It’s that time of year when many of us start to slow down (though not all, we salute you hospital, hospo, retail and other assorted heroes) and quite a few of us turn to the streamers to fill our Christmas eves.
Where to begin with the hot movies you might have missed in 2024? Thankfully, we watch – and review – a tonne of silver screen sheen here at ScreenHub towers, with most major Australian releases covered. But we’ve done a deep dive into some of the coolest releases we haven’t reviewed that can now be enjoyed online.
Love Lies Bleeding, stream on Prime Video
Ok, ok, so any film starring resuscitated Twilight survivor Kristen Stewart isn’t exactly low-key. But the latest hornily weird genre shocker from fast-rising Saint Maud filmmaker Rose Glass landed early this year, after delivering a one-two punch to Sundance then Berlinale.
The Crimes of the Future star plays Lou, a gym junkie who falls hard for built newcomer Jackie, played by The Mandalorian actor Katy O’Brian. But when the pair step in to deal with Lou’s abusive brother-in-law (Dave Franco) and get mixed up in the fishy business of her gun-toting dad (Ed Harris), giant-sized mayhem ensues in this sweaty neo-noir that brings its queer femme fatales to the fore.
Robot Dreams, stream on Stan
Prepare to put your soul through the wringer with this beautiful but bittersweet animation from Spanish director Pablo Berger. Adapted from the graphic novel by American writer and illustrator Sara Varon, who co-wrote the screenplay, it follows a lonely dog living in an exceptionally detailed 80s New York populated by anthropomorphic animals.
Ordering a robot companion online sparks a soaring friendship, but one that will take you on an epic journey through hope to despair and back again, all dialogue-free and set to a gorgeous score that also makes room for Earth, Wind & Fire banger September.
It’s a luminous treasure that will shine on in your mind long after the end credits role.
Girls State, stream on Apple TV+
In the depths of lockdown, documentary filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss invited us into a surreal summer school endeavour whereby 17-year-old American boys act out (in more ways than one) the many branches of government and the judiciary. It won jury prizes at Sundance and SXSW, but where were the girls?
The filmmakers’ fascinating follow-up, shot three years later, shows what goes on in the other camp (run simultaneously with the boys’ version). But why is it that there are different rules across this gender-binary-drawn fault line, and what happens when the young women find out?
That’s what makes this worthy sequel so scintillating. We can but hope some rising stars seen here can help turn back the demented tide of US politics.
Monkey Man, stream on Binge
Oscar-nominee Dev Patel met and fell for Aussie actor Tilda Cobham-Hervey while the pair were filming Hotel Mumbai in Adelaide way back in 2016. She was by his side when he made the jump into directing, appearing together on the red carpet for the debut of this senses-smashing action epic set in a sprawling Indian metropolis being torn apart by political and religious factions.
When that chaos destroys the home of Kid (Patel, muscularly mercurial) and everything he loves, he seeks revenge by infiltrating a viper’s nest members-only club in a waiter’s tux. Bedlam ensues, with Patel on fire, but Monkey Man also makes time for a kick-arse trans storyline that upends expectations, proving the writer/director has plenty of promise to spare.
Infested, stream on Shudder
Debuting at last year’s Venice Film Festival with the far superior title Vermines, it took aaaaaages for this French spin on skin-crawling Arachnophobia to go straight to spooky streamer Shudder this April. Mes amis, it was worth the wait.
Emerging director Sébastien Vaniček’s skittering debut rocks Attack the Block vibes, except with earthly eight-legged menaces instead of aliens. Charismatic War of the Worlds guest star Théo Christine plays Kaleb, a young punk making a buck selling stolen sneakers to the residents of an apartment complex on the Parisian periphery.
But it’s his passion for creepy crawlies that unleashes a chaotic infestation, forcing him and his mates to fight for their lives while fleeing the tower through cobweb-ridden corridors. Disturbingly good fun, it will leave you itching for more.
The Kitchen, stream on Netflix
While Denis Villeneuve’s go-bigger Dune sequel capped the first quarter of 2024, it wasn’t a huge one for big-screen sci-fi overall. Netflix has rushed to fill this marked drop in futuristic fare, picking up last year’s BFI London Film Festival closer for its global online debut in January.
Marking the directorial debut of Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya, working alongside architect-turned-filmmaker Kibwe Tavares, The Kitchen is set in a dystopian degradation of the UK capital where the austerity-fuelled housing crisis has gone all the way to hell.
Impressively stoic rapper Kane ‘Kano’ Robinson is Izi, keeping himself to himself in the condemned housing estate of the title, hoping for an upgrade to a soulless ivory tower elsewhere. Under siege by marauding riot-armoured cops, it’s a warzone waiting to go off, with most of the harried residents people of colour. When Jedaiah Bannerman’s 12-year-old Benji is suddenly orphaned, a motorbike-riding Izi is forced to step up.
