organ Registry, obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed...Their mission - to use Saul's notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.