From facial wars to a penguin friend, wandering surfers and Haitian immigrants in Miami, the independent film market is fun, thoughtful, varied and contending with a faster cadence of high performing studio wide releases. That’s exhilarating on one hand but, indie distribution executives say, is making it increasingly difficult to date their films after having a pretty clear field for the first half of 2024.
New this weekend: IFC Films’ Elizabeth Banks-starring Skincare on 768 screens. Banks is Hope Goldman, a legendary Hollywood facialist to the stars preparing to enter the next phase of her career with a new line of skincare products in this dark comedy. Sensing that someone is trying to sabotage her business and destroy her life, she starts investigating to save what she’s built by any means necessary.
Loosely inspired by a real case involving aesthetician Dawn DaLuise, who did some prison time for putting out a hit on a rival facialist in 2014. See Deadline review. With Nathan Fillion, Lewis Pullman, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Luis Gerrado Méndez. Written by Sam Freilich, Austin Peters and Deering Regan.
Rob Peace from Paramount’s Republic Pictures, directed, adapted by and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, is the true story of a brilliant young man torn between his father’s shadowed past and his own promising future. With Jay Will, Mary J. Blige, Camila Cabello. Based on the New York Times bestseller by Jeff Hobbs. Premiered at Sundance, opens at 526 theaters.
Close To You from Greenwich Entertainment stars Elliot Page (Juno, The Umbrella Academy, Inception) as a trans man who takes a long-dreaded return to his hometown for his father’s birthday for the first time in years since his transition, confronting unresolved wounds and reconnecting with an old flame. Written and directed by Dominic Savage, premiered at TIFF. On 121 screens.
Utopia presents The Good Half, directed by Robert Schwartzman, starring Nick Jonas, Brittany Snow, David Arquette, Alexandra Shipp, Matt Walsh and Elisabeth Shue. Premiered at Tribeca 2023, see Deadline review. Jonas stars as Renn, an emotionally distant writer who returns home to Cleveland for his mother’s funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones, before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief. Opens on about 50 screens after a star-studded opening in LA for about 1,000 earlier this week.
Comedy The Greatest Surf Movie In The Universe from Blue Fox Entertainment is playing at 30 theaters with more confirmed for next week. It’s 2034 and a deadly virus has wiped out much of the global population. In the rush to save humanity, Dr John Fig fast-tracks an experimental vaccine that becomes mandatory in every country around the world. The injection, however, instantly erases the ability to surf and any memory of surfing altogether. With no idea what they’re supposed to be doing with their lives, the world’s best surfers aimlessly wander into what’s left of society.
Lee Daniels’ horror The Deliverance from Netflix follows a family struggling with demons, literally and figuratively after single mother Ebony Jackson moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. When strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children. Stars Andra Day, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Mo’Nique. Opens today in 20 theaters. On the streamer August 30.
Limited release: Music Box Film debuts Mountains, the first feature from Miami-based Haitian-American director Monica Sorelle, who co-wrote the screenplay with producer Robert Colom. An official selection at TIFF, it’s 100% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Sorrelle took the Someone To Watch Award at the Indie Spirits, where star Atibon Nazaire was nominated for Best Breakthrough Performance. The loving look at intergenerational frictions within a Haitian-American family in a rapidly gentrifying Miami saw a Special Jury Mention for Best Narrative Film at Tribeca.
Nazaire stars as Xavier, family patriarch and middle-aged demolition worker. Sheila Anozier is Esperance, his wife, a seamstress and crossing guard, and Chris Renois stars as their adult son Junior, who finds himself caught between two cultures as he pursues a clandestine career in stand-up comedy.
Starts today with a sold-out hometown Miami release at the Coral Gables Art Cinema. Ads NYC (Quad Cinema, BAM) next week. Expands to LA and nationally Aug 30.
LOVE, 2020 feature documentary by Jacqueline Joseph world premieres at the Angelika Aug. 19-21 ahead of the 2024 US Open starting August 26. With the year’s sporting events thrown into uncertainty amid a global pandemic, the world’s top tennis players mapped out a new approach to competition, activism, and their lives on the road to New York’s US Open – the first international event held after the world shut down. The story of resilience from J.J. Unlimited Productions features a players-eye view of one of summer’s top sporting events.
Caligula: The Ultimate Cut brings the twisted emperor back to theaters with a fully reimagined and 4k restored version from Drafthouse Films. Absolute power corrupts in this extensive reconstruction of the notorious 1980 spectacle by Tinto Brass. Shadowed by the murder of his family, Caligula (Malcolm McDowell) eliminates his devious adoptive grandfather (Peter O’Toole) and seizes control of the Roman Empire alongside his wife Caesonia (Helen Mirren) before descending into a spiral of depravity, destruction, and madness. Includes never-before-seen footage and alternate takes and camera angles. World Premiered in Cannes last year. Opens in NY (IFC Center) and LA (Nuart, Alamo DTLA) as well as Atlanta, Boston, Santa Fe, St. Louis and Toronto this week, expanding over the next two.
On the other end of the spectrum and tipping into wide release is family adventure My Penguin Friend from Roadside Attractions, directed by David Schurmann. Based on a true story, a sad fisherman named João rescues a lost penguin from an oil spill, names him Dimdim, brings him into his family home and they become fast friends. After nursing the charismatic creature back to health, João is devastated when, one day, he leaves. However, this friendship is real and the penguin starts to return to him annually. Stars Jean Reno, Adriana Barraza, Rochi Hernandez. Written by Paulina Lagudi and Kristen Lazarian. People love penguins and offbeat stories and a TikTok video on the film by its first-time producer Jonathan Lim has well over 45 million views, and 11.2 million likes, which could drive attendance. On 1,065 screens.
Fathom Events and Laika’s remastered re-release of animated Coraline by Henry Selick on its 15th anniversary grossed $3.1+ million Thursday night on 1,538 screens and is sticking around in theaters through Aug. 29.