Here is a round up of 2023 releases I have seen at home this month, other than on Netflix:

On Apple TV+

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Davis Guggenheim’s documentary is an intimate look at the life of Michael J. Fox, charting his rise to stardom and his life with Parkinson’s Disease. Fox is interviewed extensively and he is both funny and insightful. The clips from his work are really well chosen, often to illustrate his illness. Warm and moving.
Rating: 8 out of 10

Rented on the usual services

I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking)
In Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina’s indie drama, Kali also stars as Danny, a recently widowed mother who becomes homeless, and convinces her 8-year-old daughter, Wes (Wesley Moss) that they are only camping for fun while working to get them off of the streets. It is refreshing to see people at the fringes of society on screen as central characters in the story. It has a freewheeling feel that reminded me of Tangerine and The Florida Project, and features solid performances. However, a lack of focus and some tangents in the plot lessen the impact.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Alcarràs
The livelihood of a family of peach farmers in Alcarràs, a small village in Catalonia, comes under threat when the new owner of their large estate decides to sell the land so that solar panels can be installed. This is real slice of life stuff from directors Carla Simon and Sonia Castelo and writers Simon and Arnau Vilaro. It feels very authentic but it has no real story arc, which makes the two hour running time drag. However, the performances from a cast made up of non-professional actors who live in the area add to that authenticity, especially by Jordi Pujol Dolcet as the stubborn head of the farming family and Xenia Roset as his daughter, who makes a stroppy teen character more complex.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Other People’s Children
Virginie Efira stars as Rachel Friedmann, a now single and childless 40 year old teacher. When she meets and falls in love with Ali Ben Attia (Roschdy Zem), she bonds with his 4 year old daughter Leila (Callie Ferreira-Goncalves) which ignites her desire for a baby of her own. To start with, I thought I would struggle with this film as it seemed to be another French movie about how awful middle class people’s lives are. But, it slowly drew me in thanks in no small part to an extremely perceptive screenplay from Rebecca Zlotowski, who also directs impressively. The story goes in unexpected directions at times and ends on a particularly high note. Additionally, Efira is brilliant as the unfulfilled Rachel.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Law of Tehran
Usually Iranian films that are shown over here are thoughtful, low key dramas. Law of Tehran bucks that trend as it is a gritty, high octane, thriller following a detective Samad (Payman Maadi). As he tries to track down drug kingpin Nasser (Navid Mohammadzadeh), he gets involved in violence and corruption. The film starts off with a real bang with a terrifically exciting opening sequence that really grabs your attention. From then on, Saeed Roustayi’s roving hand held camera maintains the feeling of intensity as the plot twists and turns, with Maadi’s incendiary performance taking centre stage. But, Roustayi’s script, or maybe the translation of it, is a bit muddy at times, and credibility is starined a little once the detectives start getting locked up with the criminals.
Rating: 8 out of 10

Holy Spider
In the Iranian holy city of Mashhad., journalist Arezoo Rahimi (Zar Amir-Ebrahimi) investigates a series of murders of local street prostitutes by the so called Spider Killer, who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners. Ali Abbasi’s film is a step above most serial killer thrillers despite the predictability of the female journalist deciding to act as bait to catch the killer and get her story. The corruption and misogyny at the heart of Iran’s justice system is laid bare, and the way that the murderer’s family and friends justify his actions is chilling.
Rating: 8 out of 10

On Sky Movies

Blueback
In this Australian drama, Mia Wasikowska stars Abby, a marine ecologist who is despairing at the state of the ocean. When she goes back home to see her gravely ill Mum, she remembers back to her youth when she befriended a wild blue groper while diving, and how she took on poachers. As always, Wasikowska is brilliant but the film drags when she is offscreen during the lengthy flashbacks.
Rating: 5 out of 10

Dead Shot
This revenge thriller is set in London in the 1970’s. A retired Irish paramilitary (Colin Morgan) goes after the SAS officer who killed his pregnant wife. The best thing about Charles and Thomas Guard’s film is the depiction of the capital at the time, in its grimy glory, and of the period in general. The story, though, is highly implausible and ultimately generic.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10

On Amazon Prime and Freevee

Mindcage
Detectives Jake Doyle (Martin Lawrence) and Mary Kelly (Melissa Roxburgh) are trying to track down a copycat serial killer. To do that, they enlist the help of the person they are imitating, Arnaud ‘The Artist’ Lefeuvre (John Malkovich). There is little new in this film, borrowing liberally from Silence of the Lambs, Copycat, and, with the troubled lives of the cop partners, any number of police procedurals. However, a nicely sinister atmosphere is conjured up by director Mauro Borrelli with the help of Leonardo De Bernardini’s score. Lawrence is surprisingly good though Malkovich is pure ham.
Rating: 6 out of 10

The Ritual Killer
Detective Lucas Boyd (Cole Hauser) who is, of course, on the verge of retirement teams with a venerable professor of African Studies, Dr Mackles (Morgan Freeman, inevitably) to track down a serial killer who is performing the ancient black magic practice of Muti. This is an oddly disjointed movie to start with, with with one seemingly disconnected scene following another. Things improve when the plotlines come together but Hauser is pretty awful throughout. The ending is ludicrous.
Rating: 5 out of 10

On BBC iPlayer:

Y Swn
Lee haven Jones’s film is set in 1979 when the Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, has won the election by a landslide. The government’s cruel policies extend to breaking a campaign promise to establish a Welsh language television channel and a wave of civil disobedience follows. Gwynfor Evans (Rhodri Evan) threatens to starve himself to death unless the government comes good on its manifesto pledge. You might think that a film about the establishment of a TV Channel would be dull, but Y Swn is far from that.

The period is wonderfully evoked by director Lee Haven Jones and the story by Roger Williams is pretty compelling. There are some choices that I had trouble with, such as Gwnfor discussing his problems with Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King but things are kept on track by solid performances by Evan, Mark Lewis Jones just about concealing his accent as Home Secretary Willie Whitelaw, Lily Beau as a government employee and Annes Elwy as a protestor.
Rating: 8 out of 10