weekend watchlist: a small lie spirals way out of control
acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi returns with another deeply humanist tale of everyday modern life
Don’t spend hours scrolling the menus at Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other movie services. I point you to the best new films and hidden gems to stream.
both sides of the pond
The latest film from acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi debuts this weekend on Amazon Prime globally [Prime US | Prime UK].
A Hero is, like all of Farhadi’s films, a deeply humanist tale of the trials and tribulations of everyday modern life. Amir Jadidi is warmly empathetic as Rahim, whose small lie, told with the best of intentions, gets blown out of all proportion, snowballing into something that he quickly loses control of. And his every attempt to fix things only make matters even worse. His troubles feel very much like a dark fable for our desperate times.
(I love Farhadi’s 2017 film, The Salesman, too, and it’s also streaming free for Prime members [Prime US | Prime UK]. [Read my review.])
US
Netflix hidden gem
You may have heard about the historical fantasy The King’s Daughter, new in cinemas this weekend. Avoid it — it’s dreadful. Instead, check out the infinitely better, if somewhat less fantastical, romantic dramedy romp set in the same time and place: King Louis XIV’s 17th-century court at Versailles. In A Little Chaos, Kate Winslet stars as a garden designer hired to help bring a hint of “Heaven” to the palace grounds. Alan Rickman plays the king (he also directs), and the entirely delicious cast also features Stanley Tucci and Matthias Schoenaerts. It’s a genuine cinematic treat. (Read my review.) Streaming on Netflix. Also for rent or purchase on Prime US and Apple TV US.
Paramount Plus hidden gem
Behold science fiction for people who don’t like science fiction! Satirical dramedy Downsizing shrinks Matt Damon — and a whole lot of other people — to five inches tall… all in the name of saving the planet, and saving all-American consumerism in tight economic times. This is a stupendous movie: smart, funny, poignant, a true original, presented with a slightly comedic whiff of masstige chic, like you might pick up a new downsized lifestyle at Ikea. (Read my review.) Streaming on Paramount Plus. Also for rent or purchase on Prime US and Apple TV US.
UK
new on Netflix
Adaptations of Jane Austen, of which there have been oh-so many, have to stand apart to be worth noting. Herewith: 2020’s Emma. Yes, there’s a period on the end of the title, as if to suggest that this film is the definitive version… which it just might be, at least for our particular moment in time. Anya Taylor-Joy — recently seen in Last Night in Soho and the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit — makes her Emma is a queen bee with real bite, and her story comes with a sly, penetrating zing and a frisson of Insta-influencer horror — of the oppression of performative perfection against a marzipan backdrop — rendering Austen’s fluff and nonsense as deadly serious. (Read my review.) Streaming on Netflix. Also for purchase on Prime UK and Apple TV UK.
leaving BBC iPlayer soon
The always marvelous Gemma Arterton stars as a screenwriter working in Blitz-era London in Their Finest, leaving BBC iPlayer on January 24th. Delightful dry and snarky satire on wartime propaganda, sharp feminist commentary, and a brilliant cast — also featuring Bill Nighy and Sam Claflin — make this snappy historical dramedy a real corker. (Read my review.) Also for rent or purchase on Prime UK and Apple TV UK.
find lots more movies to stream at Flick Filosopher
follow me…
Twitter | Letterboxd | Rotten Tomatoes | Pinterest
Thanks for all the sage advice! Particularly valuable are your views on films to be avoided at all costs! You suffer for the rest of us, that we may not suffer!