Your guide to October's film releases and European Film Festival
4 October
Joker: Folie À Deux stars Joaquin Phoenix once again in his Oscar-winning dual role as Arthur Fleck/Joker, opposite Oscar-winner Lady Gaga.
The film finds Arthur Fleck institutionalised at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him.
Todd Phillips directed Joker: Folie À Deux from a screenplay by Scott Silver & Phillips, based on characters from DC.
Woman Of The Hour tells the stranger-than-fiction story of an aspiring actress in 1970s Los Angeles and a serial killer during a yearslong murder spree, whose lives intersect when they’re cast on an episode of The Dating Game. Rodney Alcala was a killer during a killing spree when he brazenly took part and won a date on the popular TV game show The Dating Game. Anna Kendrick directs from a screenplay crafted by Ian McDonald.
On what should have been a peaceful afternoon drive, former Army Ranger Eric Daniels (Dylan Sprouse) finds himself trapped with hundreds of other commuters and a high-profile prisoner (Dichen Lachman) after a group of heavily armed ex-military contractors shut down Boston’s Tobin Bridge in Aftermath. As their leader (Mason Gooding) starts killing hostages, Sprouse must rely on his military training, killer instincts, and some unexpected help to get his little sister – and everyone else – home safely.
10 October
Film lovers can look forward to an entertaining and provocative array of new award-winning European films as the European Film Festival returns for its 11th edition in South Africa from 10-20 October.
Presenting films from 14 countries, and including two Oscar nominations, the festival is a showcase of high-quality cinema from the film industries in the respective participating countries of Belgium, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
Cinema screenings take place in Johannesburg at Sterkinekor’s The Zone in Rosebank and in Cape Town at The Labia. Eleven of the films will be available in the free programme of online streaming accessible across South Africa during the festival period of 10-20 October.
11 October
While in pursuit of a dangerous suspect, Boston Police Detective Frank Shaw (Joel Kinnaman) is badly hurt, sustaining a progressive and permanent hearing loss injury in the action thriller The Silent Hour.
Sixteen months later, Frank returns to work and struggles to navigate his new normal. When Doug Slater (Mark Strong), his good friend on the Narcotics Squad requests his assistance interviewing Ava Fremont (Sandra Mae Frank), a deaf murder witness, he’s hesitant, but eventually agrees to the task. Frank’s noble deed unintentionally lands him in the middle of a sinister plot to silence Ava forever, and he instinctively leaps into action.
The cards are stacked against them as Mason Lynch (Mekhi Phifer) and his henchmen surround them within a soon-to-be condemned residential building. Cut off from the outside world and left to their own devices, these two practical strangers must lean on themselves and each other as they are thrust into a battle for their lives.
Directed by Brad Anderson (Beirut, The Call, The Machinist) from an original screenplay by Dan Hall,
The Japanese animated superhero film My Hero Academia: You’re Next is based on an original story featuring the characters of My Hero Academia manga series by Kōhei Horikoshi.
In the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War, Izuku Midoriya and his classmates of Class 1-A join together to assist the Heroes in tracking down the Jailbreakers that have run rampant in Japan. However, they run into more trouble than they expect when they have to stop a mysterious giant fortress and a man who resembles the former "Symbol of Peace".
In the local film, Homecoming, Mam Nkomo (Thoko Ntshinga) summons her children home for what could be Tat Nkomo’s (Timmy Kwebulane) last Christmas. Luleka (Zikhona Bali) and Asanda (Talitha Ndima) reluctantly hit the road, greatful for the chance to escape their problems in the big city.
Surrounded by family and in the warm embrace of the beautiful hills of their Village, the two sisters are forced to reconnect and re-discover their sisterhood. A carol of hope and joy unfolds as the Nkomo siblings try to create the best Christmas ever for their father. Plans go awry as Silent nights fade into the background. Secrets are revealed.
If the Nkomo family can band together and save this Christmas, they can survive anything.
18 October
From the best-selling author of Wonder, the book that sparked a movement to “choose kind,” comes the inspirational next chapter.
To transform his life, Julian’s grandmother (Helen Mirren) finally reveals to Julian her own story of courage — during her youth in Nazi-occupied France, a boy shelters her from mortal danger. They find first love in a stunning, magical world of their own creation, while the boy’s mother (Gillian Anderson) risks everything to keep her safe.
From director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland and Christopher Robin), screenwriter Mark Bomback, and based on R.J. Palacio’s book, White Bird: A Wonder Story, like Wonder before it, is an uplifting movie about how one act of kindness can live on forever.
Smile 2 is a psychological supernatural horror written and directed by Parker Finn. The sequel to Smile (2022), the film stars Naomi Scott as pop sensation Skye Riley who begins to experience a series of increasingly disturbing and daunting events as she is about to go on a new world tour and is forced to face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.
It also features Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo, Dylan Gelula, and Ray Nicholson, as well as Kyle Gallner reprising his role from the first film.
25 October
After his younger second wife leaves him and enters a 90-day rehab programme, Los Angeles art dealer Andy Goodrich seeks out his adult pregnant daughter Grace for help with raising his nine-year-old twins in Goodrich.
A comedy written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer, the film stars Michael Keaton Douglas and Mila Kunis.
In the superhero film Venom: The Last Dance, Eddie Brock and the symbiote Venom go on the run when they are hunted by both of their worlds.
It’s the sequel to Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and the fifth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe, written and directed by Kelly Marcel. Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock and Venom alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, and Stephen Graham.
In the film, Brock and Venom are on the run from both of their worlds.
Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue is an animated buddy comedy that follows a pampered show dog and a street-smart alley cat who embark on a thrilling journey through the bustling streets of Las Vegas, across the scorching desert, and into an abandoned amusement park to find their family after being separated during a cross-country move.
It’s directed by Kevin Donovan and Gottfried Roodt from a screenplay by Jaisa C. Bishop, Bruce A. Taylor, and Kelly Peters from a story by Bishop and Taylor. It’s an international co-production between Canada, South Africa and the United States.
26 October
Sam Mendes (The Lehman Trilogy) directs Mark Gatiss as John Gielgud and Johnny Flynn as Richard Burton in the fierce and funny new play The Motive And The Cue.
In 1964 Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new Broadway production of Hamlet under John Gielgud’s exacting direction. But as rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide and the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel.
Written by Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,/i>) and designed by Es Devlin (The Crucible), the Evening Standard award-winning best new play was filmed live during a sold-out run at the National Theatre. Screening on 26, 27, 30 and 31 October.
The Met: Live In HD features 8 opera productions
The Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts, begins its 18th season of world-class opera performances from 5 October exclusively at select Ster-Kinekor and Cinema Nouveau cinema.
For the first time, Cape Town audiences at Ster-Kinekor V&A Waterfront will enjoy the live stream from the Met together with audiences around the globe. Each production will then enjoy two screenings at select Ster-Kinekor and Cinema Nouveau cinemas at a later date.
Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann opens the season and stars leading South African soprano Pretty Yende.
The new season includes three new productions: the Met premiere of Grounded by Tony award–winning composer Jeanine Tesori; Verdi’s Aida directed by Michael Mayer with American soprano Angel Blue, Strauss’s Salome with South African soprano Elza van den Heever in the title role.
Read more about the latest and upcoming films.
About Daniel Dercksen
Daniel Dercksen has been a contributor for Lifestyle since 2012. As the driving force behind the successful independent training initiative The Writing Studio and a published film and theatre journalist of 40 years, teaching workshops in creative writing, playwriting and screenwriting throughout South Africa and internationally the past 22 years. Visit www.writingstudio.co.za
