It’s a week for serious things at the movies. That’s not to say there’s a shortage of escapism on the big screen in South Africa from this Friday, but tonally it’s pretty dark for the most part.
As an aside, apart for the four new feature releases below, you can also check out Episodes 1-2 of Bible adaptation The Chosen S5, AKA The Chosen: Last Supper; concert film André Rieu’s 75th Birthday Celebration: The Dream Continues (also book here); Bollywood actioner Jaat, and the Throwback re-release of Academy Award-winning The Social Network, about the founding of Facebook.
Craving something in the vein of Black Hawk Down? And recalling how realistically Alex Garland depicted military combat in Civil War? Well, Garland is back, teaming with former U.S. Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza, for Warfare, a military actioner shot in real time about a platoon of soldiers who come under fire during a Middle Eastern mission. Familiar faces in the cast include Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis and Joseph Quinn.
Look out for our Warfare review soon.
From the filmmaker behind Happy Death Day and Freaky, and who also wrote several Paranormal Activity movies and Disturbia, comes thriller Drop. Already nervous about a long overdue date at a fancy restaurant, single mother Violet (Meghann Fahy) sees her evening devolve into a nightmare. The cause? A series of phone messages that insist her family will die unless she kills her charming date.
Espionage thriller The Amateur is the second adaptation Robert Littell’s novel. After brilliant CIA decoder Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) loses his wife (Rachel Brosnahan) in a terrorist attack, he’s frustrated by his superiors’ refusal to take action. Dismissed as timid, Charlie tracks down those responsible using his intelligence to devastating advantage. Also with Laurence Fishburne, Jon Bernthal and Julianne Nicholson.
South African drama A Kind of Madness stars local acting legends Sandra Prinsloo, and Ian Roberts, and looks to be a heartbreaking watch. In the film, a 70-year old man abducts his wife from the retirement home where she’s being cared for due to her advancing dementia. Together, they go on the run from both the police and their adult children.