Your guide to new films in cinemas across Australia this week, 21 to 27 October 2024.
For the monthly guide to new film releases, head to our guide for new films in October.
New movies
23 October
Whitney Houston: The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban)
In 1994, Whitney Houston took the stage in Durban, South Africa, making her the first major Western musician to visit the newly unified, post-apartheid nation following President Nelson Mandela’s winning election.
Director: Marty Callner
Cast: Whitney Houston
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 115m
24 October
A Different Man
Sebastian Stan stars in this Berlin Golden Bear-nominated A24 film as a man who, after undergoing a facial reconstructive surgery, becomes fixated on an actor in a stage production based on his former life.
Director: Aaron Schimberg
Cast: Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 112m
Lee
Kate Winslet leads this biopic as photographer Elizabeth ‘Lee’ Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II. Co-stars fellow Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone) and Oscar-nominee Andrea Riseborough (Birdman) alongside Emmy-winners Josh O’Connor (Challengers), Alexander Skarsgård (The Northman) and Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine).
Director: Ellen Kuras
Cast: Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Andy Samberg
Classification: M
Country: USA, UK
Runtime: 117m
Left Write Hook
Documentary following eight female survivors of childhood sexual abuse who participate in a two-year experimental recovery program that combines the physicality of boxing with the emotional power of expressive writing. Find screening information here.
From ScreenHub’s review of Left Write Hook:
‘Adopting a groundbreaking approach informed by her lived experience, Donna Lyon’s work has resulted in a documentary of the same name, which has debuted at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). Directed by Shannon Owen, a former support worker in a refuge housing women fleeing domestic violence, it follows Lyon’s intensive program bringing together seven women with very different experiences but a shared legacy of trauma that manifests in diverse ways. Lyon shares her own journey too.
‘Sitting together in a gym environment is difficult enough for women who have struggled to communicate their experiences beyond a therapist’s office, exacerbated by the shame that is too often held bone-deep in a country that still struggles to have vital conversations about the shocking epidemic of violence against women.’ Read more …
Director: Shannon Owen
Classification: MA
Country: Australia
Runtime: 93m
My Freaky Family
On the cusp of her 13th birthday, Betty Flood – budding musician and magical being – just wants to be like the rest of her fabulous, but very different family, so why is her magical Mum so against it? As Betty wrestles with this, she also learns the amazing truth about her family and discovers that the not so normal, the magical and the musical are all a part of her fabulously freaky family.
Director: Mark Gravas
Cast: Rupert Degas, Sarah Aubrey
Classification: PG
Country: Australia, Germany, Ireland
Runtime: 87m
Tears for Fears Live (A Tipping Point Film)
Tears For Fears cinema concert film captured during The Tipping Point Tour Part 2 in 2023. The hits including Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Shout, Sowing The Seeds Of Love, Mad World and Head Over Heels along with new fan favourites from The Tipping Point – their first album in 17 years.
Director: Vincent Adam Paul
Cast: Tears For Fears
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 120m
Venom: The Last Dance
Tom Hardy returns for this third Venom film, as does BAFTA-nominated writer Kelly Marcel who also directs. Also stars Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange) and three-time Emmy nominee Juno Temple (Ted Lasso).
Director: Kelly Marcel
Cast: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple
Recently released
16 October
Taeyong: Ty Track In Cinemas
Experience NCT’s Taeyong in his first solo concert Ty Track on the big screen.
Director: Yoon Dong Oh
Cast: Taeyong
Classification: CTC
Country: South Korea
Runtime: 96m
17 October
Bocchi the Rock: Recap Parts 1 & 2
Aki Hamaji’s coming-of-age manga sensation made its way to TV, which has now been re-edited into this feature-length movie. The story follows a high-school band, which leads to an actual album called KESSOKU BAND that ascends the charts.
Director: Keiichirô Saitô
Cast: Yoshino Aoyama, Sayumi Suzushiro
Classification: CTC
Country: Japan
Runtime: 165m
From Hilde, With Love
Historical drama telling the true story of a young German woman drawn into the anti-Nazi resistance movement during WWII.
Director: Andreas Dresen
Cast: Alexander Scheer, Emma Bading
Classification: MA
Country: Germany
Runtime: 104m
He Ain’t Heavy
A desperate woman kidnaps and enforces rehab on her violent brother in a last-ditch effort to save their lives.
Director: David Vincent Smith
Cast: Leila George, Sam Corlett, Greta Scacchi
Classification: MA
Country: Australia
Runtime: 103m
Knox Goes Away (Assassin’s Plan)
Michael Keaton plays a contract killer diagnosed with a fast-moving form of dementia. Presented with the opportunity to redeem himself by saving the life of his estranged adult son, he must race against the police closing in on him as well as the ticking clock of his own rapidly deteriorating mind.
Director: Michael Keaton
Cast: Michael Keaton, James Marsden, Al Pacino
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 114m
Like My Brother
Four talented Tiwi Island Indigenous girls dream of AFLW stardom, and with the support of their community, face the social and physical obstacles standing in their way. Filmed over six years, the documentary explores the different worlds that the girls must traverse from the remote Tiwi Islands to mainland Australia as they are selected by the Essendon Football Club for their talent and unique style of play.
Director: Danielle MacLean, Sal Balharrie
Cast: Jessica Stassi, Arthurina Moreen
Classification: G
Country: Australia
Runtime: 93m
19 October
MetOpera: Les Contes d’Hoffmann (2024-25)
An ensemble of leading lights take the stage for Offenbach’s fantastical final work. The poet E.T.A. Hoffmann is in love with Stella, a renowned opera singer. Lindorf, a rich counselor, also loves her and has intercepted a note she has written to Hoffmann. Lindorf is confident he will win her for himself.
Director: The Metropolitan Opera
Cast: Erin Morley, Christian Van Horn
Classification: CTC
Country: USA
Runtime: 246m
