What to watch in cinemas this week | May 22–28
Friendship, Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, and Sex.
Recommendation of the week
Friendship (Andrew DeYoung, 2025)
was recommended by my sister, who never does that, and it’s an A24 release, so that’s all I needed. It stars Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, which feels like an inspired casting from both comedic talents against the other that could have been facilitated through other mediums, but I’m glad it’s on film.
Plot: A suburban dad falls hard for his charismatic new neighbor.
No release dates outside of domestic (US+Canada) theaters.
American releases
Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning (Christopher McQuarrie, USA/Uganda)
was last week’s German pick; now it’s hitting American/Canadian cinemas. Try it out in IMAX, especially if you’re down with Tom Cruise’s one successful franchise just before he returns to auteur cinema. There’s an incredible underwater submarine sequence that bends the suspension of disbelief more than Cruise being a “Jack Reacher”-type. And the airplane scene really is wild even if the trailers have spoiled that bit.
German releases
Sex (Dag Johan Haugerud, 2024)
is something I saw two Berlinales ago but one of five that I remember the most. It stars two Norwegians who talk about things (anything beyond this word would be spoiling) in their lives that completely upends their ideas of sexuality. This film comes as part of a trilogy (“Love” and “Dreams”) of contemporary social dramedies, talking its way into socially progressive issues with a cold Nordic scalpel.
Plot: Two men in heterosexual marriages whose unexpected experiences challenge their perceptions of sexuality, gender and identity.
Remember to add the director’s name after googling the name of the movie!
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