Hibernation Mode Activated
Film and TV series to watch during the winter months
You know it, when you look out your window and you see this:
the part that comes after 'oooh snow… oooh pretty… I love Christmas. Maybe winter is my favorite season?' is 'Party? What party? I’m about to be occupying a horizontal position on my couch with some popcorn and red wine, and I’m not one bit sad about it.’
So get ready to hit the play button on your Netflix Christmas fire place screensaver and take a look at the TV shows and films that we are rating as the ones to watch this winter period.
1. The Boy and The Heron
Now don’t get too excited (if you’re reading this and are in Germany) because it’s not out yet. That said, it’s been 10 years since Studio Ghibli released a new feature film. That’s a really long time. Enough time for births, deaths, marriages, pandemics and wars to happen. But I digressing. In 2013 Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, pulled a swifty one on us, and by swifty, I don’t mean the Taylor kind. When he announced that he is retiring, only to begin storyboarding for The Boy and The Heron and go into production four years later in 2017. Production spanned approximately six years with notable interruptions from COVID-19 and friends. But now on January 4th, 2024, the film will finally be hitting cinemas in Germany and to say that this excites me would be an understatement.
The story is set around a 12 year old boy named Mahito, who’s mother Hisako is killed in a hospital fire in Tokyo. His father remarries and moves the family to a small country town. Mahito struggling in the new town, and longing for his mother, one day begins to be pestered by a mysterious grey heron, who becomes the catalyst that transports him into a realm where the line between the living and the departed blurs.
The film is also said to be ‘a semi-autobiographical fantasy which dives into the intricacies of life, death, and creation, and friendship.’ 🥹
Release date: 01.01.24 Germany
For release dates globally, check IMDb.
May December
Nataile Portman and Julianne Moore co-star in a film which is loosely based on a tabloid scandal that rocked American. The story follows a couple with an alarming age gap—which mirrors the real-life relationship between Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau.
“In 1997, Letourneau was caught having an inappropriate affair with Fualaau. She was 34 years old at the time—and he was her 12-year-old student. After pleading guilty to two counts of rape, she served time in prison, but upon her release, Letourneau and Fualaau reunited.” - Esquire December 5th 2023
In the film the couple buckles under pressure when an actress (Natalie Portman) arrives to town to do research for a film about their past.
Release date: 01.12.23 Germany
For release dates globally, check IMDb.
Fargo - Season 5
If you are a fan of the series, then you are in luck, my friend(s), because Fargo is back, and so far, it is not disappointing. If you’ve only previously dabbled, you should give it another shot, or give it a try for the first time if you enjoy a nice blend of thrilling American black comedy and crime drama. Crafted and mainly written by Noah Hawley, it’s a TV series that draws inspiration from the 1996 film of the same name, created by the Coen brothers. The show first aired all the way back in 2014, and what has made it a must-watch so far is its dark humor, and anthology format, with each season unfolding in a different era and location, showcasing unique stories and a fresh cast of characters. Although each season introduces mostly new faces and plots, there's a subtle thread connecting them.
If you are a fan of cinema and the original Fargo, this series will never leave you feeling sad and disappointed.
Leave The World Behind
When I started writing this blog post this film hadn’t been released and I was prepping to say that am not sure if it’s going to be great. Cut to: I watched it last night, and what I will say is that it misses the mark occasionally in terms of over scripted dialogue. It seems to be trying a bit too hard with its Tarantino-inspired chapters and "edgy" camera angles. HOWEVER, it's available on Netflix, meaning that if you have an account, it's easily accessible and ultimately doesn't fall into the danger zone of 'I wish I could get my time back' films.
If you're unsure about the plot, it's based on Rumaan Alam’s novel "Leave the World Behind," portraying an apocalyptic drama. The film follows a New York couple, played by Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke, who crave to escape the noise and stress of the city for the weekend. They achieve this by booking a fancy house a few hours away for themselves and their two kids. The family’s trip gets interrupted nonetheless, when the owner of the house, played by Mahershala Ali, and his daughter turn up on their doorstep in the middle if the night. What develops is an unsettling reveal into a cyberattack that has shut down the city’s power, and the havoc that ensues.
The film is both written and directed by Sam Esmail, the creator of "Mr. Robot," and is produced by Julia Roberts, as well as Barack and Michelle Obama, which besides the ‘say whaaa??’ factor is also noteworthy because this is the first film that the Obama’s have produced and it’s about a cyberattack that takes down the United States.
In the end, alles is quite klar in this film. Maybe sometimes alles is a little too klar and we could do with a bit more mystery and room for our imaginations. But then again it’s hard to expect more from made for Netflix productions.
Release date: December 8th, 2023 Germany
For release dates globally, check IMDb.
Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos's newest film, “Poor Things,” written by Tony McNamara, is based on a 1992 book of the same title by the Scottish novelist Alasdair Gray, who sadly passed away in 2019. In the book, the story takes place in Glasgow, where a surgeon first encounters Bella in February 1881. However, in the film, the city shown in the trailer is unnamed and transforms into a fantastical futuristic utopia. Bella is portrayed by Emma Stone, whose character is revived by a surgeon played by Willem Dafoe. How? We don’t know, but it's understood that Bella is an "experiment" in a process of self-discovery as "her brain and her body are not quite synchronized."
As a person who identifies as female, I can’t help but at this point to be triggered as the instinctive repulsion that I get at the thought of some men who go weak at the knees for the fantasy of 'a child trapped inside a woman’s body' are significant and real. So here’s to hoping that the story is primarily being told through Bella, and there is some kind of empowerment and humanity underlying the plot. Fingers crossed.
Release date: January 18th, 2024.
For release dates globally, check IMDb.
Bad Behaviour
This is the first feature for writer-director-co-star Alice Englert. The film follows Lucy, played by Jennifer Connelly, a former child star now filled with anger, rage, and bitterness towards her parents, ex-husband, and her grown daughter Dylan (Englert), who is working as a stunt double in New Zealand when the story begins. Lucy calls Dylan from Oregon, where she’s just about to check into a "semi-silent" retreat. The rest of the story seemingly unfolds here, with notable appearances from the guru at the retreat, played by Ben Whishaw (Passages).
The film has done the international film festival circuit and is hoped to be released in cinemas in 2024.