New films to watch in cinemas this week: February 17 to 23
It’s showtime…
From action dramas to animated films, check out our handy movie guide below to see what’s screening this week.
A Banquet
Widowed mother Holly (Sienna Guillory) is radically tested when her teenage daughter Betsey (Jessica Alexander) experiences profound enlightenment and insists that her body is no longer her own, but in service to a higher power. Bound to her newfound faith, Betsey refuses to eat but does not lose weight. In an agonising dilemma, torn between love and fear, Holly is forced to confront the boundaries of her own beliefs.
Horror, Rating R15, 1h 37min. Book your tickets here.
Blacklight
Movie fans are getting another go of Liam Neeson action hero, as the actor stars in Blacklight as Travis Block, a government operative coming to terms with his shadowy past. When he discovers a plot targeting U.S. citizens, Block finds himself in the crosshairs of the FBI director he once helped protect.
Thriller/Action, Rating R12, 1h 48min. Book your tickets here.
Danger Close
In August 1966, in a Vietnamese rubber plantation called Long Tan, 108 young and inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers were fighting for their lives against 2500 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers.
Action/War/Drama, Rating R18, 1h 59min. Book your tickets here.
Gold
In the not-too-distant future, a drifter (Zac Efron) travelling through the desert discovers the largest gold nugget ever found. He must guard it against thieves amid harsh conditions and wild dogs while waiting for his partner to return. Set in an unforgiving landscape, Gold is a film about what motivates greed and the lengths people will go to secure themselves a fortune.
Thriller, Rating R15, 1h 37min. Book your tickets here.
The Ledge
A rock-climbing adventure between two friends turns into a terrifying nightmare. After Kelly (Brittany Ashworth) captures the murder of her best friend on camera, she becomes the next target of a tight-knit group of friends who will stop at nothing to destroy the evidence and anyone in their way. Desperate for her safety, she begins a treacherous climb up a mountain cliff, and her survival instincts are put to the test when she becomes trapped with the killers just 20 feet away.
Thriller, Rating R18, 1h 28min. Book your tickets here.
Wyrmwood Apocalypse
In a zombie-infested Australian wasteland, soldier Rhys has dedicated his life to tracking and capturing survivors for the Surgeon General in hopes of finding a cure.
Action, Rating R18, 1h 30min. Book your tickets here.
Aaraattu
An Indian Malayalam-language action film about Gopan, a real estate tycoon, who buys a large piece of land in Chittur for construction purposes. But on his arrival, he learns that the residents are forcefully evicted from their properties by an Andhra-based real estate mafia.
Drama/Action, Rating R18, 3h. Book your tickets here.
Poupelle of Chimney Town
A Japanese animated fantasy based on the picture book by Akihiro Nishino about a town that’s engulfed in darkness and smoke because all of the chimney used has obscured the natural sky. In this steampunk dystopia, a lonely young boy named Lubicchi (voiced by Antonio Raul Corbo) befriends someone dressed as a sanitation worker (Tony Hale) for Halloween, only to discover that it’s a costume: His new friend is actually a sentient creature made of trash which gets renamed Poupelle. Lubicchi believes in the stories his father told him about stars in the sky beyond Chimney Town’s perpetually smoke-filled sky. But Poupelle’s presence in Chimney Town has attracted the attention of the authorities, who consider the duo – and the idea that anyone would believe there’s a different sky – a severe threat to their lifestyle.
Animation/ Family/ Fantasy, Rating PG, 1h 41min. Book your tickets here.
Qamar 14
Struggling with social and cultural complexities, this Arabic film follows the lives of five couples who encounter ongoing issues trying to put relationships right.
Drama, Rating R15, 1h 20min. Book your tickets here.
Images: Movie Stills