Movie of the week – Things to Come
It’s a busy week for new releases, the best of which is French drama Things to Come. Gallic acting legend Isabelle Huppert delivers one of her finest performances as a philosophy teacher who finds herself having to reinvent her life when her husband leaves her for a younger woman, her mother succumbs to senility and her publishers set about dropping her from their roster. A tribute to strong silent women everywhere.
Equity
Another female-centric release is financial thriller Equity, which stars Breaking Bad’s Anna Gunn as an investment banker who finds her attempts to land a lucrative deal undermined by various opposing forces. The predominantly female cast does great work, but the script is amateurish and never gets under the skin of any of its characters.
Café Society
Woody Allen has been on an impressive run lately, but his latest, period comic drama Café Society, brings that to an end. Jesse Eisenberg falls for his uncle/boss’s mistress (Kristen Stewart) in 1930’s Hollywood. The film looks great but there’s little of substance here.
Morgan
Two of the year’s worst films open this week. Morgan is a dumb, derivative sci-fi thriller that wastes an impressive ensemble cast. Directed by Ridley Scott’s son, Luke, this one takes the central theme of Blade Runner and twists it into a by the numbers slasher movie topped off with the year’s most predictable twist.
The 9th Life of Louis Drax
The 9th Life of Louis Drax stars Fifty Shades of Grey’s Jamie Dornan in a supernatural thriller that can’t figure out if it’s a coming of age drama or a dark fantasy. As tedious as they come.
By Eric Hillis of themoviewaffler.com
