PLANNING ON HEADING out to the cinema this weekend?

There are a few new movies out, but which is a must-watch, and are there any you should avoid?

We take a look.

Raw

What we know

A vegetarian teenager finds herself with a sudden taste for blood and flesh in this horror from French director Julia Ducournau. (I couldn’t even bring myself to watch the trailer, so be warned).

What the critics say

• “Only a handful of foreign-language films without marquee names cross over to cult success in English-speaking territories each year. This deserves to be one of the handful, and will be aided by its genre: Good horror doesn’t need established stars.” – Variety
• “The film gained an unfortunate reputation as a gross-out cannibal shocker on the festival circuit, and while that categorization is not entirely, technically incorrect—this is a piece of body horror, and an intensely visceral one—it detracts from the striking imagery and layered symbolism of Ducournau’s uncommonly assured debut feature.” – The AV Club

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 7.7/10
• IMDB: 7.3/10

A Dark Song

What we know

Liam Gavin directs this occult horror about a mother (played by Catherine Walker) whose son was murdered. She teams up with Joseph (Steve Oram) to take part in a ritual to help her make contact with her child.

What the critics say

• “In a hugely accomplished feature debut, director Liam Gavin gradually builds this ambiguous, claustrophobic sense of dread to genuinely visceral levels. Walker and Oram are both superb, and never falter in navigating the movie’s mixture of the ordinary and the uncanny. ” – Scannáin
• “With its subtle allusions to creepy classics such as Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Gavin’s debut has aspirations beyond its reach. Even so, it is a classy effort throughout, from cinematographer Cathal Watters’ beautiful vistas of the rugged Welsh landscape to Ray Harman’s spare, brooding, dread-filled score.” – Hollywood Reporter 

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 7.6/10
• IMDB: 7.2/10

A Quiet Passion

What we know

Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) plays the famed poet Emily Dickinson, in a film about her life.

What the critics say

• “Above all, though, it is Davies’ ability to invest even the most apparently-humdrum moments with some form of intense radiance that sustains his film. Every shot is beautifully composed and lit – as we have come to expect – and the actors deliver every line with absolute conviction.” – The Guardian
• “As the film shows, she would write her poems in the relative solitude of the dead of night, spend much of her later life locked away in her room and of course, never marry.  A Quiet Passion is a mediation of the how a devotion to one’s art, passion and core values can come at the cost of happiness and real fulfilment.”- Headstuff

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 7.3/10
• IMDB: 7.3/10

Which one would you go see first?

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