(via Shutterstock)
Whether it’s heading out to a darkened cinema with wine and popcorn in hand, or snuggled up at home streaming on a device on your choice, there’s no doubt that movies gift with us with some pretty amazing stories.
The fact that we can lose ourselves in these stories and have a brief break from reality is wonderful and honestly watching all these trailers fills me with such anticipation about the narrative joys that will soon find their way to me.
Sure, some of the stories will be challenging, and even a little hard to watch, but the fact that they are there at all and that we get to watch them is one of the great things of life and one we should be grateful is available to us, no matter how we take them in.
(courtesy IMDb)
SNAPSHOT
Three teenage friends stuck in a frozen, hopeless place come up with a plan to escape over the mountain to a world where their dreams can be fulfilled. But when one of them falls in love, their plan begins to unravel. (courtesy IMDb)
A Happy Day releases in Norway on 20 October following screenings at Toronto International Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival.
(courtesy IMDb)
SNAPSHOT
When a computer nerd named Kip Parsons (Georgina Reilly) is rejected by an online dating service and dubbed “unmatchable,” she goes viral by declaring war on the dating service and becoming a reluctant champion for frustrated singles everywhere. Match Me If You Can is directed by American indie filmmaker Marian Yeager, her second feature after making the film The Conway Curve previously, plus a few other short films. The screenplay is written by Betsy Morris. Produced by Monica Lund and Marian Yeager. (courtesy First Showing)
Match Me If You Can opened in U.S. on 11 August via cinemas and VOD; no international dates available at present.
(courtesy IMDb)
SNAPSHOT
A remarkable true story of tenacity, friendship and the triumph of the human spirit, NYAD recounts a riveting chapter in the life of world-class athlete Diana Nyad. Three decades after giving up marathon swimming in exchange for a prominent career as a sports journalist, at the age of 60, Diana (Bening) becomes obsessed with completing an epic swim that always eluded her: the 110 mile trek from Cuba to Florida, often referred to as the “Mount Everest” of swims. Determined to become the first person to finish the swim without a shark cage, Diana goes on a thrilling, four-year journey with her best friend and coach Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster) and a dedicated sailing team. NYAD is directed by acclaimed doc filmmakers Jimmy Chin & Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, making their first narrative feature after the doc films Meru, Free Solo, The Rescue, Return to Space and Wild Life previously. The screenplay is by Julia Cox, based on the book Find a Way by Diana Nyad. Produced by Andrew Lazar and Teddy Schwarzman. (courtesy First Showing)
NYAD premiers on Netflix on 3 November.
(courtesy IMP Awards)
SNAPSHOT
A brilliant but tightly wound, gameshow-obsessed young woman, Anne (Awkwafina), and her estranged, train-wreck of a sister Jenny (Oh), must work together to help cover their mother’s gambling debts. When Anne’s beloved dog is kidnapped, they set out on a wild, cross-country trek to get the cash the only way they know how: by turning Anne into a bona-fide gameshow champion. Quiz Lady is directed by writer / producer / filmmaker Jessica Yu, director films The Conductor, Men of Reenaction, The Living Museum, Ping Pong Playa previously, plus tons of work in TV including episodes of This Is Us and Citadel most recently. The screenplay written by Jen D’Angelo. It’s produced by Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, Maggie Haskins, Itay Reiss, Jen D’Angelo, Awkwafina, and Sandra Oh. (courtesy First Showing)
Quiz Lady premieres on Hulu & Disney+ on 3 November.
(courtesy flicks.com.au)
SNAPSHOT
One Life tells the true story of Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton, a young London broker played by Anthony Hopkins, who, in the months leading up to World War II, rescued 669 children from the Nazis. Nicky visited Prague in December 1938 and found families who had fled the rise of the Nazis in Germany and Austria, living in desperate conditions with little or no shelter and food, and under threat of Nazi invasion. He immediately realised it was a race against time. How many children could he and the team rescue before the borders closed? Fifty years later, it’s 1988 and Nicky lives haunted by the fate of the children he wasn’t able to bring to safety in England; always blaming himself for not doing more. It’s not until a live BBC television show, That’s Life!, surprises him by introducing him to some surviving children – now adults – that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt & grief that he had carried for five decades.One Life is directed by the award-winning British filmmaker James Hawes, director of many TV movies including A Line in the Sand, The Chatterley Affair, The Lift, Miss Marie Lloyd, The 39 Steps, Enid, Pulse, and The Challenger Disaster previously, plus for the series Snowpiercer and Slow Horses most recently. The screenplay is written by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake. Produced by Iain Canning, Guy Heeley, Joanna Laurie, and Emile Sherman. (courtesy First Showing)
One Life opens in cinemas in Australia on 26 December 2023 and in UK on 1 January 2024.
(courtesy IMDb)
SNAPSHOT
Set in an uncanny future — Anna (Jessie Buckley) and her partner Ryan (Jeremy Allen White) have achieved every couple’s dream: they are in possession of a document certifying their true love. Their comfortable if somewhat mundane life, however, leaves Anna questioning their successful love test, administered by placing their extracted fingernails into a cutting-edge machine. Anna soon begins working for the Love Institute under the tutelage of Duncan (Luke Wilson), which, in addition to determining a couples’ status via the mysterious test, trains them to deepen bonds. She’s paired with the experienced — and devastatingly charming — Amir (Riz Ahmed) to take couples at various stages of relationships through a series of love-building activities before the big test. As the colleagues work to ameliorate the connections of clients, Anna begins to wonder if perhaps Amir is her one true love and if trusting her own feelings is a more reliable metric than what is determined by a machine.Fingernails is directed by the acclaimed Greek filmmaker Christos Nikou, making his second feature after directing Apples previously, plus other shorts films. The screenplay is co-written by Nikou, Stavros Raptis and Sam Steiner. In addition to Nikou, Fingernails is produced by Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Coco Francini for Dirty Films and Lucas Wiesendanger for FilmNation Ent.. (courtesy First Showing)