Following the gloriousness that was last week, it’s hard at first to be excited for this week. But a closer look reveals some promising stuff. First off, nothing released this week looks bad, and some of it, like the new Emily Blunt thriller, looks completely the opposite of bad (pretty damn awesome, to be precise). As well as that there’s a nice combination of variety and no heavy-handed blockbusters – feel free to watch what you’d like and know that it’ll all be fun – or, in the case of our last film, not so much fun as harrowing.
Getting the big film over and done with early this week, we start with Sicario. A crime thriller following a pair of FBI agents who get dragged into the world of Mexican drug cartels and hitmen, Sicario is directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy) and features the wonderful trifecta of Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio del Toro. Selected to compete at Cannes 2015, the film has received enormous praise from critics, and its faltering box office performance should be blamed on poor scheduling rather than there being anything wrong with the film itself, which looks to be a brilliantly dark thriller. It is released on Thursday.
Our first Friday release this week is Addicted to Fresno. A dark comedy about a pair of sisters living in Fresno who are forced to commit a series of crimes to cover up a murder, the film stars Natasha Lyonne (Orange is the New Black) and Judy Greer (27 Dresses, The Descendants). The film has received mixed praise, with the leads’ acting being hailed, but the execution of the film as a comedy criticised. Either way, this is unlikely to be an awful film, and is definitely worth a watch.
If you’re feeling classy, or have a hankering for a bit of Benedict Cumberbatch, this week’s got you covered with a live broadcast of the National Theatre’s Hamlet. The screening will be broadcast in cinemas up and down the country for the one night, allowing people who don’t live in London the chance to have front row seats to one of the biggest stage performances of the year. Having been to one of these before, they are nicely done, and you quickly forget you’re in a cinema rather than seeing the play live. It is released on Friday.
What with this being the first proper week of October, the horror films are starting to trickle in, the first being A Haunting in Cawdor. The film stars Shelby Young (American Horror Story) and Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Saw – two very different films rights there), and follows a young woman made to serve a jail sentence working at a dilapidated theatre. This being a horror film, spooky, scary stuff starts happening, involving a supernatural murderer, and thus hilarity ensues. It is released on Friday.
A documentary is also available this week – The Nightmare, which was selected to show at Sundance 2015, and explores the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. Made by filmmaker Rodney Ascher (who made the critically acclaimed Room 237), the film interviews several sufferers of sleep paralysis and then attempts to recreate their experiences with professional actors. It received largely positive praise from critics, so if documentaries are your thing, here you go. It is released on Friday.
Wrapping things up this week is American-Spanish psychological thriller Regression. With a big-name cast – Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson star – and made by filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar (The Others, Agora), Regression tells the story of a man being investigated for admitting to sexually abusing his daughter, despite having no recollection of it. The few reviews that have come in are less than promising, but with an interesting premise and the draw of seeing whether or not Watson can make like her Harry Potter co-star and prove herself as a serious actress, the film will still attract a decent crowd when it’s released on Friday.
