Film January.qxp_Layout 1 14/12/2021 13:24 Page 2
Film
Films released in January...
The Lost Daughter CERT 15 (121 mins) Starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Olive Jackson-Cohen Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal
In making her directorial debut, Maggie Gyllenhaal not only takes full control of her source material - Elena Ferrante’s 2006 novel of the same title - but also provides an impressive stage for Olivia Colman to do what she does best: effortlessly capture and resolutely retain the viewer’s attention. Colman plays languages professor Leda Caruso, a middleaged, seemingly warm but on occasions evidently snappy and unhappy woman, who’s on a working holiday in Greece. While there, she encounters a volatile young mother with a doll-fixated infant daughter. She becomes both consumed and unnerved by the pair, their compelling relationship triggering memories for her of the traumatic experiences of early motherhood (the younger Leda, struggling to raise her kids, is played in flashback by an impressive Jessie Buckley)... The Lost Daughter is a story which touches base with plenty of author Ferrante’s favourite subjects, not least among which are misogyny and the impact of crippling female guilt. But while the film offers plenty for viewers to contemplate, there’s no denying that the main attraction is Colman’s utterly splendid performance in the lead role. A second Oscar for the one-time Peep Show supporting cast member is a distinct possibility. Streaming on Netflix from Fri 31 December
Licorice Pizza CERT tbc (133 mins)
The 355 CERT tbc
Scream CERT tbc (114 mins)
Starring Bradley Cooper, Maya Rudolph, Skyler Gisondo, Sean Penn, Alana Haim, Emma Dumont Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring Jessica Chastain, Sebastian Stan, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o, Bingbing Fan Directed by Simon Kinberg
Starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Marley Shelton, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Dylan Minnette Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
Licorice Pizza has been named the best movie of 2021 by the National Board of Review. And quite right, too. A coming-of-age movie that offers so very much more than a typical coming-of-age movie, it tells the story of a 15-year-old child actor and his interaction with a woman who’s old enough to be his big sister. It also presents a slice of early-1970s life that will call to mind all manner of other steeped-innostalgia movies, from Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (set a handful of years earlier, of course) to director Anderson’s very own Boogie Nights. Cameos by, among others, Bradley Cooper and Sean Penn further recommend a film that’s quite simply not to be missed. Released Sat 1 January
Jessica Chastain heads up a cast of formidable female stars in this globetrotting espionage thriller that’s being described as a mix of Ocean’s Eleven and The Bourne Identity. When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, wild card CIA agent Mason ‘Mace’ Brown heads out on a lethal, breakneck mission to retrieve it. She’s joined in the endeavour by rival badass German agent Marie, former MI6 ally and cuttingedge computer specialist Khadijah, and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela. Released Fri 7 January
Twenty-five years after a series of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers... The fifth instalment in the long-running slasher-pic series, Scream is being billed as a relaunch of the franchise - despite being a direct sequel to 2011's Scream 4. Released Fri 14 January whatsonlive.co.uk 49
