Where to Watch This Week’s New Movies, from ‘The Little Mermaid’ to ‘You Hurt My Feelings’
Ah, Memorial Day weekend, ostensibly the real start of the summer movie-going season which, come on, obviously kicks off in April these days. Nonetheless, with an actual holiday to celebrate and extra days to spend at the cinema, this weekend offers up an interesting variety of picks, dare we say it, for all ages.
The biggest release of the weekend? Disney’s latest live-action “reimagining” of one of its classic animated gems; this time around, it’s “The Little Mermaid.” While the merit of such remakes is still very much a question mark, kudos to Rob Marshall’s feature for cracking at least one part of the code: giving us a fully-fledged Disney Princess in the form of star Halle Bailey.
More from IndieWire
Looking for something more adult? Perhaps a dramedy about the emotional calculus that goes into lying to your spouse? Nicole Holofcener’s “You Hurt My Feelings,” fresh off its Sundance premiere, is here to make you both laugh and probably cry just a bit.
Elsewhere, murderous teen Becky returns in “The Wrath of Becky,” Gerard Butler goes on another action adventure in “Kandahar,” and Robert De Niro tries comedy (again, again) in “About My Father.”
Each film is now available in a theater near you or in the comfort of your own home (or, in some cases, both, the convenience of it all). Browse your options below.
Week of May 22 – May 28
New Films in Theaters
As new movies open in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, IndieWire will continue to review them whenever possible. We encourage readers to follow the safety precautions provided by CDC and health authorities. Additionally, our coverage will provide alternative viewing options whenever they are available.
“About My Father” (directed by Laura Terruso)
Distributor: Lionsgate
Where to Find It: Theaters
There’s no doubt that Robert De Niro is funny, but his recent taste in comedies have certainly called his sense of humor into question. It’s been over 20 years since “Analyze This” and “Meet the Parents” launched the robust comedy leg of the Oscar winner’s career, but not every subsequent project has been as successful. Following the twin head scratchers of “Dirty Grandpa” and “The War with Grandpa” (unrelated; though equally ignored), the godfather of Hollywood has finally found his comedy groove again.
And wouldn’t you know, all it took was a good, old-fashioned Italian American family farce — fittingly titled “About My Father.” Though there’s a wide swath of the public for whom De Niro can do no wrong, even giants can fall. Luckily, Sebastian Maniscalco knows the importance of family. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“The Little Mermaid” (directed by Rob Marshall)
Distributor: Disney
Where to Find It: Theaters
It will feel familiar, almost instantly. As Rob Marshall’s live-action remake (reimagining? eh, not so much) of Ron Clements and John Musker’s 1989 animated Disney classic “The Little Mermaid” opens, fans of the original gem will likely find themselves accurately predicting each shot, each beat, each song, each line, each feeling. Despite opening with a epigraph that harkens back to the (incredibly bleak) Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale which has inspired countless “Little Mermaid” yarns, Marshall’s film is mostly indebted to Clements and Musker’s vision, using it as a template to offer up yet another Disney-backed spin on one of the studio’s standards.
But it’s star Halle Bailey, appearing in her first leading role, who makes the best case for why this classic Disney tale needed to be made into a live-action affair. Just look at her face, so expressive and so open, so deeply and wonderfully human and alive. There are some things even the most lovingly rendered pieces of hand-drawn animation just can’t match, and Bailey’s emotive skill is one of them. (And her stunning singing? Further icing on the “this young woman is a movie star” cake.) Read IndieWire’s full review.
Plus: Read IndieWire’s interviews with director Rob Marshall and stars Halle Bailey and Jonah Hauer-King.
“Kandahar” (directed by Ric Roman Waugh)
Distributor: Open Road Films
Where to Find It: Theaters
IndieWire review to come.
“The Machine” (directed by Peter Atencio)
Distributor: Sony
Where to Find It: Theaters
IndieWire review to come.
“The Wrath of Becky” (directed by Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote)
Distributor: Quiver Distribution
Where to Find It: Theaters
When we last left “Becky” (starring an extraordinary Lulu Wilson), she’d managed to off an entire cell of neo-Nazis (led by Kevin James, of all people), ingeniously and gruesomely plotting their deaths after she and her ill-fated dad ran afoul of the baddies during the world’s worst family vacation. Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion’s icky “Becky” didn’t do much more than deliver on the promise of turning a teenage girl into a righteous murderer — and, again, what luck to have cast the plucky and spunky Wilson in the title role — but it did feel as if there was more ground to cover (and more blood to spill).
Thus: Sequel! “The Wrath of Becky,” which arrives just three years after Milott and Murnion’s indie hit (it made over $1 million at the box office in the summer of 2020, no easy feat), certainly offers more — it’s also more of the same. Kills are gruesome and clever, Wilson is a wonder, the bad guys all deserve what’s coming, and it all feels undercooked. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“You Hurt My Feelings” (directed by Nicole Holofcener)
Distributor: A24
Where to Find It: Theaters
Filmmaker Nicole Holofcener has long been one of our foremost chroniclers of the minutiae of everyday life, someone uniquely equipped to marry the very funny with the very honest, the sort of creator who makes things that hurt, in both good and bad ways. For her first original feature in a decade — she’s been making plenty of TV in recent years, and in 2018, directed and scripted the Ted Thompson adaptation “The Land of Steady Habits” — Holofcener returns to classic territory: a New York City story about neuroses and good intentions and the slights that keep us at night. It’s, of course, about love.
And while “You Hurt My Feelings” is not without all the things Holofencer does so very well — all that honesty, all that understanding of the texture of everyday life, plus Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the spotlight, where she belongs — it also feels decidedly low-key for such a insightful filmmaker. The shagginess of it, the missteps, the rambling bits are pleasurable enough, and there are plenty of laughs and insights here, but there’s also nothing new. If you like Nicole Holofcener films, you will like this one, and there’s comfort in that, if not an edge of disappointment, too. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Plus: Read IndieWire’s interviews with filmmaker Nicole Holofcener and stars Michaela Watkins and Owen Teague.
New Films on VOD and Streaming, Including Premium Platforms and Virtual Cinemas
“Victim/Suspect” (directed by Nancy Schwartzman)
Distributor: Netflix
Where to Find It: Streaming on Netflix
If anything, Nancy Schwartzman’s “Victim/Suspect” too calmly lays out its case over the course of a tight 90-minute running time. The “Roll Red Roll” filmmaker is again taking on the topic of sexual assault in America with her latest film, which follows investigative reporter Rachel de Leon as she unspools tale after tale of alleged sexual assault victims suddenly, horribly being turned into suspects when the very cops meant to investigate their allegations accuse them of faking all of it. Even worse: They are then charged with a litany of crimes, fully completing the cycle from, yes, victim to suspect.
It’s the kind of story that should make viewers rage — at the cops, the system, the world — but Schwartzman sidesteps emotion to cede her story to de Leon, an engaging and dogged journalist who neatly walks us through her reporting process. By the end of “Victim/Suspect,” de Leon has turned up gobsmacking evidence, including numerous incidents of cops just straight lying to these alleged victims, all courtesy of the kind of shoe-leather reporting in short supply these days. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Also available this week:
“The Fire That Took Her” (directed by Patricia E. Gillespie)
Distributor: MTV/Paramount
Where to Find It: Streaming on Paramount+
“Influencer” (directed by Kurtis David Harder)
Distributor: Shudder
Where to Find It: Streaming on Shudder
Week of May 15 – May 21
New Films in Theaters
As new movies open in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, IndieWire will continue to review them whenever possible. We encourage readers to follow the safety precautions provided by CDC and health authorities. Additionally, our coverage will provide alternative viewing options whenever they are available.
“The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future” (directed by Francisca Alegría)
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Where to Find It: Select theaters
“The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future” uses magical realism to blend the story of a family deeply scarred by a suicide decades ago, and a fable of Mother Nature crying out for help. Thankfully, Francisca Alegría’s feature debut manages to be hauntingly moving and hopeful instead of angry and pessimistic, like Adam McKay’s recent doomsday satire “Don’t Look Up.” The fish are dying from pollution, the bees are disappearing, and the milking cows are not far behind, not unlike the beginning of Douglas Adam’s “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
And like the 2005 adaptation of the book, the lamentations of the animals is presented in song form, with the fish and cows singing woes of death and despair, begging for their suffering to serve some larger purpose. As the fish start dying in a river in the south of Chile, a woman (Mía Maestro) emerges after being dead for decades. Providing many questions and very few answers, Alegría and co-writers Fernanda Urrejole and Manuela Infante make a point to show that life can emerge from death, imploring the audience to stop fixating on the damages done in the past and focus on saving the present and future. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“Fast X” (directed by Louis Leterrier)
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Where to Find It: Theaters
Justin Lin may no longer be in the driver’s seat of the “Fast & Furious” franchise, but his blockbuster fingerprints are all over “Fast X.” The tenth — and most outrageous installment yet — in the ongoing fast-moving franchise delivers on its promise of high-octane thrills while very clearly setting-up a finale to the massive series, entering every living player from its past into the race. Though Lin’s abrupt departure put the fate of the franchise in jeopardy, French director Louis Leterrier has a solid command of explosive and heart-pumping action scenes to take it for spin.
Relying on homages to past stunts (like Diesel’s Dom Toretto driving out of a moving plane) and surprise appearances by long lost characters, the movie lays the groundwork for a possibly three-part finale (as Diesel has indicated). Whether it has any new tricks up its sleeve still remains to be seen, though it’s unclear if that matters to its many diehard fans. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Plus: Read IndieWire’s interview with director Louis Leterrier.
“Master Gardener” (directed by Paul Schrader)
Distributor: Magnolia
Where to Find It: Theaters
It is knowing how dark Schrader is capable of going, that his loyal audience will be bracing themselves for cruelty when “Master Gardener” begins. But, while the central character’s arc will likely launch a dreaded “discourse,” there is a tenderness to “Master Gardener” that may prove its biggest surprise.
Joel Edgerton plays the title role as Narvel Roth, a reserved and meticulous gardener who runs the grounds of the grand Gracewood estate along with a small but committed team. The estate is owned by Norma Haverhill (Sigourney Weaver) who swans into every scene with a perfectly coiffed helmet of hair and waspy panache. Their concerns may seem of little consequence, talking about preparations for a gala and the orchids they plan to auction off, but the oedipal tension between them is immediately unnerving. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Plus: Read IndieWire’s interview with filmmaker Paul Schrader.
“Sanctuary” (directed by Zachary Wigon)
Distributor: Neon
Where to Find It: Theaters
A sharp and silly and deliriously romantic single-location saga about a hotel chain heir (Christopher Abbott) who’s blackmailed by his long-time dominatrix (Margaret Qualley), Zachary Wigon’s “Sanctuary” unfolds like a kinky cross between “Punch-Drunk Love” and an off-Broadway play. The results are delightful and exasperating in almost perfectly equal measure until a last-minute hail Mary ends the movie on such a high that even its hoarier stretches seem like they were worth the walk in hindsight.
It starts with color swirls and a heart-stirring Ariel Marx score that sounds like it could be the overture of a musical; it ends with a rush of blood to the head. In between, it’s sustained by its performances. Not just the go-for-broke performances from two of the most inherently watchable young actors of their time, but also those of their characters, both of whom are so trapped by their parts in life that their kinky role-playing sessions together have become a lifeline that neither one of them may be able to live without. At a certain point, who they pretend to be with each other might be more honest than who they are on their own. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Plus: Read IndieWire’s interview with stars Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley.
“Stay Awake” (directed by Jamie Sisley)
Distributor: MarVista Entertainment
Where to Find It: Select theaters
When a loved one battles addiction, you often find yourself in the midst of conflicting responsibilities. There’s the responsibility you have to the loved one, to monitor and support them; the responsibility you have to others in their orbit, to share in the caretaking and not saddle any one person with a burden; and, perhaps most troublesomely, there’s the responsibility you have to yourself, to make space for the life you desire and deserve.
The tricky business of balancing — and sometimes, prioritizing between — these concerns is central to Jamie Sisley’s “Stay Awake,” a sensitive if not especially insightful family drama that follows two brothers in small-town Virginia serving as pillars of support for their mother, who is addicted to prescription drugs. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Also available this week:
“Buddy Games: Spring Awakening” (directed by Josh Duhamel)
Distributor: Paramount Global Content Distribution Group
Where to Find It: Theaters, plus various digital platforms on June 2
“Mercy” (directed by Tony Dean Smith)
Distributor: Paramount Global Content Distribution
Where to Find It: Select theaters and various digital platforms, plus VOD on June 2
“The Night of the 12th” (directed by Dominik Moll)
Distributor: Film Movement
Where to Find It: Select theaters
“Robots” (directed by Anthony Hines and Casper Christensen)
Distributor: Neon
Where to Find It: Theaters and various VOD platforms
“The Thief Collector” (directed by Allison Otto)
Distributor: FilmRise
Where to Find It: Theaters and various VOD platforms
New Films on VOD and Streaming, Including Premium Platforms and Virtual Cinemas
“White Men Can’t Jump” (directed by Calmatic)
Distributor: Hulu
Where to Find It: Streaming on Hulu
When Grammy-winning music video director Calmatic (born Charles Kidd II) made the jump to moviemaking, the music-loving Los Angeles native opted for familiar if smart territory: an updated remake of beloved 1990 teen classic “House Party.” The result was a Warner Bros. release that, though originally slated for HBO Max only, charmed enough studio brass to earn a theatrical release in January. It was a fitting first film for those new to the Calmatic universe, riffing on a dated hit with a contemporary sensibility, updated music cues (and even some classics), super-fun set pieces, and talented young actors.
For his second film, released less than four months later, Calmatic sticks with that already familiar formula. This time around, it’s an updated remake of a beloved 1992 sports comedy classic, “White Men Can’t Jump,” which again offers (and, yes, this is just a copy-paste from above) a contemporary sensibility, updated music cues (and even some classics), super-fun set pieces, and talented young actors. And, just like “House Party,” as fresh as certain elements of Calmatic’s latest are, there’s a distinct lack of energy and cohesion on the screen. In an industry gone mad with remakes, sequels, and requels, the budding filmmaker’s ability to put a new spin on old movies is welcome, but it’s certainly no slam dunk. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Also available this week:
“Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me” (directed by Ursula Macfarlane)
Distributor: Netflix
Where to Find It: Streaming on Netflix
“Assassin Club” (directed by Camille Delamarre)
Distributor: Paramount Global Content Distribution Group
Where to Find It: Various digital platforms, plus Blu-ray and DVD on June 6
“Love to Love You, Donna Summer” (directed by Brooklyn Sudano and Roger Ross Williams)
Distributor: HBO
Where to Find It: Streaming on Max
Week of May 8 – May 14
New Films in Theaters
As new movies open in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, IndieWire will continue to review them whenever possible. We encourage readers to follow the safety precautions provided by CDC and health authorities. Additionally, our coverage will provide alternative viewing options whenever they are available.
“BlackBerry” (directed by Matt Johnson)
Distributor: IFC Films
Where to Find It: Theaters
“BlackBerry,” which follows Canadian software company Research in Motion and the mistakes made by co-CEOs Mike Lazarides (Jay Baruchel) and Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton), uses lashes of retrospective irony to dive into the precarity of monolithic success. With a good deal of zippy snark à la “The Social Network” and a sense of deadpan comedy straight from the “Succession” playbook, “BlackBerry” is the kind of mid-budget marvel that doesn’t seem to come around often anymore.
With it, director and screenwriter Matt Johnson takes a plot that could be a dull walk-through of the phone’s Wikipedia page and transforms it into something altogether more biting and blithe, less a cautionary tale than a gently mocking takedown of corporate hubris. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Plus: Read IndieWire’s interview with filmmaker Matt Johnson.
“Book Club: The Next Chapter” (directed by Bill Holderman)
Distributor: Focus Features
Where to Find It: Theaters
In 2018, when Bill Holderman’s directorial debut “Book Club” first hit the big screen, this writer wondered — not entirely facetiously — how high the amiable comedy’s white wine budget must have been. After all, most of the action of the star-studded feature unfolded in cozy living rooms and swanky hotels (read: sets on top of sets), with many of these locales being positively sloshed on, over, and under with light libations.
For its sequel, Holderman and his crackling cast — including returning stars Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen — have allegedly leveled up, taking their booze-swilling and truth-talking foursome on the road for a whirlwind trip to Italy. The Prosecco budget? High! The rest of it? Well, despite claims that the production decamped to Italy for over two months, even the glitziest parts of “Book Club: The Next Chapter” look as if they were filmed on location at glamorous Caesar’s Palace. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Plus: Read IndieWire’s interview with stars Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen.
“Hypnotic” (directed by Robert Rodriguez)
Distributor: Ketchup Entertainment
Where to Find It: Theaters
Find someone who looks at you the way Ben Affleck looks at genres that peaked in the ‘90s. His ongoing quest to save the middlebrow movie has seen him try his hand at everything from big budget sports dramas to old school erotic thrillers in recent years as he tries to prove that entertaining adults is still a noble goal.
His latest role, which finds him starring in in Robert Rodriguez’s “Hypnotic,” is a similar throwback to the kind of nonsensically complex, star-driven thrillers that could be instantly forgotten before enjoying a long DVD shelf life in 2002. If TBS launched its own airline and started producing original films designed to be viewed on two hour commuter flights, this would be an ideal first project. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“Monica” (directed by Andrea Pallaoro)
Distributor: IFC Films
Where to Find It: Theaters
Mirrors are more than just refracted light — they are how we see ourselves and a reflection of how others see us. Reflections are everywhere in “Monica,” an understated family drama starring Trace Lysette as a woman who reluctantly returns home to see her estranged and ailing mother. Shot in an elegant 1:1 aspect ratio, we see Monica through French doors left ajar, in the glass frames of childhood photos, and the patina of the antique mirror in her mother’s girlish bedroom. If there is a reflection to be found, Monica is there.
Caustic and frail, Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson) doesn’t recognize her daughter, though it’s unclear whether that’s the dementia or because Monica is trans. Spare but poignant, “Monica” is a pensive family drama that’s loaded with the empty space of things left unsaid. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Plus: Read IndieWire’s interviews with stars Patricia Clarkson and Trace Lysette.
“The Starling Girl” (directed by Laurel Parmet)
Distributor: Bleecker Street
Where to Find It: Theaters
Laurel Parmet’s “The Starling Girl” tells a tale as old as time — the broad strokes of its story about the affair between a naïve teenage girl and a married older man who swears that he’ll leave his wife adhere to convention from start to finish — but the power of this sensitive and devilishly detailed coming-of-age drama is rooted in the friction that it finds between biblical paternalism and modern personhood. While young women have always been taught to be ashamed of their desires (hot take!), Parmet’s self-possessed debut is uncommonly well-attuned to how garbled that gospel might sound to a God-loving girl who’s been raised amid the echoes of a secular culture.
Played by the ever-arresting Eliza Scanlen, Jem Starling isn’t the first Christian fundamentalist to feel an ungodly stir in her bones when she lays eyes on her youth pastor, but this sheltered Kentucky girl belongs to one of the first generations of her sheltered community who grew up with (limited) access to the internet. Digital technology seldom factors into the action of Parmet’s script, but its influence grows along the periphery like weeds around the garden of Eden. An early moment of the movie highlights a kid who was sent to a “retreat” after his parents caught him looking at porn on their computer, and it’s clear that Jem — whose greatest mortal pleasure is leading her church dance group — has probably watched a few YouTube videos for inspiration over the years. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Plus: Read IndieWire’s interview with star Eliza Scanlen and filmmaker Laurel Parmet.
Also available this week:
“It Ain’t Over” (directed by Sean Mullin)
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Where to Find It: Select theaters
“Fool’s Paradise” (directed by Charlie Day)
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Where to Find It: Theaters
“Mercy” (directed by Tony Dean Smith)
Distributor: Paramount Global Content Distribution
Where to Find It: Select theaters, various digital platforms on May 19 and various VOD platforms on June 2
“The Wind & the Reckoning” (directed by David L. Cunningham)
Distributor: Lynmar Entertainment
Where to Find It: Select LA theaters, with expansion to follow
New Films on VOD and Streaming, Including Premium Platforms and Virtual Cinemas
“Crater” (directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez)
Distributor: Disney
Where to Find It: Streaming on Disney+
Within the first four minutes of Disney+ Original film “Crater,” we already have a cavalcade of movie tropes to contend with: dead parents, spaceships, and a 72-hour ticking clock for one newly-orphaned tween to say farewell to his friend group. At least we know Disney hasn’t shied away from its classic storylines.
Part “Guardians of the Galaxy” and part “Goonies” with a dash of “Outer Banks,” “Crater” centers on Caleb Channing (a well-cast Isaiah Russell-Bailey), who was raised on a lunar mining colony by his single dad (Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi). After the death of his father, Caleb becomes a ward of the state, poised to reap the “death benefits” from his father’s work contract with the colony. As part of said benefits, Caleb is supposed to be put in a cryosleep and transported to distant planet Omega, which takes 75 years to reach. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“The Five Devils” (directed by Léa Mysius) — IndieWire Critic’s Pick
Distributor: MUBI
Where to Find It: Streaming on MUBI
“The Five Devils” is an elemental film, as fire and water blaze and flow through the run time. Jimmy is a fireman; Joanna a lifeguard at a local pool. The opening sequence is a striking statement of intent, as cinematographer and co-writer Paul Guilhaume films the girls in sparkling gymnast costumes from behind as they watch a fire crackle against the pitch black of night. One of the girls turns around — it’s Adèle Exarchopoulos. Cut to the next scene of Joanne leading a class of water aerobics to a pool of senior citizens. Beside her, leading the class from a much shorter vantage point, is her daughter, Vicky (Sally Dramé), grinning with happiness at being close to her beloved mother. Their next point of call is the local lake. Vicky helps to coat Joanne’s body in a layer of milking grease to protect her from the freezing water. It’s a ritual the two share every day. For Joanne, it’s an act of sensual extremity, at odds with the humdrum routine of her daily life. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“The Mother” (directed by Niki Caro)
Distributor: Netflix
Where to Find It: Streaming on Netflix
Jennifer Lopez may be singlehandedly able to revive the rom-com, but she’s here to remind us she can carry other blockbuster genres: The crime thriller. It’s been awhile since Lopez set her sights on a high-stakes action drama (as she did in Steven Soderbergh’s 1998 hit “Out of Sight”), but clearly she hasn’t forgotten her combat training. Deadly serious with a killer instinct, she is hardly maternal in “The Mother,” a tense thriller about a sharpshooter who must give up her child and go into hiding after double crossing two nefarious exes.
Directed by Kiwi filmmaker Niki Caro (“Whale Rider,” “Mulan”), “The Mother” sees two business-savvy women making a mark on the most masculine of genres — and pulling no punches. While it’s far from groundbreaking, “The Mother” is a satisfying nail-biter grounded in a genuine (albeit familiar) emotional setup. Besides, we’ve seen enough violent thrillers about lone wolf fathers protecting their children while the helpless wives sits at home. It’s high time the mothers came out to play — and much more realistic to boot. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” (directed by Davis Guggenheim)
Distributor: Apple
Where to Find It: Streaming on AppleTV+
“The walking really freaks people out,” Michael J. Fox explains in his Apple-produced documentary, “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” directed by Davis Guggenheim. And, sure enough, it is striking to see him struggle to amble down a New York City sidewalk with his physical therapist by his side. A dog barks at him. Other people say hello. And then he falls.
He’s not wrong. It does initially “freak you out” to see Fox’s Parkinson’s in full effect in the film. It’s without a doubt upsetting to understand the pain of his body or to watch a makeup artist cover up the spot where he broke bones in his face falling. For as distressing as that sounds, Fox is nothing if not a likable figure, and he and Guggenheim have crafted a likable film about both his suffering and resilience without turning him into a martyr. It’s not without some of the conventional beats of a star-driven documentary, but it also refuses to turn maudlin when it so easily could. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Also available this week:
“Dealing with Dad” (directed by Tom Huang)
Distributor: Screen Media
Where to Find It: Various digital platforms
Best of IndieWire
Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.