Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
The Annihilation of Fish (Charles Burnett)
Essentially a lost film, legendary director Charles Burnett’s 1999 feature The Annihilation of Fish mostly lived on the festival circuit (and in bootlegs) for a quarter-century until a recent miraculous restoration by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation. Despite featuring recognizable leads in James Earl Jones and Lynn Redgrave, one bad review from an influential critic (who seemed strangely wary of the film’s tonal risk-taking) was enough to sink its commercial prospects for potential distributors. A mental-illness romantic comedy of sorts, the film has a strangeness that may be potentially alienating to some, but it seems inexplicable, years later, that a work which so movingly wears its heart on its sleeve would be denied the audience it deserved. – Ethan V. (full interview)
Where to Stream: Kino Film Collection
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (Embeth Davidtz)
We recently welcomed Embeth Davidtz, director of Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, to The B-Side podcast. Our B-Sides include Feast of July, The Gingerbread Man, Mansfield Park, and Bicentennial Man. We spoke with Davidtz about her directorial debut, her incredibly diverse acting career, and adapting from the memoir by Alexandra Fuller. There’s extended discussion of Robert Altman’s direction of actors, the underrated qualities of Feast of July (a Merchant Ivory production!), and the ambitions of Bicentennial Man. Not to mention the incredible high-wire act by Davidtz’s in her dual performance in that Chris Columbus sci-fi epic. – Dan M.
Where to Stream: VOD
Little Buddha (Bernardo Bertolucci)
Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha returned to theaters this past spring in a 4K restoration. The film follows Jesse, a 10-year-old American boy believed to be the reincarnation of the revered Buddhist monk Lama Dorje. His story is intertwined with that of Siddartha, charting his journey to enlightenment. Bertolucci and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro filmed the two narratives using 35mm and 65mm, respectively. We spoke with Pietro Scalia, the film’s editor, who has earned two Academy Awards for his work on JFK and Black Hawk Down. Scalia has worked on a diverse range of films, from the intimate drama of Good Will Hunting to the epic scale of Gladiator. His extensive credits also include Hannibal, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Martian, and Ferrari, among others. Scalia’s approach to editing emphasizes rhythm, emotional impact, and narrative pacing. Read Lucia Senesi’s full interview.
Where to Stream: Kino Film Collection
Night of the Reaper (Brandon Christensen)
A late-night slasher that rides on sharp, effective directing and an ambitious genre mix to mask some familiar writing, Night of the Reaper marks the latest horror offering from Brandon Christensen (Still/Born, Z, Superhost). Blending Halloween-inspired screams with a true crime murder mystery, the film follows a babysitter in 1980s suburbia being haunted, as well as a local sheriff tracking down clues of a nearby killer. As a warm-up for the Halloween movie season, Night of the Reaper has enough jump scares and kinetic pulse to kick up your heart rate, though those looking for something a bit more original may come away disappointed. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Shudder
Relay (David Mackenzie)
You always hear about whistleblowers––those who smuggle documentation for the benefit of the public out of corporations trying to make or save a buck at the expense of human lives––but what about those who decide the risk is too great? They’ve procured the papers. Got out of the building. And now find themselves victims of escalating harassment with nowhere to turn. Maybe they’re offered a settlement to have it all go away, but can they trust someone willing to bury evidence that proves culpability for the extinguishing of innocent lives? These are scientists, not lawyers. Paper-pushers, not security operatives. They need help. – Jared M. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Secret Mall Apartment (Jeremy Workman)
One of our favorite films to premiere at SXSW last year is now rolling out on VOD after a theatrical release. Secret Mall Apartment retells the strange, true tale of a group of friends who created a secret apartment in the busy Providence Place Mall in the early 2000s, bringing back the participants together for the first time in nearly two decades. John Fink said in his review, “Shedding light on a quirky 2007 story that made national headlines, Secret Mall Apartment takes us deep into the bowels of the Providence Place Mall, centerpiece of the renaissance of Rhode Island’s capital city developed under convict mayor Buddy Cianci. (As it happens, a few months before the discovery of the secret mall apartment, I had been right above it seeing Cherry Arnold’s Buddy, an insightful film about the mayor and his transformation of Providence, at the mall’s Showcase Cinemas, but that is another story.) Apartment residents had the advantage of private access to the theater anytime they wished.”
Where to Stream: VOD
Souleymane’s Story (Boris Lojkine)
Souleymane’s Story delivers a political fable with all the grit and urgency of a thriller. It follows a Guinean food-delivery driver (Abou Sangare, brilliant in his first screen role) who rides his bike through Paris’ busy streets with alarming haste. En route from client to client, he recites a script he plans to perform the next day at his asylum meeting. His pay is determined by how many jobs he completes, but a slice of those commissions are taken by the man who operates his account––and when money is needed (Souleymane remains in arrears to the man who wrote his script), he’s not always easy to pin down. Each day ticks like a time bomb, leading up to when the last bus leaves for Souleymane’s refugee shelter. Miss it and he sleeps rough. Run afoul of the delivery app’s anonymous moderators and his only source of income vanishes. Run afoul of the police and he’s on his own. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Also New to Streaming
MUBI
The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis
Our Time
Robe of Gems
Time to Die
VOD
Americana
Another End
Eden
Ne Zha 2
Night of the Juggler
Preparation for the Next Life