The 10 movies to check out in May

By Paul Byrnes

Movies to see in May include (from left) Marlowe, Renfield and Book Club: The Next Chapter.Credit:Madman Films, Universal Studios, Fifth Season

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It’s a good month for detectives – hard-boiled, soft-centred, or gum-shoed. Most curious is a new film about Philip Marlowe, but based on a book by Irish writer John Banville, rather than Raymond Chandler. With Neil Jordan directing Liam Neeson (they did Michael Collins), it’s more of an Irish Marlowe, although still set in LA in the ’50s.

Ben Affleck and Simon Baker are also playing shamuses, although on different continents. Limbo, with Baker in the Australian desert, looks astonishing in black and white.

The rise of evergreen golden girl movies continues: Diane Keaton and Jane Fonda reunite with Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen for the Book Club sequel, set in Italy.

The kids are back in school, so there’s little for littlies, but lovers of horror comedy will welcome Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as Renfield – his ever-so-humble servant and lord of the tasty flies. There will be blood. And cheese.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.

Masquerade

Nicolas Bedos wrote this French Riviera comedy as a novel, so the story is complicated. It riffs on the plot of Sunset Blvd and To Catch a Thief, as two young grifters (Marine Vacth and Pierre Niney) fall in love while plotting to swindle two rich seniors. One is an ageing actress played by Isabelle Adjani, channelling Gloria Swanson; the other an estate agent played by Francois Cluzet. Underneath all the capers, it’s a film about mad and ruthless love, of course – quite a good one. Opens May 4.

The Survival of Kindness

Dutch-born Australian auteur Rolf de Heer (Charlie’s Country, Ten Canoes) calls this his COVID-nimble film – an attempt to keep working during the pandemic using only a small crew, shooting outside and staying flexible enough to go where the spirit leads. The result is a fable set partly in the desert, with Congolese refugee Mwajemi Hussein playing a woman who breaks out of a cage. There is no intelligible dialogue, but the images look spectacular. When de Heer dreams, best to shut up and watch. Opens May 4.

Book Club: The Next Chapter

Continuing the golden girls revival, we have Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen and Jane Fonda taking the success of the first movie ($US104 million) to Italy, for a long overdue road trip. There are some good lines in the trailer, so let’s hope they’re not the only ones. Andy Garcia, Don Johnson and Craig T Nelson are back, with the addition of perennial ladies man Giancarlo Giannini. Expect naughty but nice. Opens May 11.

November

Jean Dujardin leads a good French cast (Sandrine Kiberlain, Jeremie Renier) in a dense procedural that follows the cops in the five days after the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015. These were the attacks on the Bataclan concert venue, a street of cafes in central Paris, and the outside of the Stade de France. In all, 130 people died and more than 400 were injured. This is a fictionalised take, but it appears to have been well researched (suggesting that it might be close to reality). Don’t expect much subtle analysis of the why; this is more about the how and the who, done at frenetic pace. Opens May 11.

Hypnotic

Detective Ben Affleck is on the trail of the bad guys who kidnapped his daughter, except that his sense of reality is seriously skewed. Robert Rodriguez wrote this script 20 years ago, then Max Borenstein rewrote it. Rodriguez still directs, so no one would expect a straight treatment of what appears to be a basic sci-fi thriller. The twist is in the title. Alice Braga tells Affleck to look into her eyes. It might be a routine actioner, but you never can tell with Rodriguez. Opens May 11.

The Blue Caftan

Moroccan actress and director Maryam Touzani (Adam) tackles a daring story here: the love between two Moroccan men. A young man comes to work as an apprentice in a kaftan shop run by a husband and wife. The two men feel an immediate attraction. This film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes last year and came away with the jury prize. It was also Morocco’s nominee for best international film at the Oscars. Opens May 18.

Limbo

Indigenous writer/director Ivan Sen (Mystery Road, Goldstone) continues his journey into the heart of Australian darkness with this detective story shot in Coober Pedy. It’s in widescreen and appears to be stunningly photographed in black and white by Sen. An almost unrecognisable Simon Baker plays a detective inquiring into a 20-year-old cold case, the murder of an Indigenous woman. The cast also includes Rob Collins and Natasha Wanganeen. Opens May 18.

Marlowe

Did you hear the one about the Irish Philip Marlowe? No, I’m serious – this has Liam Neeson as Raymond Chandler’s famous detective, but it’s based on a book by Irish literary giant John Banville. Neil Jordan returns to direct after spending more than a decade in television. Bog noir, then? Diane Kruger and Jessica Lange star, Neeson brings the biff and Jordan gives it the full moody Los Angeles 1950s look. Smoke gets in your eyes. Can you ever look back? Hell yes. Opens May 18.

Quant

This looks groovy. Mary Quant having only recently left us, this is a timely documentary about her enormous influence on fashion – not just in Britain in the 1960s, but worldwide. She was cheeky, daring and original; the right person at the right time. The director is Sadie Frost, herself well-known as an actress and fashion designer. She’s also the wife of Jude Law. This is her first feature documentary. Opens May 18.

Renfield

Lovers of Bram Stoker and the original Dracula will recall that Renfield was Dracula’s fly-eating minion, a snivelling servant who howled at the moon from his padded cell, awaiting his master’s instructions. Of course that creature should have his own movie! At least the catering budget would have been lean. Nicholas Hoult plays the pale servant, with Nicolas Cage as the Carpathian neck-biter, in what looks to be a fairly cheesy but funny romp through Gothic movie nostalgia. Directed by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War). Opens May 25.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.

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