September's top picks include Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (partially filmed in Ireland), a period drama with Jude Law and a new film starring Saoirse Ronan.
September 06
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Oscar-nominated creative visionary Tim Burton and Oscar nominee and star Michael Keaton reunite for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to Burton’s award-winning classic. After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe all star.
Firebrand
In blood-soaked Tudor England, twice married, accomplished, and educated Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander), reluctantly agrees to become the sixth wife of the tyrannical King Henry VIII (Jude Law). Her consent to marry him carries great personal risk, given that her predecessors are either vanquished, beheaded, or dead. When Henry appoints her as Regent, the nation’s ruler during his absence when he departs to fight overseas, he lays a dangerous path for her. Henry’s courtiers, suspecting she’s sympathetic to radical Protestant beliefs that have taken root in the kingdom and are a threat to their power, scheme against her and cast doubts upon her fidelity to the increasingly ailing and paranoid King. Once Henry returns to England, his courtiers convince him to turn his fury on the nation’s radicals, including Katherine’s childhood friend Anne Askew, who becomes one of the scores of people convicted of treason and burned at the stake. Horrified and privately grieving, Katherine finds herself under ever-increasing scrutiny and suspicion. Knowing that even a whisper of scandal might lead to her downfall, Katherine must unleash her own scheme to fight for survival.
September 13
Speak No Evil
When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare. BAFTA award-winner James McAvoy stars in a riveting performance as the charismatic, alpha-male estate owner whose untrammelled hospitality masks an unspeakable darkness.
Lee
Lee, the directorial feature from award-winning Cinematographer Ellen Kuras, portrays a pivotal decade in the life of American war correspondent and photographer, Lee Miller (Kate Winslet). Miller’s singular talent and unbridled tenacity resulted in some of the 20th century’s most indelible images of war, including an iconic photo of Miller herself, posing defiantly in Hitler’s private bathtub. Miller had a profound understanding and empathy for women and the voiceless victims of war. Her images display both the fragility and ferocity of the human experience. Above all, the film shows how Miller lived her life at full-throttle in pursuit of truth, for which she paid a huge personal price, forcing her to confront a traumatic and deeply buried secret from her childhood.
The Critic
A deliciously dark and sharp-witted thriller, The Critic was written by Patrick Marber and features an all-star British cast including Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, Alfred Enoch, Romola Garai and Lesley Manville. As per the Rotten Tomatoes description: “McKellen stars as a powerful London theatre critic who lures a struggling actress into a blackmail scheme with deadly consequences.”
Reawakening
John (BAFTA-winner Jared Harris) and Mary (BAFTA-nominee Juliet Stevenson) have lived with desolating grief and the agony of uncertainty for the past ten years. Their only child, Clare, ran away from home when she was fourteen and no trace of her whereabouts has ever been found. When Clare (Erin Doherty) returns, now a young woman of 24, Mary is overjoyed, but John comes to believe that Clare is not who she claims to be. As old tensions resurface, a gripping search for the truth unfolds.
September 20
Wolfs
Global superstars George Clooney and Brad Pitt team up for the action comedy Wolfs. Clooney plays a professional fixer hired to cover up a high-profile crime. But when a second fixer (Pitt) shows up and the two “lone wolves” are forced to work together, they find their night spiralling out of control in ways that neither one of them expected.
The Substance
Demi Moore gives a career-best performance as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former A-lister past her prime who is suddenly fired from her fitness TV show by repellent studio head Harvey (Dennis Quaid). She is then drawn to the opportunity presented by a mysterious new drug: The Substance. All it takes is one injection and she is reborn—temporarily—as the gorgeous, twentysomething Sue (Margaret Qualley). The only rule? Time needs to be split: exactly one week in one body, then one week in the other. No exceptions. A perfect balance. What could go wrong? Deliriously entertaining and ruthlessly satirical, Coralie Fargeat’s Cannes sensation turns toxic beauty culture inside out with a be-careful-what-you-wish-for fable for the ages.
Swing Bout
An intense crime/thriller set backstage at a major boxing event, Swing Bout traces Tony Gale’s (Ciara Berkeley) tumultuous journey from the dressing room to her ring walk in a night of deceit, betrayal, and life-altering decisions. When Tony is tempted into taking a dive against a hot prospect in exchange for a lucrative payoff, a betting scandal brews. Illicit affairs are exposed involving her coach, her promoters—the Casey brothers—face a potential murder inquiry, and Tony’s only real friend fights for her life due to inadequate medical attention after collapsing post-fight. Pushed to her physical and emotional limits, Tony is forced to confront the brutal truths of the underworld and the sacrifices demanded by her dreams.
September 27
The Outrun
Based on the best-selling, prize-winning memoir by Amy Liptrot, Saoirse Ronan stars as Rona, a young woman who returns to her remote home in the Orkney Islands after a decade away in London. Sober but lonely, she tries to suppress her memory of the events which set her on this journey of recovery. Slowly the beauty and lore of the land enter her inner world and—one day at a time—Rona finds hope and strength in herself among the heavy gales and the bracingly cold sea.
The Teacher
A Palestinian schoolteacher struggles to reconcile his risky commitment to political resistance with the chance of a new relationship with volunteer worker Lisa and his emotional support for one of his students Adam.
Never Let Go
From visionary director Alexandre Aja and the creative minds behind Stranger Things comes Never Let Go. As evil takes over the world beyond their front doorstep, the only protection for a mother (Halle Berry), and her twin sons is their house and their family’s protective bond. Needing to stay connected at all times—even tethering themselves with ropes—they cling to one another, urging each other to never let go. But when one of the boys questions if the evil is real, the ties that bind them together are severed, triggering a terrifying fight for survival.
Strange Darling
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
Megalopolis
The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves. Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmaneul, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf and Jon Voight make up the all-star cast in this Roman epic set in an imagined modern America.
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