Opening September 29 to October 1, 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 September 27 to October 3 that are of particular interest:  

Wednesday, September 29  

• No One Gets Out Alive – Netflix – UK – Horror / thriller. An immigrant in search of the American dream finds herself in a nightmare she can’t escape after being forced to take a room in a boarding house. Co-written by Fernanda Coppel and Adam Nevill, starring Cristina Rodlo.

 

• Sounds Like Love – Netflix – Spain – Spanish dramedy directed by Juana Macías. Fashion assistant Maca is on the verge of getting her life together after a devastating breakup when Leo, the man who broke her heart, returns.

Thursday, September 30 

• After We Fell – (Cinemas; limited) – USA / Bulgaria – Drama directed by Castille Landon, screenplay written by Sharon Soboil (adapted from the novel by Anna Todd). Third film in the After romance series.

Friday, October 1 

• Bingo Hell – Amazon Prime – USA – Horror / comedy co-written and directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero. In the barrio of Oak Springs live a strong and stubborn group of elderly friends who refuse to be gentrified. Their leader, Lupita, keeps them together as a community but little do they know, their beloved Bingo hall is about to be sold to a powerful force.

 

• Black as Night – Amazon Prime – USA – Horror directed by Maritte Lee Go. A teenage girl with self-esteem issues finds confidence in the most unlikely way, by spending her summer battling vampires that prey on New Orleans’ disenfranchised with the help of a few friends.

 

• Falling for Figaro – IFC Films – Australia – Danielle Macdonald stars as a brilliant young fund manager who leaves her unfulfilling job and long-term boyfriend to chase her lifelong dream of becoming an opera singer in the Scottish Highlands.

 

• Hotel Transylvania: Transformania – Columbia Pictures / Netflix (Cinemas) – USA – PG-rated animated sequel co-directed by Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon.

 

• Karen Dalton: In My Own Time – Greenwich Entertainment (NY Premiere at Film Forum) – USA – Documentary. Blues and folk singer Karen Dalton was a prominent figure in 1960s New York, idolized by both Bob Dylan and Nick Cave. Dalton discarded the traditional trappings of success and led an unconventional life until her early death.

 

• Mayday – Magnolia Pictures (Cinemas, VOD) – USA – Fantasy / drama written and directed by Karen Cinorre, starring Grace Van Patten, Mia Goth and Soko. Ana is transported to a dreamlike and dangerous land where she joins an army of girls engaged in a never-ending war along a rugged coast. Though she finds strength in this exhilarating world, she comes to realize that she’s not the killer they want her to be.

 

• My Name is Pauli Murray – Amazon Prime – USA – Documentary directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West. A look at the life and ideas of Pauli Murray, a non-binary Black lawyer, activist and poet who influenced both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Thurgood Marshall.

 

• Seyran Ates: Sex, Revolution and Islam – Juno Films – Norway – Documentary written and directed by Nefise Özkal Lorentzen about the humanitarian work of Turkish-German radical feminist, lawyer, and imam, Seyran Ateş.

 

• Stop and Go – Decal (Cinemas, VOD) – USA – Comedy co-directed by Mallory Everton and Stephen Meek, co-written by and starring Everton with Whitney Call. Two sisters who are struggling with direction in their own lives must band together and brave a cross-country road trip to reach their grandmother after hearing of a COVID outbreak at her nursing home.

 

• Titane – Neon (Cinemas) – France / Belgium – Sophomore feature from director Julia Ducournau (Raw), winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2021. Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for 10 years.

 

• What Breaks the Ice – Cinedigm Entertainment (Cinemas, VOD) – USA – Drama written and directed by Rebecca Eskreis. Two teenage girls who come from different worlds strike up a quick and deep friendship during summer break in 1998, set against the backdrop of a world consumed by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

 

• Witch Hunt – Momentum Pictures (Cinemas, VOD) – USA – Fantasy / horror written and directed by Elle Callahan. In a modern America where witches are real and witchcraft is illegal, a sheltered teenager must face her own demons and prejudices as she helps two young witches avoid law enforcement and cross the southern border to asylum in Mexico.

Film descriptions are adapted from press releases. Titles highlighted in red have links to full reviews. Stay tuned in for next week’s releases! Contact us if we’ve overlooked anything.