What a very odd time at the box office. Much like last week, this fourth week of March finds us stuck between the end of Oscar season (phew) and the beginning of the summer season (which, every year, creeps closer and closer to firmly spring territory).
And while most movie-goers will undoubtedly turn out for this weekend’s marquee title — the inevitable massive blockbuster, an action-driven sequel, chock-a-block with wild action (hello, “John Wick: Chapter 4”!) — there are also a wide variety of smaller options available, too. (Brief pause to noodle on my initial inclination to term them “auteur-driven fare” when, really, the “John Wick” franchise is also the work of an auteur.)
Those films include new offerings from Stephen Frears, Zach Braff, the Dardenne brothers, and the always-productive Hong Sangsoo. Next week will follow a similar path, complete with the splashy blockbuster (“Dungeons and Dragons”), plus a variety of lauded indie fare (“Rye Lane,” “A Thousand and One,” and “Enys Men”). Plus: Léa Mysius’ ravishing “The Five Devils,” in select theaters now but bound for streaming on MUBI in May.
Each film is now available in a theater near you or in the comfort of your own home (or, in some cases, both, the convenience of it all). Browse your options below.
Week of March 24 – March 30
New Films in Theaters
As new movies open in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, IndieWire will continue to review them whenever possible. We encourage readers to follow the safety precautions provided by CDC and health authorities. Additionally, our coverage will provide alternative viewing options whenever they are available.
“The Five Devils” (directed by Léa Mysius) — IndieWire Critic’s Pick
Distributor: MUBI
Where to Find It: Select theaters, streaming on MUBI in May
“The Five Devils” is an elemental film, as fire and water blaze and flow through the run time. Jimmy is a fireman; Joanna a lifeguard at a local pool. The opening sequence is a striking statement of intent, as cinematographer and co-writer Paul Guilhaume films the girls in sparkling gymnast costumes from behind as they watch a fire crackle against the pitch black of night. One of the girls turns around — it’s Adèle Exarchopoulos.
Cut to the next scene of Joanne leading a class of water aerobics to a pool of senior citizens. Beside her, leading the class from a much shorter vantage point, is her daughter, Vicky (Sally Dramé), grinning with happiness at being close to her beloved mother. Their next point of call is the local lake. Vicky helps to coat Joanne’s body in a layer of milking grease to protect her from the freezing water. It’s a ritual the two share every day. For Joanne, it’s an act of sensual extremity, at odds with the humdrum routine of her daily life. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“A Good Person” (directed by Zach Braff)
Distributor: MGM
Where to Find It: Theaters
At this point, the dulcet rumble of Morgan Freeman’s omniscient voiceover could almost qualify as its own genre. The legendary actor lends his considerable gravitas to the opening screed of “A Good Person,” another New Jersey-set drama from “Garden State” writer/director Zach Braff.
The film opens with an obvious metaphor about model trains that is very quickly hammered into the ground, along with a few too many other themes and plot lines. With model trains, you see, one can construct “a world where the hobbyist plays omnipotent creator,” says Freeman, before sealing it with the winking clincher: “In life, of course, nothing is nearly as neat and tidy.” If only filmmaking were more like model-train-making, Braff could have kept “A Good Person” from going so wildly off the rails. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“A Good Person”
MGM
“John Wick: Chapter 4” (directed by Chad Stahelski)
Distributor: Lionsgate
Where to Find It: Theaters
The “John Wick” franchise has evolved from a small-scale tale of revenge for the death of a wife and the killing of a do to a globe-trotting epic that spans continents, dozens of characters, and an intricate mythology. In its fourth chapter, director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves bring this franchise back to its roots while expanding the world and the story to bigger and bolder places. The result is not only the best movie in the franchise, but the best American action blockbuster since George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
After going to war with essentially the entire world, and causing the deaths of hundreds of people, “Chapter 4” finally starts pondering the question of just how far John Wick is willing to go for revenge, how many people close to him he’s willing to endanger, and whether it was all worth it. At this point, this is no longer about the killing of his wife and dog, it’s about burning down a system that always resented Wick for abandoning it. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“The Lost King” (directed by Stephen Frears)
Distributor: IFC Films
Where to Find It: Theaters
Don’t believe everything you read. More than a hundred years after King Richard III was killed during the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last important fight of the War of the Roses and widely considered the end of the Middle Ages, William Shakespeare wrote his “Richard III,” which dramatized the king’s life, works, and death, turning him into something of a monster in the process. But what if, Stephen Frears’ “The Lost King” wonders, everything we thought we know about Richard, much of it straight from The Bard’s pen itself, was wrong indeed?
Many people have noodled on that same thing in the centuries since his death, including the nearly century-old Richard III Society, which is comprised of not just fans of the ruler, but fans who are dedicated to reassessing his reputation. But “The Lost King” is mostly concerned with just one fan: Philippa Langley, a real-life amateur historian who helped lead the charge to find Richard’s body in a Leicester car park a decade ago. Sounds like a story ripe for the movies, right? In keeping with the thrust of “The Lost King,” much of what follows is somewhat hard to believe, both trumped up and terribly dry, and fascinating in fractured pieces. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“Tori and Lokita”
Sideshow and Janus Films
“Tori and Lokita” (directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne)
Distributor: Sideshow and Janus Films
Where to Find It: Theaters
“Tori and Lokita” is the angriest movie the Dardenne brothers have ever made, a distinction that shouldn’t be taken lightly in the context of filmmakers who’ve spent the last three decades carving diamond-sharp moral dramas from the plights of Belgium’s most dispossessed people.
Like most of the duo’s work, “Tori and Lokita” leverages the irreducible nature of human dignity against the ever-worsening apathy of human civilization. Like much of their work — including the Palme d’Or winner “Rosetta” and the 2002 masterpiece, “The Son” — the film’s threadbare story hinges on effectively parentless children whose need for support leads them towards danger. And like the best of their work, which this sobering return to form represents from its curious first shot to its furious last beat, its premise pulls tighter until even the simplest actions are endowed with breathless intensity. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Also available this week:
“Refuge” (directed by Erin Bernhardt and Din Blankenship)
Distributor: Shout! Studios
Where to Find It: Theaters
“The Tutor” (directed by Jordan Ross)
Distributor: Vertical
Where to Find It: Theaters
“Walk Up” (directed by Hong Sangsoo)
Distributor: Cinema Guild
Where to Find It: Limited theaters
Check out more films to watch on the next page.
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