After an outstanding 2017, A24 look set to continue the trend of strong releases in the coming months. The independent American company have lined up 15 films for distribution in 2018 and I’ve picked four that have caught my eye.
In cinemas now and on demand
We follow Charley Thompson on his journey across America with a race horse he has befriended during times of hardship. Charlie Plummer, who plays Charley, was 17 years old at the time of filming and is said to be in every single frame of Lean on Pete. Shooting the film in sequence and having experienced actors like Steve Buscemi, Steve Zahn and Chloë Sevigny guiding Plummer helped the up and coming actor.
British director Andrew Haigh has jumped across the pond to film his adaptation of Willy Vlautin’s coming of age novel and relished the opportunity to film in the States. He likes the idea of a filmmaker being environmentally out of their comfort zone. In an interview, Haigh used Paul Thomas Anderson shooting Phantom Thread as an example. I loved 50’s England through the eyes of PTA and I’m intrigued on what Haigh captures from the Pacific Northwest.
In cinemas May 18th
I won’t go into too much detail but what we learn from the trailer is that we’ll be following the year-long diary entries of Reverend Toller played by Ethan Hawke. Grieving the death of his son, who’s been killed in action, it appears to be a period in his life when Toller’s faith is severely tested.
Veteran writer and director Paul Schrader, best known for his Taxi Driver and Raging Bull screenplays, has said this film is unlike anything he has done before. One of the reasons behind this would have to be the film being shot in the 4:3 aspect ratio. This is the same style as one of my favourite films from last year A Ghost Story and it could work a treat for First Reformed.
This character driven drama looks like it could spark a lot of debate with the issues it raises and has potential to be my pick of the lot.
In cinemas June 8th
From the experienced Haigh and established Schrader, we have debutant Ari Aster and his supernatural horror Hereditary. I’ve watched the trailer numerous times and it freaks me out as much as it did the first-time round. You’ve really got to feel for the kids who were accidently subjected to it during the trailers for a screening of Peter Rabbit at an Aussie cinema.
The always impressive Toni Collette and iconic Irishman Gabriel Byrne play married couple Annie and Steven Graham. All hell has broken loose following the death of Annie’s mother as family secrets start to crawl out of the woodwork.
Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro, who play the brother and sister, have varied experience. 20-year-old Wolff already has 24 credits to his name and the appeal of playing a serious character drew him into the project. On the other hand, this is 15-year-old Shapiro’s on screen debut. After working on Broadway from an early age her love of the horror genre and the interesting script contributed to her jump from the stage to the screen.
With A24’s track record in the horror and thriller genre this is sure to be on point.
I would recommend:
In cinemas July 13th
On a lighter note, we have comedian Bo Burnham’s directorial and screenplay coming of age debut. It’s 13-year-old Kayla’s last week of middle school before making the step up to high school. From the trailer we can see that the internet plays a big part with social media a focal point. Kayla being raised by her Father is also an aspect I’m interested in seeing.
Elsie Fisher, who plays Kayla, started acting at the age of 5 and is best known for her voice work as Agnes in the Despicable Me films. In an interview with Burnham and Fisher, it was explained that even the smallest things can be aggressive at such a tender age. Burnham praised Fisher’s incredible ability on what he says is a natural performance as the socially awkward teen.
I hope you’ve managed to find at least one film to look out for in the cinema!
Alex
salmonconnery 