weekend watchlist: men who gaslight for fun and profit
plus an angry Jane Austen–esque romance, childhood witchcraft, and more
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published August 19th, 2022
both sides of the pond
This is true: In the 1990s and into the early 2000s, a British man called Robert Freegard pretended to be an MI-5 agent in order to con unsuspecting civilians, mostly women but some men too, into “working” with him, having romantic and sexual relationships with him, and eventually giving him lots of money. The brand-new dramatic thriller Rogue Agent is somewhat fictionalized from reality, but it is precisely as juicy as you might expect. Gemma Arterton stars as his most recent mark, a high-powered London lawyer who is absolutely smart enough to be suspicious of James Norton’s Freegard but succumbs to his charms anyway… until she realizes what has happened and turns all her adversarial skills against him. Ridiculously gripping, this movie works as a metaphor for the abuse and gaslighting that too many women experience at the hands of too many men, even when they’re not pretending to be spies, and is a much-needed inversion of the woman-in-romantic-jeopardy genre.
US: streaming on AMC+ (which you can subscribe to via Prime Video); also available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV
UK: streaming on Netflix
US
HBO Max hidden gem
How about some Jane Austen with extra irony and a whopping dollop of angry social conscience? Herewith Amma Asante’s beyond-wonderful 2014 romantic drama Belle. Based on fact, this is the tale of a mixed-race woman raised in an aristocratic British family in the late 18th century who ended up influencing her great-uncle (Tom Wilkinson), the highest judge in the land, to make abolition-friendly judgments on cases, at a time when slavery was still legal in England. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, always a delight, is perfection here. And oh, hey, James Norton is in this one as well, as a handsome aristocrat who may be after her for her money but who seems nice anyway. This is totally diverting, even as it is righting historical wrongs and asking subversive questions. I loved it in about a hundred different ways, and it’s important in at least that many ways, too. (Read my review.)
streaming on HBO Max; also available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV
Hulu hidden gem
It’s a sad and shocking true story that the 2018 documentary Three Identical Strangers tells. Decades ago, at age 19, three men who’d been adopted as babies discovered that they were brothers — identical triplets, in fact — who had been separated at birth. How this happened, and why, and the long-term impact this had on the brothers is examined in a tragedy that is, alas, not unique, and one that has much to say about human nature and how we nurture our children.
streaming on Hulu; also available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV
UK
Mubi/Netflix hidden gem
In rural — yet very modern — Zambia, a young girl is accused of witchcraft, and is sent to a “witch camp,” where she becomes part outcast, an object of fear and wonder, and part tourist attraction. Rungano Nyoni’s 2017 marvel I Am Not a Witch surely must be one of the most remarkable feature debuts of a writer-director in recent memory. This is an absolutely stunning mix of fantasy, social commentary, and cultural metaphor, full of striking imagery, an astonishing mix of horror and sly humor, and sheer thematic audacity. Maggie Mulubwa as young Shula is incredible. One viewing of this film, and you will never forget it, but you will be drawn back for repeat visits.
streaming on Mubi (available via Prime Video) and Netflix; also available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV
Disney+ hidden gem
Things are bleak in the UK at the moment, what with the deprivations of Brexit and the cost-of-living crisis, but if you can handle a take on how, actually, this has been a long time coming (fuck you very much, Tories), allow me to recommend 2016’s I, Daniel Blake. This isn’t exactly an entertaining movie, but it may be the most accessible film yet from legendary British director Ken Loach. As Dave Johns’s title character fights the UK’s appallingly unfit-for-purpose benefits system in the wake of a heart attack, he befriends Hayley Squires’s single mom in a similarly untenable situation. This is a movie that is lefty, loud, proud (and heartbreaking and infuriating with it) about the hamster wheels of red-tape idiocy that ordinary Brits must fighting against during their lowest moments. It rages against the systems once meant to help people that have become machines crushing them, and it’s only more relevant six years on. This was one of my Movies for the Resistance even before the mess we’re in got even worse. (Read my review.)
streaming on Disney+; also available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV
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