New to Streaming/Blu-Ray

Riz Ahmed, WikiCommons

David Prendeville

Here I round up some of the best new offerings on streaming and newly released on Blu-ray.

Piece of a Woman
Hungarian director Kondrel Mundruczo makes his English language debut with this acclaimed drama featuring Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf. The film has attracted attention for a bravura opening 30 minute birthing scene. Available on Netflix.

Malcolm and Marie
Sam Levinson follows up the controversial Assassination Nation with this drama shot during lockdown. John David Washington stars as a director and Zendaya as his wife, in a film that has attracted some ire for it’s autobiographical nature and for it’s supposed digs at film critics. Available on Netflix.

Falling
Viggo Mortenson’s directorial debut stars himself as a man whose peaceful existence with his partner and adopted daughter in California is disrupted by a visit from his abrasive father (Lance Henrikson). Available on IFI@Home.

Mogul Mowgli
Riz Ahmed has received ecstatic notices for his performance in this drama, about a British Pakistani rapper who’s struck down with illness on the cusp of his first world tour. Available on IFI@HOME.

Only God Forgives
Nicolas Winding Refn’s brilliant, unfairly maligned thriller follows Ryan Gosling as a drug smuggler in Bangkok, compelled by his overbearing mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) to avenge his brother’s death. This visually stunning, brutal film is ripe for re-discovery. Available on IFI@HOME.

Loveless
Russian maser Andrey Zvyaginstev’s stark drama is a searing, haunting indictment of social values in modern day Russia. Available on IFI@HOME.

India Song
Marguerite Duras’s challenging, fascinating drama is noted for the uniqueness of its form. With the characters remaining wordless throughout, the images we see are accompanied by off-screen voices that help the viewer piece together the story of the wife of a French diplomat in 1930s India driven to suicide. Available on Mubi.

The Big Feast
Marco Ferreri’s infamous black comedy from 1973 has lost none of its ability to shock. Featuring superb performances by greats such as Marcello Mastroianni and the recently departed Michel Piccoli. A must for those with an adventurous palette. Available on Mubi.

Toni Erdmann
Maren Ade’s superb melancholy comedy which follows a practical joking father trying to reconnect with his CEO daughter. What sounds like the premise of a broad farce, is handled with extraordinary deftness and humanity. Features superb performances from Sandra Huller and Peter Simonishcek. Available on Mubi.

About Endlessness
Surrealist Swedish auteur, Roy Andersson, returns with one of the most acclaimed films of the year past. Available on Volta and Mubi.

The Masque of the Red Death
Roger Corman’s iconic Edgar Allen Poe adaptation gets the Blu-ray treatment. Starring Vincent Price and noted for Nic Roeg’s stunning cinematography. Blu-ray now on sale at the IFI shop and other retailers.

Light Sleeper
Paul Schrader’s 1992 film once again sees him rework his key themes into another complex portrait of a damaged male psyche. Features great performances from Willem Dafoe and Susan Sarandon. Blu-ray now on sale at the IFI shop and other retailers.