Manchester Theatre News & Reviews
This Week's Best Movie Releases & £5 Off Cinema Tickets
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Below, we've rounded up the 5 best films currently screening in Manchester cinemas together with the 10 best releases new to the streaming services this week (Updated 4 Oct 2024):
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1 ~ SUGARCANE.
★★★★★ A standout documentary about resilience and pride in the face of evil. ~ Irish Independent.
★★★★ This deeply disquieting and indeed enraging powerful documentary probes the shameful story of hundreds of residential schools in Canada, largely run by the Catholic church, that subjected pupils to horrific abuse. ~ The Guardian.
★★★★ The sickening facts of the case are presented with a respectful restraint but it’s impossible to watch this and not feel a cold, hard rage on behalf of the victims. ~ The Observer.
★★★★ ~ Irish Times.
2 ~ STRANGE DARLING.
★★★★★ How weird is this cult sensation? There’ll never be another movie quite like it. JT Mollner’s fever-pitch dream of serial killers and Americana aims to mess with your head – and succeeds. ~ The Irish Times.
★★★★ The less you know about this bold, artful and provocative chiller by director JT Mollner, the better. This is a twisted serial-killer thriller destined for cult status. ~ Radio Times.
★★★★ Provocatively disarranging its chronology, this grisly but audacious serial-killer horror sports with misogyny but its technical brilliance is undeniable. ~ The Guardian.
★★★★ You’ll think you know where this sun-baked serial-killer thriller is going, until you don’t. A nifty, chronologically crafty tale, fuelled by bravura acting by Willa Fitzgerald, it’s a small movie with high impact. ~ Empire.
★★★★ ~ The Times.
3 ~ THE SUBSTANCE.
★★★★★ Demi Moore goes full David Cronenberg in 2024's best – and goriest – film so far. This body horror instant classic is a pulsing, pumping blitzkrieg of pure entertainment. ~ Evening Standard.
★★★★★ In Coralie Fargeat’s riveting film, Moore’s has-been actress clones herself in an attempt to stay relevant – with sinister results. ~ The Telegraph.
★★★★★ This magnificent shocker heralds the squelchy, sick-making birth of a new horror maestro. ~ Time Out.
★★★★★ Fargeat’s wild, wigged-out, satirical body-horror movie takes a flamethrower to the misogynistic beauty standards of the entertainment industry and has plenty of fun doing it. ~ The Scotsman.
★★★★★ A spectacularly disgusting body horror, this hugely entertaining spasm is a two-finger rebuke to the beauty industry which favours a full-frontal attack on the targets of its incensed satire. ~ Irish Times.
★★★★★ A sickening satire of society’s obsession with youth and beauty, it is a bombastic body horror with plenty to say. ~ NME.
★★★★✭ ~ RTE.
★★★★ ~ The Observer.
★★★★ ~ The Guardian.
★★★★ ~ Radio Times.
★★★★ ~ Total Film.
★★★★ ~ Empire.
★★★★ ~ The i.
★★★★ ~ BBC.
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4 ~ KNEECAP.
★★★★✭ Turn off your English loyalty and turn on the bassline for the cheeky semi-fictionalised origin story of Northern Irish hip-hop band Kneecap. ~ Little White Lies.
★★★★★ Ballsy, brave and one of the best music biopics ever made, the headline-grabbing Belfast rap trio blend '8 Mile', 'Trainspotting' and 'The Hunger' into a hedonistic but heartfelt film for the ages. ~ NME.
★★★★★ Believe the hype. Funny and original, Rich Peppiatt’s warmly anticipated comic drama has been doing the rounds since January, when it became the first Irish-language feature to premiere at Sundance. ~ Irish Independent.
★★★★★ Mixing profundity and profanity, Kneecap's Irish-language phenomenon has finally come home, seven months on from its rapturous world premiere in the US and with a great debut album also sounding the charge. ~ RTE.
★★★★ ~ The Independent.
★★★★ ~ The Telegraph.
★★★★ ~ The Observer.
★★★★ ~ Radio Times.
★★★★ ~ Irish Times.
★★★★ ~ Total Film.
★★★★ ~ Time Out.
★★★★ ~ Empire.
5 ~ SPEAK NO EVIL.
★★★★★ James McAvoy is masterful in this thrillingly twisted horror-comedy; an unnervingly hilarious, rollicking wild ride that ignites all the senses. ~ Evening Standard.
★★★★ This remake of a Danish story of an unwary family who follow a charismatic couple on holiday has lost some of its nihilism but McAvoy packs real power. ~ The Guardian.
★★★★ While British-born writer-director James Watkins’s take on the Danish psychological horror of the same name makes occasional concessions to what’s often (disparagingly) called the popcorn crowd, the "new" Speak No Evil is no less stark, satirical or unsettling as its source material. ~ Radio Times.
★★★★ ~ The Telegraph.
★★★★ ~ Irish Times.
★★★★ ~ The Times.
★★★★ ~ Time Out.
★★★★ ~ Empire.
★★★★ ~ The i.
★★★★ ~ NME.
ALSO SCREENING:
★★★✭ My Old Ass.
★★★✭ Will & Harper.
★★★✭ Inside Out 2.
★★★✭ Blink Twice.
★★★✭ Twisters.
★★★✭ The Outrun.
★★★✭ Alien: Romulus.
★★★ Starve Acre.
★★★ Firebrand.
★★★ Deadpool & Wolverine.
c Despicable Me 4.
★★★ Lee.
★★★ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
★★★ It Ends With Us.
★★✭ The Critic.
★★✭ Trap.
★★✭ Harold and The Purple Crayon.
★★ The Garfield Movie.
★✭ The Crow.
★✭ AfrAId.
★ 200% Wolf.
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NEW TO STREAMING:
(Updated 18 Aug 2024):
AMAZON PRIME, NETFLIX & SKY CINEMA ~ JAWS.
★★★★★ Is there such a thing as a perfect film? One that knows what it wants to achieve and does it, flawlessly, artfully and intelligently? If so, then ‘Jaws’ is as good a candidate as any. ~ Time Out.
★★★★★ Peter Benchley's pulp bestseller is here turned into the scariest sea saga ever filmed, with Steven Spielberg creating maximum suspense in the first dark moments and then maintaining the momentum with his brilliant sleight-of-hand direction. ~ Radio Times.
★★★★★ Spielberg's 1975 serial killer masterpiece leaves teeth marks. ~ The Guardian.
★★★★★ Technically brilliant and charged with bone-tingling thrills. ~ Empire.
★★★★★ Jaws is a marvel of detailed, economical storytelling. Its heart and hope never spill over, its dread and darkness never depart. ~ Total Film.
★★★★★ If ever there was an important example for how music can enhance a film it is "Jaws". John Williams' memorable score is used sparingly but its tone of impending terror is more responsible for the power of the film than the sightings of the beast itself. ~ BBC.
CHANNEL 4 ~ LA HAINE.
★★★★★ Mathieu Kassovitz’s celebrated story of inequality in a Paris banlieue is an effervescent classic which radiates with rage and comedy. ~ The Guardian.
★★★★★ It's been labelled French cinema's answer to Boyz N The Hood, but La Haine (Hate) has a flavour all of its own. Writer-director Kassovitz butts European urbanity up against American street style as kids clash with cops in suburban Paris. The result is an explosion of scathing social commentary and dynamic storytelling. ~ BBC.
This socially conscious crime drama was hailed as groundbreaking – and considered highly controversial – when it premiered in 1995. Its raw and righteous exploration of class conflict, racial discrimination and police brutality remains gut-churningly relevant today. ~ NME.
★★★★★ Stark, exquisite black-and-white photography drains what little cheer there is out of the concrete jungle, creating an alien cityscape devoid of sunshine. But Mathieu Kassovitz's triumph is in finding humanity in every single one of his characters. ~ Empire.
★★★★★ For anyone grown weary of French cinema's bourgeois sheen, La Haine is a wonderful wake-up call. See it. ~ The Times.
★★★★★ The politics of the piece are confrontational, to say the least, but there is a maturity and depth to the characterisation which goes beyond mere agitprop: society may be on the point of self-combustion, but this film betrays no appetite for the explosion. A vital, scalding piece of work. ~ Time Out.
★★★★★ It remains as provocative as a petrol bomb. ~ Total Film.
★★★★ ~ Radio Times.
BBC iPLAYER ~ ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN.
★★★★★ This Oscar-winning thriller about the Watergate burglary is one of the best movies ever made about American politics. ~ Radio Times.
★★★★★ Following Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's book, director Alan Pakula and scripter William Goldman make this film a dynamic detective yarn, even though everyone already knows the ending, by covering only the reporters' investigation of the scandal and keeping the administration criminals offscreen. ~ AllMovie.
★★★★★ As smart and cautionary now as it was in the '70s. ~ Empire.
Despite the twists, turns and exceptionally complex detail of the Watergate scandal, All the President’s Men manages to make it both comprehensible and watchable – with a few flashy fictional touches to gussy up the facts. ~ The Guardian.
BBC iPLAYER ~ THE PIANO
★★★★★ Inspired by Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, this superbly staged tale of passion and obsession won writer/director Jane Campion an Oscar for best screenplay. ~ Radio Times.
★★★★★ Not just another costume drama, Jane Campion's The Piano (1993) lushly visualizes the emotional complexities of a 19th century woman's sexual awakening. ~ AllMovie.
★★★★★ Rightly lauded and celebrated, as tender, remarkable and sincere as drama comes. ~ Little White Lies.
★★★★★ There is a fierce performance from Holly Hunter, whose face radiates intensity and enigma. Hunter's performance is outstanding. So is the film. ~ The Guardian.
★★★★★ Hunter's gothic heroine is complemented by Stuart Dryburgh's dark cinematography and gaspingly restrictive widowy petticoats. ~ Irish Times.
★★★★★ The film is a masterclass in dramatic structure and rolls through Campion's meticulous screenplay beats with effortless elan, right up to the axe-wielding climax. Almost the perfect film. ~ The Times.
★★★★ ~ Empire.
CHANNEL 4 ~ WINGS OF DESIRE.
★★★★★ If some restorations of classic films are mere spit and polish, this one is spectacular: a deepening and sharpening of existing beauty. ~ Financial Times.
★★★★★ After seven years in the U.S., New German Cinema director Wim Wenders returned to Germany for this meditation on existence, mortality, time, and Berlin, the city in which it is set. ~ AllMovie.
★★★★★ Shot when the city seemed forever divided by the wall, this intensely romantic story of an angel who longs for human love is unlike any other. Wim Wenders’ elegiac hymn to a broken cold-war Berlin. ~ The Guardian.
★★★★★ Wenders returned to Germany in 1986 to create this precious portrait of a divided Berlin just a few years before the Wall fell and it remains a beautiful, literate and romantic piece of cinema. ~ Empire.
★★★★ ~ Radio Times.
CHANNEL 4 ~ DRIVE MY CAR.
★★★★✭ Head-spinning in its psychological scope and dramatic sweep, this captivating, emotionally eloquent Haruki Murakami adaptation was one of 2021’s must-see movies. ~ Little White Lies.
★★★★★ A mysterious Murakami tale of erotic and creative secrets, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi reaches a new grandeur with this engrossing adaptation about a theatre director grappling with Chekhov and his wife’s infidelity. ~ The Guardian.
★★★★★ A profoundly beautiful, haunting Murakami adaptation, this tale of a bereaved actor-director – and his tomato-red automobile – may be three hours long, but it uses every second wisely. ~ The Telegraph.
★★★★★ The film struck a rare chord with American audiences, to the tune of Oscar nominations for best picture, director and screenplay, and it's not difficult to see why: Drive My Car uses its remarkably unhurried pace to shattering effect. ~ Radio Times.
★★★★ ~ Financial Times.
★★★★ ~ The Irish Times.
★★★★ ~ Sunday Times.
★★★★ ~ The Observer.
★★★★ ~ The Times.
★★★★ ~ Time Out.
★★★★ ~ Empire.
AMAZON PRIME & NETFLIX ~ GROUNDHOG DAY.
★★★★✭ Comic perfection. ~ Empire.
★★★★✭ A charming and well-crafted comedy, Groundhog Day is that rare Bill Murray vehicle in which the material (and its execution) are every bit as good as the star's performance. ~ AllMovie.
★★★★★ Director Harold Ramis uses every cinematic trick in the book to keep what is essentially a one-gag movie brimming with life and fresh ideas. ~ Radio Times.
★★★★★ Andie MacDowell was never more convincing and Chris Elliott is a dry delight as her lens-man. Murray and movie, meanwhile, are a mutual godsend. ~ Total Film.
AMAZON PRIME ~ THE SOCIAL NETWORK.
The tale of how Mark Zuckerberg hit on the idea of Facebook is a riveting movie about friendship and greed. ~ The Observer.
★★★★★ On paper, the story of a couple of geeks setting up a website doesn't exactly sound like thrilling fare, even to fans of that particular social networking site. But how wrong you'd be to dismiss what turns out to be a very clever and compelling movie. ~ RTE.
★★★★★ An exhilarating, absorbing, fast-moving drama detailing the ugly, angry clash of the old world with the new. ~ The Scotsman.
★★★★✭ If The Social Network was, say, a link David Fincher posted on his Facebook page, you would like it, share it, and leave a comment along the lines of "OMG Greatest Thing EVER!!!!" (Because where would the Internet be without hyperbole?) But in this case, your enthusiasm would be entirely justified. ~ AllMovie.
★★★★★ Most significant though, is how this brilliantly assembled cautionary tale gets straight to the heart of the human needs and failings underpinning dizzying technological advancement, creating one of the truly defining films of its era. ~ Radio Times.
★★★★★ Like. Poke. Share. ~ Sky Cinema.
★★★★ ~ The Independent.
★★★★ ~ Little White Lies.
★★★★ ~ Financial Times.
★★★★ ~ The Telegraph.
★★★★ ~ The Guardian.
★★★★ ~ Total Film.
★★★★ ~ Time Out.
★★★★ ~ Empire.
★★★★ ~ NME.
CHANNEL 4 ~ ROMAN HOLIDAY.
★★★★★ The best comedy ever written on the horrors of being a royal. ~ Sunday Times.
★★★★★ With charm and innocence by the bucketload, this lovely modern fairytale stars Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn who both irradiate the whole movie with their charisma. ~ The Guardian.
★★★★★ With Hepburn at her most appealing, Peck at his most charismatic, and Rome at its most photogenic, Roman Holiday remains one of the most popular romances that has ever skipped across the screen. ~ AllMovie.
★★★★★ This sublime film rightly secured a best actress Oscar for Audrey Hepburn (in a role originally intended for Jean Simmons) and resulted in both Hepburn and Rome (not to mention motor scooters!) becoming the epitome of postwar chic. ~ Radio Times.
★★★★★ A rom-com colossus, and one that has been aped and emulated in everything from Notting Hill to Trainwreck to Jennifer Lopez’s recent Marry Me. ~ The Times.
★★★★ ~ Total Film.
★★★★ ~ Empire.
★★★★ ~ BBC.
BBC iPLAYER ~ THE ELEPHANT MAN.
★★★★★ This beautiful, measured and rather atypical movie by David Lynch from 1980 is now on re-release. ~ The Guardian.
★★★★★ This stylish, poignant drama is based on the true story of the profoundly disfigured John Merrick (played by a superb, unrecognisable John Hurt), who battled the prejudices of Victorian society. ~ Radio Times.
★★★★★ It would take a heart of stone not be moved by this quite heart-rending tale of a pure soul struggling to be heard over the prejudice of the many. ~ BBC.
★★★★ ~ The Times.
★★★★ ~ Empire.
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