While the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival ended on May 25, 2024, its influence is still felt on theatrical releases, lighter than usual this Wednesday, May 29. However, the new films trying their luck this week are definitely worth checking out. What is the program at the cinema this week?
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1h40
Sylvia, played by Jessica Chastain, leads a simple life, punctuated by her work, her daughter and her Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. But everything will change during his meeting with Saul, played by Peter Sarsgaard. Their meeting will awaken painful memories that everyone had put aside until then.
Memory can wreak just as much havoc when it disappears as when it awakens dramatic moments that we would have hoped would be buried forever. It is on this duality that the plot of the new film by Michel Franco, Mexican director known for Sundown, Después de Lucía and Les Filles d’Avril, is based.
A director who, as in most of his films, deals with delicate subjects by approaching them with great sensitivity. Peter Sarsgaard’s performance in this film allowed him to win the “Best Actor” award at the 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival.
Genre : Thriller
Thriller : 1h40
Greenhouse, director Lee Sol-hui’s first feature film, immerses us in the daily life of Moon-Jung played by Seo-Hyeong Kim, a home caregiver in South Korea. She kindly takes care of an old blind man and his wife. But on the other hand, his life is marked by depression and deep loneliness. Just as things seemed to be improving for Moon-Jung a sudden accident occurs pushing her to make a terrible decision.
The film is inspired by the director’s mother’s own experience of caring for her grandmother who suffered from dementia. Greenhouse escapes the traditional thriller with its subtle and ingenious approach, a characteristic that has made Korean cinema stand out in recent years. Sol-hui Lee delivers a powerful work full of ambivalence, between gentleness and violence.
If you thought you’ve seen the best films of the week, wait until you see what’s next.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Duration: 1h43
Salem is a modern version of Romeo and Juliet in the difficult neighborhoods of Marseille. Djibril, a young Comorian living in the Sauterelles district, is in love with Camilla, a gypsy from the rival Grillons district.
A forbidden love will be created between these two teenagers, but takes a dramatic turn when Camilla announces to Djibril that she is pregnant.
All the actors in the film are newbies to the world of cinema. Jean-Bernard Marlin spent ten months doing wild casting to find them. “The common point that all these young people and non-professional actors have is that, like my characters, they all live in the present moment. It’s very important. It’s a present that is not always easy,” explains the director for Allocine.
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Duration: 1h49
When the daughter of a powerful underworld tycoon was kidnapped, a group of amateur criminals simply thought they would lock up and monitor this young ballerina to demand a $50 million ransom. Retired to an isolated mansion, they quickly discover that their plan will take a turn they never imagined.
The character of Abigail, the young ballerina, is played by Alisha Weir, revealed in the lead role of Matilda, the musical on Netflix.
And to finish…
Genre : Thriller
Duration: 1h32
Tonight is Alex’s last chance to change his destiny. However, shady characters and unexpected twists threaten to derail everything.
Assemblage, written and directed by Sofiene Mamdi, is a French production filmed in Paris in May 2023. What makes this film particularly remarkable is that it is entirely shot in sequence. With its 92 minutes without any cuts, Assemblage thus becomes the longest sequence shot in the history of French cinema.
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 1h16
This film is part of an informal trilogy that began in 2011 with Would you have sex with an Arab? and Mr. Yolande Zauberman with his poignant camera in the darkness of the night, revealing the beauty and pain of the women who populate it.