As we gear up to find out which filmmakers and silver screen heroes will be taking home an Academy Award on March 13, cinemas are screening some of the most talked about movies of the year. You’ve likely seen the brilliant Cate Blanchett in Tár and Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in bleak comedy The Banshees of Inisherin (covered in our previous film wrap), but don’t neglect the other categories at the Oscars – such as the documentaries. For example, US doco All the Beauty and the Bloodshed interweaves archive photography and protest footage for a gripping look at an ongoing fight to stop art galleries accepting money from one particular billionaire family.

At the cinema or at home, here’s what we’re watching right now.

For Mescal at the top of his game: Aftersun
If you weren’t already in love with Paul Mescal (and his chain necklace) from Normal People, you will be after watching him as a loving but troubled father in Aftersun. Charlotte Wells’s debut film takes us to Turkey where Calum (Mescal) and 11-year-old Sophie (played by the exceptionally good Frankie Corio) are making the most of their last holiday together. It’s a film steeped in melancholy, and Wells treats her audience with respect by letting us piece together the ending for ourselves. Nineties kids will love tracks like Blur’s Tender and Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping that make up the nostalgic soundtrack, and the overall look of the film is kinda like a slightly hazy memory – exactly as intended.
In cinemas now.

Never miss a moment. Make sure you're subscribed to our newsletter today.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

For stunning seaside sadness: Empire of Light
In his first film as both writer and director, Sam Mendes has combined his love of cinema with a story inspired by his mother’s mental health struggles. Set in 1980s England, Empire of Light tells the story of cinema manager Hilary (Olivia Colman) and new employee Stephen (Micheal Ward) as they connect in a depressing, racist, rundown seaside town. The slow-moving drama is a love letter to moviegoing and a story of finding somewhere to belong. Some say the coastal location Margate has never looked so beautiful, which is thanks to cinematographer Roger Deakins, who is nominated for an Oscar for his work on Empire of Light.
In cinemas from March 2.

For gripping reality: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
You don’t have to know much about US photographer Nan Goldin to be completely enthralled by her personal story in All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. The documentary follows the artist and her political group PAIN (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) in their fight to hold the billionaire Sackler family accountable for profiting from the sales of OxyContin in the US. Filmmaker Laura Poitras interweaves slideshows of Goldin’s photography through the decades with family pictures of her sister, who died at a young age, and rare footage of Goldin’s friends, including actress Cookie Mueller and artist David Wojnarowicz. Nan is a fascinating subject in her own right, and Poitras’s film has been nominated for an Oscar for its portrayal of the groundbreaking artist and her ongoing battle with big pharma.
In cinemas from March 9.

For a knockout cast: Women Talking
Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley (who made the delightful documentary Stories We Tell) has taken Miriam Toews’s novel Women Talking and turned it into a sensitive but no less challenging story of a group of women who’ve discovered they’ve been drugged and raped by men in their isolated religious community. Polley’s focus is on the aftermath of this discovery and what the women will choose to do next: stay and fight or leave. Polley’s film is dark in content but also in colour desaturation – a symbolic choice. Its cast – Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand – give powerful performances, which is likely why it’s nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
In cinemas now.

For a meditative doco: All That Breathes
The air quality is so poor in New Delhi that birds are falling from the skies. A fact so depressing that you’d expect documentary All That Breathes to be a dispiriting watch, but two brothers, Nadeem and Saud, who have dedicated their lives to rescuing and caring for the city’s black kite birds, have such a childlike joy in their mission that their story is hopeful as well as sobering. Filmmaker Shaunak Sen follows the brothers’ efforts in a meditative, quiet way that guides us through the city, showing the human impact on its animals, from cows and dogs to ants and snails. It was a doco hailed by critics after it premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2022, where it also won Best Documentary, and it’s up for an Oscar too.
Stream on Neon.

For something entirely different: Cocaine Bear
Sick of all the earnest slow-moving cinematic masterpieces up for awards? Boy do we have a film for you. One that definitely doesn’t take itself (or filmmaking generally) too seriously, Cocaine Bear is all silly CGI, slapstick comedy and absolutely no sincerity. Director Elizabeth Banks has taken a true story about a black bear that died of an overdose of cocaine in 1985 and she’s created a wild ride of coke-fuelled chaos with a blood-thirsty apex predator in the woods. Is it good? That depends how high you are at the time of viewing. We’re told it helps. It stars Keri Russell, Ray Liotta and that kid from The Florida Project, Brooklynn Prince. So if you’re here for jump scares, corny lines and an antidote to all the awards hype, this will provide.
In cinemas now.