Opening July 27 to July 30, 2021- Margaret Barton-Fumo reports
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists highlights movies made by and about women. With a vigilant eye toward current releases, we maintain an interactive record of films that are pertinent to our interests. Be they female-made or female-centric productions, they are films that represent a wide range of women’s stories and present complex female characters. As such, they are movies that will most likely be reviewed on AWFJ.org and will qualify for consideration for our annual EDA Awards, celebrating exceptional women working in film behind and in front of the camera. Our members are feature writers, columnists and regular contributors to a variety of media outlets and many of us publish regularly on the festival circuit. Our critical voices are widespread and diverse. We invite you to join us in tracking weekly releases of particular interest. And we welcome information about new films that will help us to keep our records updated and our critics alert. Below is a concise list of new releases set for the week of July 19 to 25 that are of particular interest:
Tuesday, July 27
- For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close – Utopia (VOD) – USA – Documentary co-written and directed by Heather Ross about the legendary improv guru, Del Close.
Thursday, July 29
- Resort to Love – Netflix – USA – Romantic comedy starring Christina Milian as Erica, a singer who ends up as the entertainment at her ex-fiancé’s wedding after reluctantly taking a gig at a luxurious island resort while in the wake of a music career meltdown. Written by Tabi McCartney and Dana Schmalenberg.
Friday, July 30
- A Dark Foe – Vertical Entertainment (VOD) – USA – Crime film co-written and directed by Maria Gabriela Cardenas. A guilt-ridden FBI agent, haunted by the painful memory of his sister’s abduction, suffers from a rare condition known as Nyctophobia, an irrational fear of the dark, and will have to face-off with the cunning serial killer who took her away.
- Enemies of the State – IFC Films (Cinemas, VOD) – USA – Documentary directed by Sonia Kennebeck. An American family becomes entangled in a bizarre web of secrets and lies when their hacker son is targeted by the U.S. government, making them all enemies of the state.
- Fully Realized Humans – Gravitas Ventures (Cinemas) – USA – Drama co-written by and co-starring Jess Weixler along with director Joshua Leonard. With less than a month until the birth of their first child, Jackie and Elliot embark on a madcap odyssey of self-discovery in an attempt to rid themselves of the inherited dysfunction of their own upbringings.
- Lorelei – Vertical Entertainment (Cinemas, VOD) – USA – Drama written and directed by Sabrina Doyle, starring Jena Malone and Pablo Schreiber. A working-class fable about a biker, a mermaid and three shades of blue.
- Masquerade – Shout! (Cinemas, VOD) – USA – Thriller starring Bella Thorne. A young girl struggles to survive after a group of home invaders break into her house to steal her family’s priceless artwork.
- Never Gonna Snow Again – Kino Lorber (Cinemas, Virtual Cinemas) – Poland / Germany / Netherlands – The latest drama directed by Polish filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska (The Other Lamb), co-directed and co-written with Michal Englert, who also shot the film. Zhenia, a Russian-speaking immigrant from the East works as a masseur in Poland and becomes a guru-like figure in a wealthy gated community of his clients.
- Sabaya – MTV Documentary Films (Cinemas) – Sweden – A riveting and shocking documentary, Sabaya follows a group of volunteers who risk their lives to rescue Yazidi women and girls (a religious minority) held captive in one of the world’s most dangerous refugee camps.
- Stillwater – Focus Features (Cinemas) – USA – Drama-thriller starring Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin. A father travels from Oklahoma to France to help his estranged daughter, who is in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit.
Film descriptions are adapted from press releases. Highlighted titles link to full reviews. Stay tuned in for next week’s releases! Contact us if we’ve overlooked anything.
