February 07, 2025

WIFF’S WEEKEND WATCH LIST — 2/7

Check out our recommendations of what to watch this weekend.

if you want a touching drama

a real pain

Vincent Georgie: Actor/writer/director Jesse Eisenberg delivers 88 focused minutes of believable and even refreshing takes on familial bonds, tensions and reconciling with your roots. Clearly inspired by European art house cinema, this indoor/outdoor travelogue of a film is an excellent showcase for Kieran Culkin’s manic and unpredictable talents, and Eisenberg’s more subdued skills. Look for Culkin to take home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in a few weeks, where Eisenberg is also nominated for his script.

Synopsis: Mismatched cousins David and Benji tour Poland to honour their grandmother. Their adventure becomes complicated as old tensions resurface while exploring their family history.

Available on Disney+, YouTube and Amazon Prime.

if you want a tense thriller

nitram

Vincent Georgie: We showed Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel’s crime drama The Order at WIFF Presents last week and received electrifying responses to the film. Here is another of his films, a dark true crime drama about an Australian serial killer. Caleb Landry Jones won the Best Actor prize at Cannes for this film, incredibly well supported by the always exceptional Judy Davis and Anthony LaPaglia as his parents. If you want another jolt of tension and thrills, check this one out.

Synopsis:Living a life of isolation and frustration, a young man develops an unexpected friendship with a reclusive heiress. When that relationship meets its tragic end, his loneliness and anger culminate into the most nihilistic and heinous of acts.

Available on Apple TV, Amazon Prime and Plex.

if you want a dramatic true story

hilary & Jackie

Vincent Georgie: Stars Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths both received Oscar nominations for this film, yet somehow this is a film that has been forgotten by most audiences. That’s a shame because this true story focuses on virtuoso talented musician sisters and the tensions that simmer in their personal lives. This is an elegant, intelligent and emotional drama. Check it out, likely for the first time.

Synopsis: Iris Du Pré (Celia Imrie) inspires a love of music — and a healthy rivalry — in her daughters, Hilary (Rachel Griffiths) and Jackie (Emily Watson). Cellist Jackie outshines her flutist sister when her skillful playing lands her in the international spotlight. Meanwhile, Hilary builds a quiet but happy family life. When Jackie buckles under mounting pressures in the high-stress world of elite classical musicians, she turns to Hilary for help, and may put her sister’s love to the test.

Available on Amazon Prime.

DOUBLE FEATURE

great feature films based on short films

Vincent Georgie: The prodigiously talented Paul Thomas Anderson has made an array of modern masterpieces, including his two earliest feature films. The roots of these excellent, energetic and gripping dramas is that they both first existed as short films that were later expanded and made into feature films. As WIFF will be showing all of this year’s Oscar nominated short films over the coming weeks, you never know which 10 minute short film will eventually turn into your favourite 2 hour feature film.

hard eight

Veteran gambler Sydney befriends a young man named John, transforming into a Las Vegas casino champion. John falls for a prostitute, and the couple soon finds themselves in need of Sydney’s help.

Available on Apple TV, YouTube and Amazon Prime.

boogie nights

In the San Fernando Valley in 1977, teenage busboy Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) gets discovered by porn director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), who transforms him into adult-film sensation Dirk Diggler. Brought into a supportive circle of friends, including fellow actors Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), Rollergirl (Heather Graham) and Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly), Dirk fulfills all his ambitions, but a toxic combination of drugs and egotism threatens to take him back down.