A few days ago, David Fincher assured that the future of Hollywood was in streaming. A statement that caused a stir. In particular, because the theater experience is barely recovering from the consequences of the pandemic stoppage. However, for the filmmaker it is all a question of resources. Although the industry owes a lot to projection on the big screen, the truth is that the arrival of online content changed the balance of forces in the industry. On the one hand, it made more and better offerings available to a broader audience. On the other hand, distribution is not in the hands of a select group.
Despite the debate and discomfort that the filmmaker’s opinion sparked, one thing is clear. Releases take much less time to reach subscription catalogs. During the year 2023, the phenomenon was even more evident. Several of the big screen titles arrived on services just weeks after their debut. Which shows that, despite the bitter controversy, a part of the studios seems convinced of the need to make their productions more accessible. Something in which the most popular platforms play a central role.
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We leave you five recommendations for movies recently released in theaters that are already on Star+. From the reinvention of Agatha Christie’s universe to a horror story based on the imagination of Stephen King. A complete tour of the latest in the seventh art that you can enjoy however you want and whenever you want. One of the advantages that online content leaves in its wake.
Mystery in Venice
Director Kenneth Branagh continues his efforts to create a universe based on the works of Agatha Christie. But it is, perhaps, Mystery in Venice, her most accurate perspective on the novels of the writer, known for her complicated crimes. Based on the work The Apples, published in 1969, the film is a combination of suspense in a Gothic setting. But also, an exploration about the nature of superstition, skepticism and mental ability.
The director manages to turn the city of Venice into a spectral setting, in which the canals and alleys become a source of enigmatic beauty. But it’s his writing — tricky, skillful and unpredictable — that transforms the search for a killer into a different perspective on the supernatural. Especially when the renowned detective Hercule Poirot (also played by Branagh) He must put his beliefs to the test to find the culprit.
Released in October 2023, it became one of the options in the middle of the Halloween season. And currently it is one of the most recent additions to the Star+ catalog.
Boogeyman: Your fear is real
In 1978, Stephen published the short story The coconutin the collection of stories The threshold of the night. The story, which told about a terrifying conversation between an apparently deranged man and his psychiatrist, surprised. Not only for capturing a terrifying atmosphere in just a dozen pages, but for reinventing the figure of the child spectrum from a new perspective. That of a dangerous creature lurking and waiting to attack.
Rob Savage’s film achieves something similar. But it also turns that single conversation into an entire mythology, which is surprising for its good use of fear as a backdrop for mourning. The film, which essentially tells a story that considerably expands the original, starts from the same point. What would happen if the myth of the Boogeyman were more than just an unfounded terror? From there, the production links childhood fears with a creature capable of devouring them. But much more, it delves into the nature of grief and mourning. Everything, to create the condition of good and evil, as spiritual limits that can become barriers against the supernatural.
Released in June 2023, it was one of two Stephen King adaptations that came to film and streaming this year. But perhaps, this is the most effective in its way of narrating horror and mystery. Distinctive seal of the writer.
First Lady: The Story of Lady Bird
Women who in one way or another share the political power of their spouses are often a source of interest and curiosity. But she is, perhaps, the figure of Claudia Alta Taylor Johnsonbetter known as Ladybird, one of the most curious. The former wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson, she became famous for continuing her political activity after the latter’s death. However, even more so, for his detailed diaries, in which he reported on much of the history of North America in the 1960s.
The memoirs, completely recorded on audio tape, are a curiosity in the American political world. Especially because they resulted in a detailed historical record from a privileged point of view of a country in the midst of changes. From the death of John F. Kennedy to the various social transformations that he witnessed. The first lady had the ability to delve into a cultural dimension of her country rarely seen. And although these memories were later considered to be little more than indiscretions, the document remains astounded by its meticulousness and detail.
Director Dawn Porter turned all of the above into a documentary, using the recorded tapes as a starting point for the depiction of a complicated government. Also, as a method to explore the intelligence of a misunderstood and brilliant woman. The result, which was shown in select theaters in the US earlier this year, is now available on Star+.
The monster inside me
Director Anna Zlokovic surprised the public at the Sitges Festival with an uncomfortable and at the same time funny film. All, in the midst of a novel perspective on fear and identity, analyzed under the codes of terror. The result is The Monster of Me, a dark satire with macabre humor, very close to body horror. What starts as a questioning about the demands of the contemporary world, visibility and fame, ends up being something more.
Specifically, when Hannah (Hadley Robinson), discovers that all the existential anguish that bothers her and torments her is nothing more than an unborn twin. A kind of split personality that she will take on corporeality through an evil creature with whom she must fight to preserve her sanity and then her body. For its last half, the film constructs an allegory about pain and the search for identity, which is both painful and disgusting. What managed to surprise the public at this year’s Fantastic Festival in Barcelona.
Lady Quiz
Director Jessica Yu managed to reimagine the obsession with television contests in a hilarious comedy that is also a sarcastic vision of celebrity. That, while she tries to resolve the tense relations between the sisters Anne (Awkwafina) Jenny (Sandra Oh), ranging from fear of the future to chaotic financial management.
But this film, which makes you laugh as easily as it makes you cry, is focused on the way modern concerns relate to family. How we understand it and the way in which the great bonds of love, They can be decisive for a form of redemption.
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Emotional, funny and filled with a rare insight into individuality, The film moved American audiences when it premiered in September of this year.