He's Expecting (Netflix)
Kentaro Hiyama (Takumi Saitoh), who works in an ad agency, has been having very unmanly experiences. His nipples leak and he has now got a formidable sweet tooth. Cisgender male pregnancies are still not talked about and Kentaro decides to create awareness by creating an online platform for expecting men to share their experiences—where to find maternity wear, incontinence, how to pee when the belly gets bigger, etc. Soon he’s everywhere, on talk shows, billboards. “You are making waves just by stating the obvious,” says his colleague in this Japanese comedy drama based on a manga series. “It shows how much women have been ignored. If men say it, everyone listens,” replies Kentaro. Perhaps pregnancy turns a man into a feminist. (Netflix).—Nipa Charagi
Also read: 'Every picture for me has a very specific purpose': Raghu Rai
House Of Gucci (Amazon Prime Video)
Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) and Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) marry against his father’s wishes. Maurizio is the grandson of the Gucci founder, she’s an outsider, fierce and ambitious. “Time to take the trash out,” she says of Maurizio’s uncle, Aldo (Al Pacino), and cousin, Paolo (Jared Leto). Once Maurizio gets the majority holding on his father's death, he ousts his uncle with the help of Bahrain-based Investcorp, walks out on Patrizia and starts living with another woman (Camille Cottin). But the company is in the red, forcing him to sell the family business to Investcorp. He was shot dead in 1995, the hit job ordered by Patrizia. Take Lady Gaga out of the picture, and you would have a lacklustre Ridley Scott film (Amazon Prime Video).—NC
The two seasons of Bridgerton have been a high point for Netflix. But, as we point out, the platform is battling a downturn. Yet, it's not all bad news. We wrote: “Even for Netflix, slowing down might not be an entirely bad thing. Realising that the period of non-stop growth is over might allow them to discover, and then disrupt, the next stage in streaming entertainment.”
Death on the Nile (Disney+ Hotstar)
The second Agatha Christie adaptation by Kenneth Branagh after Murder on the Orient Express. This one too is a frothy mystery, with an expansive cast including Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie and Emma Mackey. Branagh directs and plays the Belgian detective with his “little grey cells".
Great Freedom (MUBI)
A gay man in post-war Germany, Hans (Franz Rogowski) is put in prison repeatedly under a law criminalizing homosexuality. There he meets another inmate, Viktor (Georg Friedrich), serving time for murder, and the two develop a deep bond. Sebastian Meise's film is part of a Rogowski retrospective on the platform.
Also read: Shaktimaan meets art in Nihaal Faizal’s new solo show
