Cinemas in the Republic of Ireland will remain closed for the month of
November and there's no guarantee that UK cinemas will be open either.
That's a shame, as November offers some gems currently set to play on the
big screen. But if you can't get to a cinema, the small screen has some
treats in November too.
Here are the 10 November new releases we're most excited for (David Fincher's
Mank
is rumoured to play UK cinemas at some point in November ahead of its
December Netflix release, but at time of writing this has yet to be
confirmed).
About Endlessness
Much like Terrence Malick, Sweden's Roy Andersson disappeared for
several decades before returning and reinventing his career by establishing
a unique style of filmmaking. Beginning with 2000's
Songs from the Second Floor, Andersson's 20th century films are comprised of short vignettes that
collectively explore modern Scandinavian life, both the good and the bad.
About Endlessness continues this trend with a selection of
absurdist vignettes that range from the hilarious to the profound.
In cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema from November 6th.
Luxor
One of the standouts of this year's Sundance Film Festival was
writer/director Zeina Durra's drama Luxor, which stars Andrea Riseborough as a British aid worker who runs
into an old lover (Karim Saleh) while retreating from the stress of
her occupation in the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor. Durra describes her
film as "a film about birth and rebirth and second chances."
In cinemas from November 6th.
Queen of Hearts
Director May el-Toukhy's stars the great Danish actress
Trine Dyrholm as a forty-something woman who embarks on an intense
physical affair with the teenage son of a former lover. El-Toukhy's film
is that cinematic rarity, a candid exploration of female desire with a
central performance from Dyrholm that has been lauded on the festival
circuit.
On MUBI from November 7th.
Freaky
With
Happy Death Day, writer-director Christopher Landon gave us a clever and fun
horror spin on the Groundhog Day format. With his latest
movie, Freaky, he's taken another popular movie trope - the body swap - and rejigged
it for a horror setting. The film stars Kathryn Newton as a
high-schooler who finds herself swapping bodies with the deranged serial
killer (Vince Vaughn) who is terrorising her small town.
In cinemas from November 13th.
The Last Shift
Writer/director Andrew Cohn's feature debut stars the great
Richard Jenkins as Stanley, an aging employee of a fast food
restaurant working his final shift after four decades of unquestioning
service. Spending the shift training his replacement, a disgruntled young
writer (Shane Paul McGhie), Stanley begins to question how he's spent
his life.
In cinemas from November 13th.
Mangrove
November sees the premiere of Steve McQueen's 'Small Axe' anthology
of five films set among London's West Indian community between the 1960s and
'80s. The series kicks off with Mangrove, the story of Notting Hill's Mangrove restaurant, which became a site of
resistance in the late '60s, leading to the arrest of a group of activists
who came to be known as "The Mangrove Nine" during an infamous
trial.
On BBC iPlayer following a premiere on BBC One from November 15th.
Patrick
A couple of weeks before the world went to hell in a handbasket I was
sitting in a packed cinema enjoying this raucous Belgian film as part of the
Dublin International Film Festival. Similar to Rian Johnson's
Brick, director Tim Mielants' film reworks classic film noir tropes in a
unique setting, in this case a nudist camp where the titular hero, the
camp's caretaker, investigates the theft of a beloved hammer.
In cinemas from November 20th.
Lovers Rock
This instalment of Steve McQueen's 'Small Axe' anthology plays out
over the course of a house party in late '70s London, where young
lovers Martha (Amarah-Jae St Aubyn) and Franklyn (Micheal Ward) are drawn together. Boasting minimal
dialogue, Lovers Rock is a sensory celebration of a world
that seems like an increasingly distant memory in these lockdown times. It
may be debuting on TV, but this might be the most cinematic movie of the
year.
On BBC iPlayer following a premiere on BBC One from November 22nd.
Another Round
Thomas Vinterberg's latest film stars Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Lars Ranthe and
Magnus Millang as four middle-aged teachers who experiment with the
theory that humans who maintain a high level of alcohol in their blood
streams can function on a higher level than those around them. Needless to
say, the experiment gets out of hand. Hilarious, insightful and touching,
Another Round commendably avoids the scornful tone usually
adopted by movies concerning alcohol, instead recognising it as an
integral part of Northern European culture.
In cinemas from November 27th.
Possessor
The apple didn't fall far from the tree in the Cronenberg family. Son of
David, Brandon's second film is rooted in the body-horror milieu his old man
is so associated with. Andrea Riseborough plays an assassin who
inhabits the bodies of unsuspecting dupes in order to carry out hits.
Possessor owes much to '70s conspiracy thrillers, but preys on
very modern fears regarding surveillance states and identity theft.
In cinemas from November 27th.