A WHITE, WHITE DAY (15, 109 mins) Thriller/Romance. Ingvar Sigurdsson, Ida Mekkin Hlynsdottir, Hilmir Snaer Gudnason, Sara Dogg Asgeirsdottir, Bjorn Ingi Hilmarsson. Director: Hlynur Palmason.
Released: July 3 (streaming on BFI Player, Curzon Home Cinema, Peccadillo Player)
A WIDOWER discovers a shocking secret about his late wife in writer-director Hlynur Palmason's revenge thriller, which bucks conventional wisdom by adopting a glacial pace in keeping with the rugged, windswept landscapes of Iceland.
Grizzled police chief Ingimundur (Ingvar Sigurdsson) renovates a house for his daughter to distract him from thoughts about the death of his beloved wife (Sara Dogg Asgeirsdottir) two years ago.
Her car careered through a roadside barrier in poor visibility and tumbled down the mountainside.
As Ingimundur looks through his wife's belongings, he discovers a photograph of a local man inside an unreturned library book.
Rage slowly bubbles to the surface as Ingimundur becomes convinced that his wife was having an affair.
Turning his back on the law that he vowed to uphold, the grieving widower sets out to learn the truth about his late wife's fidelity.
Accompanied by granddaughter Salka (Ida Mekkin Hlynsdottir), Ingimundur stalks his unsuspecting prey, waiting for the perfect moment to demand answers.
:: FAMILY ROMANCE, LLC (12 TBC, 89 mins) Drama. Yuichi Ishii, Mahiro Tanimoto, Miki Fujimaki. Director: Werner Herzog.
Released: July 3 (streaming on MUBI)
FICTION and reality blur to dizzying effect in writer-director Werner Herzog's tantalising drama, which received its world premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
The enigmatic film-maker draws inspiration from a real-life company in Tokyo, which provides a unique service: actors for rent to perfectly portray an absent family member, friend or admirer.
Yuichi (Yuichi Ishii) is the founder of one such company and he is an impeccable stand-in for all occasions, gladly stepping in for one train worker to accept the blame for an express service missing its scheduled departure time by a few precious seconds.
A desperate mother hires Yuichi to pose as the errant father of her 12-year-old daughter Mahiro (Mahiro Tanimoto).
The girl struggles to forge a meaningful connection with her mother but Yuichi convinces the youngster to open up and place her trust in him as she navigates a haphazard path towards womanhood.
:: Today, MUBI is hosting a free virtual preview of Family Romance, LLC followed by an exclusive 15-minute Q&A with director Herzog. The preview will stream for free for 24 hours and the film will then be available to rent for £9.99 exclusively on MUBI.
