ALICE, DARLING (15, 89 mins)
FRIENDS of a young woman become deeply concerned by the controlling influence of a boyfriend in a timely drama directed by Mary Nighy.
Alice (Anna Kendrick) is repeatedly subjected to abusive behaviour from her artist beau, Simon (Charlie Carrick), who gaslights and belittles her, slowly chipping away at her self-confidence.
She is conditioned to believe that she is selfish and insensitive to meet Simon’s needs and must try harder to make the relationship work.
Alice’s closest confidants, Sophie (Wunmi Mosaku) and Tess (Kaniehtiio Horn), are horrified and stage an intervention under the guise of a birthday celebration in a remote cottage.
Reluctantly, Alice lies to Simon and tells him she needs to go away for work.
Once the women are alone, Sophie and Tess confront Anna with the sobering and shocking facts.
They hope to break Simon’s vice-like grip on their friend and empower Alice to draw courage and strength from their sisterly bond.
MORE THAN EVER (15, 123 mins)
A 33-year-old woman stares death in the face and takes control of her destiny in a thought-provoking drama directed by Emily Atef and co-written by Lars Hubrich and Atef.
Helene (Vicky Krieps) and husband Mathieu (Gaspard Ulliel) are happily settled in Bordeaux when a shocking medical diagnosis turns their lives upside down.
Faced with an incurable and rare lung condition that will make breathing increasingly difficult, Helene seeks comfort in the online blog of a terminally ill Norwegian man known as Mister (Bjorn Floberg).
She is inspired by his humour in the face of adversity and visits Scandinavia alone in the hope of finding peace against the backdrop of mountains and fjords.
Mathieu is deeply concerned about his wife’s faltering health and gives chase, determined to bring her back safely to Bordeaux where he can take care of her, supported by a close circle of friends.
HOLY SPIDER (18, 118 mins)
Zar Amir Ebrahimi won the coveted Best Actress prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in director Ali Abbasi’s tense crime thriller, which is based on a real-life 2002 case dubbed the “spider killings” by the Iranian media.
Journalist Arezoo Rahimi (Ebrahimi) arrives in Mashhad to investigate the spate of murders of local sex workers.
A police detective called Sharifi (Arash Ashtiani) has receive communication from the perpetrator, Saeed Hanaei (Mehdi Bajestani).
The so-called “Spider Killer” believes he is an instrument of a greater power, on a divine mission to cleanse the holy city of sinners.
While Sharifi is helpful in sharing his observations, other men in Mashhad are less forthcoming or blatantly misogynistic.
Arezoo perseveres and once she has deduced a pattern in the killings, the journalist poses as a sex worker to hopefully turn the tables on a relentless predator.
