By John Corrado

New releases for the week of February 3rd, 2023.

Theatrical Releases:

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Knock at the Cabin (Wide Release): M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film stars Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge as a couple on vacation with their young daughter at an isolated cabin, who get held hostage by four strangers with a sinister request. Dave Bautista appears in a supporting role. The reviews are pretty good for what seems to be another positive step forward in Shyamalan’s career, and I’m looking forward to checking it out soon.

80 for Brady (Wide Release): This inspired-by-a-true-story comedy about four old ladies (played by Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Rita Moreno) who go to the 2017 Super Bowl to see their hero Tom Brady in action, is purely fluff, but the cast is clearly having fun, and it’s hard not to be won over by the film’s charms in the end. Produced by Brady, who also has a small role as himself, 80 for Brady is an undemanding, feel-good football comedy that kept me smiling throughout. (Full Review)

Close (Limited Release): This moving Best International Feature Oscar nominee follows two 13-year-old boys in Belgium, Léo (Eden Dambrine) and Rémi (Gustav de Waele), who share a close bond, before self-consciousness and bullying threatens to tear them apart. As I wrote in my review, director Lukas Dhont’s Cannes Grand Prix winner is “a tender, beautifully observed, and quietly heartbreaking portrait of young male friendship, that captures those fleeting moments of freedom before the harsh judgements of the world come barging in to shatter it.” At TIFF Bell Lightbox and Varsity. (Full Review)

Alice, Darling (Limited Release): This Canadian co-production is a psychological drama about a woman (Anna Kendrick) trying to break free from her emotionally abusive partner while on a cottage getaway with her friends. The supporting characters are paper thin and the film feels underdeveloped in places, but Kendrick is very good in the titular role. If you’re going to watch it, do it for her. In select theatres and on VOD. (Full Review)

More Releases: Million Dollar Pigeons (Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema), The Elephant Mother (Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema), Erin’s Guide to Kissing Girls (Carlton Cinema)

Streaming Releases:

Skinamarink (Shudder): This viral horror sensation from Canadian director Kyle Edward Ball is now available to stream exclusively on Shudder, following an impressive run in theatres where it pulled in $1.9 million on a minuscule $15,000 budget. It’s an interesting exercise in experimental filmmaking, that breaks free from a conventional narrative to instead offer a purely experiential piece of cinema that is meant to evoke the uniquely eery feeling of waking up in the middle night as a child and exploring the dark house. Worth checking out for adventurous genre fans. (Full Review)

More Releases: Alice, Darling (Digital/VOD), Erin’s Guide to Kissing Girls (Digital/VOD), True Spirit (Netflix), The Estate (Prime Video), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney+), Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (Prime Video)