Entertainment: Netflix’s Bruised Review: Halle Berry’s Directorial Debut Lands A Very Heartfelt Punch

We’ve all thought it when we hear of someone’s misfortune: I wouldn’t let that happen to me. That’s precisely what spurs Ruth into action in this darkly comic thriller that’s in a world of its own. Melanie Lynskey tackles the main role as a nursing assistant whose life gets upended after her home is burglarised. Dissatisfied with how the police handle her case, she steps in to rectify the problem herself, along with the help of her oddball neighbour Tony (Elijah Wood.)

Lynskey and Wood are perfect as a mismatched pair of pals who veer into some crazy territory, all in the name of friendship. A seriously unique movie, that bends back and forward into various genre tropes, it riffs on typical thriller moments and injects them with shots of black comedy. Lynskey’s constant barfing during one scene will make you nod, and go: 'Yep, that’s totally what I would do.'

Encanto Voice Cast: Where You’ve Seen And Heard The Disney Movie Stars Before

With names like Stephanie Beatriz, John Leguizamo and Alan Tudyk, the Encanto cast is stacked!Below you will find a quick yet comprehensive list of actors who have used their voices to tell the story of a new Disney hero who makes the most of what life has given her and sets out to discover her magic gift to save her family and their enchanted home.

Charlie Kaufman’s oeuvre tends to venture into the stranger, less obvious parts of the human experience. I’m Thinking of Ending Things, his first Netflix Original, continues that trend. Based on the acclaimed novel by Ian Reid, the movie follows largely the same story. Jessie Buckley plays a young woman whose interest in her partner Jake (Jesse Plemons) is currently waning – as evidenced by the title – yet she reluctantly agrees to a visit to meet his parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis).

As you might expect from Kaufman, this isn’t even remotely like… well, Meet The Parents. A head trip that refuses to adhere to any semblance of normality, this 130-minute mind-boggler must be seen to be believed.

The cast is what draws you into this sprawling two-and-a-half-hour adaptation of Donald Ray Pollock’s brooding tale. Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgard, Riley Keough, Sebastian Stan, Jason Clarke, and Haley Bennett are but a few of the topliners lurking in this Appalachian mystery which on the surface draws inevitable comparisons to Fargo, yet its telling is entirely fresh.

While primarily concerned with the grimy comings-and-goings in two small towns in late 1950s Ohio, the film takes its time in unravelling its various threads. The plot bounces through time periods at a leisurely pace, kicking off with Skarsgard’s World War II vet Willard Russell returning home to wed Haley Bennett’s Charlotte. From there The Devil all the Time is led primarily by Holland’s youngster, yet still leans heavily on its batty roster of characters to tell a dark, uncompromising tale.

Halle Berry 'disheartened' after Oscars win

Halle Berry picked up an Academy Award in 2002 for her work on 'Monster's Ball' but admitted it did not open the door to more satisfying roles for her. She explained to The Irish Times newspaper: "“ was very disheartened after winning that gorgeous guy. I was sure the script truck would just back itself up to my front door. That’s what I thought would happen. Like: now I’m going to get all the great parts. But unfortunately for me, that was not my reality. I’ve been continuing to try to make ways for myself. Because it’s hard. I don’t often find great parts that I really, really love to sink my teeth into.

Fabrice Du Welz, the French filmmaker behind the blistering Calvaire, swings into action mode for this Netflix thriller. He enlists Chadwick Boseman, stepping outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as its triumphant Black Panther, as Jacob King, a South African who flies to Los Angeles at the behest of his sister, Bianca. When she informs him that she and her family are in trouble, he thinks nothing of flying out to check on her.

Arguably one of Netflix’s less showy Originals, Message From the King nevertheless boasts a solid cast (including Alfred Molina and Teresa Palmer) who elevate this above movie-of-the-week material. It certainly makes the most of its leading man.

Non-Netflix original available in US/UK

Following up a string of low-budget thrillers, Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin continues down the same path of brutal, human experience. Once again, with few bells and whistles, this quietly haunting drama opens with a down-on-his-luck man Dwight Evans (Saulnier’s real-life pal Macon Blair) living in his car, traumatised after the murder of his parents years before. While that circumstance could easily have spawned a moving drama, Saulnier pivots that premise.

It twists into a compelling revenge yarn, as Evans learns the man responsible is to be released from prison. Blair’s performance is what slowly morphs this startling, bloody thriller into a character piece dredged in questions of regret and pity. What’s the cost of seeking justice for our loved ones? Is it worth losing ourselves in the mire of vengeance?

Joined by Woody Harrelson and Game of Thrones' Michiel Huisman, Winstead plays Kate, an assassin who finds out she only has 24 hours to live after being poisoned. She decides to spend her last moments going on a manhunt through Tokyo and befriends the daughter (Miku Martineau) of a past target in the process.

Ignore the naysayers who say this one's simply another knock-off of Keanu Reeves' action franchise John Wick – Kate strikes out on her own, making for an engaging romp that's well worth a watch.

Imagine if you tried to log in to your digital presence one day, to find that not only were you locked out, but someone else, an impostor, had taken over your online identity. CAM revolves around that scenario, following the life of a camgirl named Lola (Madeline Brewer) who makes a living as a webcam model on a popular live girls site, racking up tokens and likes from her devout followers. Her hopes of hitting the site’s top ten are dashed when she wakes one morning to discover her profile has been taken over… by an exact copy of herself.

CAM is the extended Black Mirror episode you never knew you wanted. Brewer, who you’ll recognise from Orange is the New Black – or mistake for Anna Faris – is terrific as the terrified Lola, aware that something is drastically wrong and keen to uncover the truth. And this has some killer twists and turns as she delves deeper into the site’s seedy backstory.

We’ve all run through the scenario in our head: what would I do if someone broke into my home? Mike Flanagan’s taut thriller takes that premise and breathes new life into it, by casting Kate Siegel as a deaf-mute woman in that very predicament. Maddie Young is a novelist who lives by herself – well, she has a cat called B**** – with a friendly neighbour down the way. One night a masked madman appears at her back door, clutching a bloody knife, desperate to break in and make Maddie his next victim. Little does he know she’s got a lot of fight in her.

This ain’t your typical home invasion flick folks. With barely any dialogue, Hush is brimming with nifty concepts and ideas that make Maddie’s hellish night a fresh experience for audiences. Cutting back and forth between her and her killer, as she attempts to outsmart him, there’s blood, guts, and thrills galore.

This thriller sees Tenet star John David Washington as the titular American tourist, who is on vacation in Greece. Disaster strikes when Beckett causes a car accident that kills his girlfriend (Alicia Vikander), and he witnesses something strange in the aftermath. Things spiral further out of control, and a dangerous conspiracy involving a missing child begins to unfold as Beckett is pursued through Greece by the authorities.

Beckett is directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino and executive produced by Call Me By Your Name helmer Luca Guadagnino. While the film received middling reviews, the thrills, twists, and turns make for compelling enough viewing if you're looking to pass an action-packed few hours.

Who doesn’t love an “Oh no that seemingly-normal scenario has now turned utterly horrible within five minutes!” sort of movie? They’re perfect for wandering down all sorts of hazy moral roads, and Calibre sets out to do just that. Out in the Scottish Highlands for a hunting weekend, Vaughn and Marcus, two childhood friends plan to cut loose and enjoy themselves. Taking in the sights, and boozing it up with the locals for their first evening, early the next day the pair set out for the woods to try and bag themselves a deer. Yeah, it doesn’t quite work out that way.

Through your fingers or from behind a cushion – you’ll watch it one of these ways. Taut, well-paced, and tense as hell, the real payoff for Calibre is when you realise you’ve been holding your breath. Many of the major moments here are recognisable, yet this is so well-crafted, and with SUCH an effective sound design, you’ll be wracked by the weight of it all by the time the credits roll.

Non-Netflix original available in US/UK

What’s left to be said about the Safdie brothers nerve-shredding Uncut Gems? This tale gifted Adam Sandler the role of a lifetime that should have rightly landed him an Oscar. We’re nevertheless given a superb performance from the former jokester who plays Howie Ratner, a chatty New York City jeweller on the verge of scoring big. Of course, that’s always how it goes in the movies right?

The Safdies ramp up the tension through remarkably simple means. Howie balances a colossal gambling debt, with a missing rare Opal, along with a girlfriend, wife, and a bunch of debt collectors locked in his storefront. There’s no showy camerawork or discernable CG that contribute to the chaos, just good old-fashioned panic in Sandler’s stunning turn as the clock counts down on a frantic day.

Non-Netflix original available in US/UK

The Safdies' compelling knack for making you unable to look away from the grimiest, heart-punchingly mad stuff kicked off before Uncut Gems. Good Time takes one of the previous decade’s shiniest movie stars and takes him down a peg or two. Robert Pattinson plays Connie Nikas, a wannabe crook whose bank robbery aspirations go awry when his brother Nick (played by Benny Safdie) is caught and put into police custody.

The rest of the movie follows Pattinson’s last-ditch attempts to free his sibling, no matter the cost. While Uncut Gems received more acclaim, Good Time is equally as worthy of the same praise. Pattinson well and truly torches his matinee idol persona, throwing himself into the role of Connie whose goals and motivations appear sketchy at best. It’s a tense, taut thriller that’s all the better for its blunt approach to the lives of its struggling characters.

A Quebecois survivalist thriller that’s stacked to the rafters with knuckle-biting moments, no mean feat considering its brisk 83-minute runtime. This thing moves. It's as lean as the stiff, icy rabbits skinned and gutted by its doomsday internet star, Alain. A prepper readying for the apocalypse, Alain maintains his own 500-acre compound out in the snowy Canadian wilderness which is where he regularly runs workshops for those seeking the same lifestyle. Well, civilisation is on… the decline.

While the movie’s soft open introduces us to one of the workshoppers, Antoine, running through a series of preparation techniques with his wife and daughter, the movie belongs to its solid ensemble who aren’t afraid to get their hands messy and beards frost-bitten. This is an impressive debut by Patrice Laliberte, whose bloodlust finds gallons spilled long before the film’s explosive ending. You’re barely given time to register the film’s more shocking moments before you’re onto the next. Ambitious and fresh, this is one of the best thrillers of recent years.

Also known as the Sandra Bullock Netflix movie everyone watched that one Christmas. Two years on and Bird Box remains a solid thriller that packs a novel premise; unless you cover your eyes a supernatural entity will show you something that drives you insane. The kicker is that everyone is apparently shown a specific, bespoke image that causes them to immediately kill themselves.

Strange that this was a “holiday must-see” but it nevertheless scored big for Netflix. Bullock’s dedicated performance as Malorie serves as the backbone of the movie, which leaps back and forth between the present-day where she leads two children downriver on a boat and five years earlier when the apocalypse begins. It’s those earlier scenes that stuff in the real gasp-inducing moments as the regular world is beset by otherworldly nasties.

On their own, time travel and serial killers are two enticing concepts embraced so tightly by Hollywood over the years it’s hard to imagine a way to invigorate either. Director Jim Mickle (Cold in July, We Are What We Are) mashes the two into one plot-heavy thriller that runs circles around the audience and its weary detective. As a result, In The Shadow of The Moon plays like a mix of Time Traveler’s Wife, Seven, and Terminator.

The story opens with a young beat cop Thomas Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook) and his partner Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine) as they visit a string of bizarre crime scenes across the city one night. Lockhart makes it his mission to find the person responsible, no matter the cost, with the movie continuing to check in with him every nine years.

Scorsese’s adaptation of I Heard You Paint Houses, Charles Brandt’s book chronicling the life of mob underling Frank Sheeran, is LONG. Packed with a show-stopping cast, Robert DeNiro leads the show as the former truck driver who falls in with a Pennsylvania crime family led by Joe Pesci’s Russell Bufalino. This is a classic Scorsese pic, bringing in Al Pacino as Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa, alongside stalwarts Pesci and De Niro who shine in two of their best roles to date.

This is quintessential Scorsese with a twist: more people get shot in the face than you can count, and yet, it’s less concerned with the bravura of its mobsters. Unlike Goodfellas and Casino, The Irishman ruminates on the consequences of a lifelong dance with casual crime, how Sheeran’s commitment to violence not only destroyed the lives of his enemies but his own as well.