Le Pupille
This whimsical short by Alice Rohrwacher is about a bunch of girls and Catholic nuns in an orphanage in Italy during World War II, a time of scarcity. Instilling lessons on piety and hell and heaven is Mother Superior (Alba Rohrwacher)—she makes the girls clean their tongue with soap for singing a song they heard on the radio: "Kiss, kiss me on my little mouth". But Serefina, the "wicked" one, can still hear it in her head. More temptation arrives on Christmas Eve, in the form of a red cake made with 70 eggs. What follows is unexpected. (Disney+ Hotstar)
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In case you missed it in theatres, the delayed sequel to Top Gun is now streaming in India. Director Joseph Kosinski approaches the 1986 film with reverence, but also creates something hard, fast and efficient with his sequel. There’s barely a wasted frame, and Tom Cruise is magnificent. (Amazon Prime)
The Pale Blue Eye
Based on Louis Bayard’s novel, this is the story of Augustus Landor, a detective who, in 1830 in New York, investigates a spate of murders with Edgar Allan Poe, young military cadet and future novelist. Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) reteams with Hostiles star Christian Bale, while Harry Melling plays Poe. (Netflix)
Aftersun
Charlotte Wells’ directorial debut was one of the critical successes of 2022. Set in the 1990s, the film follows 11-year-old Sophie and her father as they vacation at a Turkish resort. Paul Mescal (Normal People) and Frankie Corio star. (MUBI)
This Hindi thriller is centred around Mili, a young woman who gets locked into a cold storage room. We wrote in our review: “Janhvi Kapoor gives it her all, as she shivers, adapts and waits. The camera repeatedly zooms into her frost-bitten face and fingers as the environment begins to affect her body and mind.” (Netflix)
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