A French comedy, an American drama by a Belgian director and a Spanish detective by an Iranian question the national identity of our own families.
1. “Labyrinths of the past”
A big, throaty-Spanish celebration – a wedding – is overshadowed by the kidnapping of the daughter of the main characters who came from Argentina. They will have to return to the shameful episodes of the past and call on the help of the ex-husband of the heroine, a Spaniard, with his bullfighter directness. Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi explores relationships in the most vulnerable “cell of society”. He did this in his Iranian works “Nader and Simin’s Divorce” and “The Salesman” and in “Secrets of the Past” filmed in France. Now the family drama has become a detective story in Spanish. But there is less national in it than painful family.
Directed by: Asghar Farhadi
Cast: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darin
At the box office from February 7th
2. “Beautiful boy”
Steve Carell is back with an Oscar nomination. Timothee Chalamet deservedly entered the list of nominees last year. And Maura Tierney, who played in the series “Lovers”, was remembered for her outstanding, also Oscar-winning role in “The Boy” … The main burden in the drama about a broken family, whose only son became a drug addict, lies with the actors. On the attempts of the hero Carell to find out what made his boy a slave to “meth”, on the sober hopelessness of Tierney, on the confessions of the hero Chalamet about the inner emptiness. They make “Boy” a film about love, which is not destroyed.
Directed by: Felix van Groeningen
Cast: Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney
In theaters from 24 January
3. “Teeth, pee and go to bed!”
French “Crisis”, “Three Men and a Baby in a Cradle”, American “Family Man” and “Magnificent Scam” – these are just a few examples of a movie plot about a man who is not inclined to fatherhood, but suddenly finds himself in this role of dad. And in this sense, “Teeth …” is not original. The bachelor shares a Parisian apartment with a friend, but he leaves for the USA and finds a replacement for himself – a beautiful brown-haired woman. And too late it turns out that she has a “burden” – two kids … What is original here is the realistic reaction of the hero – he declares war on slobbery family values.
Directed by: Emmanuel Gilibert
Cast: Arnaud Ducret, Louise Bourgoin
In theaters from 31 January