As a heatwave makes the streets inhospitable, David Michael Brown clues us into the ice-cold entertainment you can enjoy in the shade. There’ll be multiple freaky horror hits, including the latest high-concept Jordan Peele movie, and some quirky comedies set in the worlds of filmmaking and…sea-shanty choirs. Scroll away!
Bullet Train (August 3)
A high-speed action comedy with a stellar cast and brilliant central conceit, Bullet Train looks like it will be the most fun you can have watching people kill each other, as duelling assassins find themselves on the Shinkansen travelling from Tokyo to Morioka. Brad Pitt plays Ladybug, a retired killer called in for One Last Gig to pick up a briefcase.
The problem is, it seems every other assassin presently working wants the McGuffin as well—the killer ensemble includes Zazie Beetz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Joey King, Brian Tyree Henry, Logan Lerman and Sandra Bullock. And they’re all on the same train. Directed by David Leitch, no stranger to handling action after helming Atomic Blonde and co-directing John Wick, Bullet Train promises to be a gory, gag-filled thrill ride. Tickets please!
Nope (August 12)
After the sustained horrors of Get Out and Us tackled racism and class, comedian-turned-director Jordan Peele is proving himself to be the genre’s new renaissance man. Now, one half of Key & Peele is skewing towards sci-fi, channelling Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Signs by way of Jaws.
Reuniting the filmmaker with Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya and also starring Keke Palmer (Hustlers), Steven Yeun (Minari), Barbie Ferreira (Euphoria) and John Carpenter regular Keith David (The Thing, They Live), the desert-set story follows two siblings whose father is seemingly killed by unidentified falling objects. They set out to capture the mysterious plummeting phenomenon on film, but instead encounter a mysterious force that affects human and animal behaviour.
Eiffel (August 12)
The ultimate tall story, this towering French drama tells the story behind Paris’s most iconic landmark in loving detail. A tale of obsession set against the handsomely mounted backdrop of the French capital in 1889, the film’s talented cast includes Romain Duris (The Spanish Apartment) as visionary engineer Gustave Eiffel, the man charged with designing something spectacular for the 1889 Paris World Fair, and Emma Mackey (Sex Education) as Adrienne Bourgès, the woman from Eiffel’s past who inspires him to reach for the sky and build his monument to love.
From the riveting technical achievements that broke new ground in more ways than one, to the tumultuous relationship behind the iron structures, this is the tale of the two passions that drove Eiffel to greatness.
Orphan: First Kill (August 19)
House of Wax helmer Jaume Collet-Serra’s 2009 horror film Orphan was a creepy “killer kid” shocker starring Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard and Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther, the titular murderous minor. The long-time-coming and yet totally unexpected prequel, now directed by William Brent Bell (The Devil Inside), sees Esther return, again played by Fuhrman.
After escaping from an Estonian psychiatric facility and travelling to America, she impersonates the missing daughter of a wealthy family, played by Julia Stiles and Rossif Sutherland. There’s no doubting that Esther’s masquerade is going to unravel, but who will survive the wrath of the perilous teen?
Fisherman’s Friends: One and All (August 19)
Jaunty feel-good 2019 comedy Fisherman’s Friends combined Brassed Off and The Full Monty underdog vibes with angelic-voiced, rugged fishermen to great box office success. The musical told the true story of ten fishermen from Cornwall who were signed by Universal Records and hit the top of the charts with their debut album of sea shanties.
Now jumping on the sea shanty craze that took the TikTok world by storm for a brief moment in 2021, the sequel, again starring James Purefoy, follows the choir as they perform on the iconic Pyramid Stage at the legendary Glastonbury Festival alongside Paul Simon, Beyonce and Coldplay. There will be songs about ships.
Beast (August 26)
Directed by Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns) and written by Rampage scribe Ryan Engle, Beast stars Idris Elba as Dr. Nate Daniels, a recently-widowed man on a South African safari with his teenage daughters, played by Iyana Halley and Leah Jeffries. The holiday of a lifetime doesn’t go according to plan when a bloodthirsty rogue lion, intent on proving himself as the apex predator, begins to stalk them.
Despite a CGI heavy beast, the trailer looks like this will be a tense and effective thriller, recalling the Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer vehicle The Ghost and the Darkness in 1996. Sharlto Copley also stars as Martin Battles, an old Daniels family friend and wildlife biologist who manages the reserve.
The Invitation (August 26)
Very loosely inspired by Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula and directed by Jessica M. Thompson (The Light of the Moon) from a screenplay co-written with Blair Butler (Hell Fest), this seductive chiller stars Nathalie Emmanuel, best known as Missandei in Game of Thrones, as a young American woman who is invited to a lavish family wedding in the English countryside.
Seduced by an attractive aristocrat, a series of nightmarish events see her uncover a conspiracy that runs deep down her family’s ancestral line. Expect Gothic creepiness aplenty as the twisted story unravels.
Official Competition (August 26)
This Spanish-Argentine comedy, directed by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, delivers a satirical deep dive into the preposterous world of movie-making. Penélope Cruz plays Lola Cuevas, a renowned director hired by billionaire entrepreneur Humberto Suárez (José Luis Gómez) who impulsively decides he wants to put his name behind an iconic movie.
She is joined by Hollywood heartthrob Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas) and radical theatre actor Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez). The acting legends’ talents are only matched by their rampant egos, sparks flying when the thespians clash. Official Competition promises to skewer wealth, art and pride.
