Beef
Danny Cho (Steven Yeun), a struggling contractor, and Amy Lau (Ali Wong), an entrepreneur with a house husband who does not understand her, collide in the parking lot, triggering a car chase. What started as road rage spirals out of control as these two deeply flawed and lonely people (“When nowhere feels like home, you just retreat into yourself,” says Amy) go head-to-head, hell-bent on revenge. Steven Yeun and Ali Wong are brilliant in this compelling dark comedy about anger, mental health and generational trauma. (Netflix)
Boy and The World
Brazilian director Alê Abreu’s animated 2013 film, about a boy who goes in search of his father, has very little dialogue, relying instead on shape-shifting, hand-drawn animation and a beguiling soundtrack to convey its storyline and emotional tenor. At times, it’s like a Joan Miro painting come to life—as playfully surreal, and as drunk on colour. Some scenes appear to have been drawn by an unusually gifted five-year-old; the planes, trains and tanks have eyes; the humans are all stick-and-circle figures, with gashes for eyes and little facial expression. It’s the antithesis of the Pixar approach, which prides itself on naturalism and mannered beauty. (MUBI)
Thicker Than Water
Fara (Nawell Madani), an Arab Muslim, works for a TV channel in Paris, and, after years of being passed over, is announced as the new presenter. Things go into a tailspin when her brother gets entangled with a drug lord and Fara and her sisters decide to take matters into their own hands. (Netflix)
Blue Bayou
Antonio LeBlanc (Justin Chon), a Korean adopted by an American family at the age of three, is a tattoo artist married to Kathy (Alicia Vikander), with a stepdaughter and a child on the way. A run-in with Kathy’s ex, a cop, sees him land with ICE—the mandatory citizenship process was never completed. Written and directed by Chon, it’s a tear-jerker about an unjust deportation system. (Netflix)