Leave The World Behind (M18)
138 minutes, Netflix, 4 stars
A weekend family getaway to New York’s Long Island is disrupted by a middle-of-the-night knock at the cabin: two black strangers claiming to be owners of the luxe Airbnb are at the door, seeking shelter from a city-wide blackout.
A testy Julia Roberts and genial Ethan Hawke play the parents to a teen boy (Charlie Evans) and girl (Farrah Mackenzie), opposite Mahershala Ali and Myha’la Herrold as the unexpected father-daughter arrivals.
The acting is top-notch, including Kevin Bacon’s cameo as a survivalist they seek out for help in their desperation. A mysterious cyber attack has crippled their phones and Wi-Fi.
Director Sam Esmail, creator of the techno-thriller series Mr Robot (2015 to 2019), adapts American author Rumaan Alam’s bestseller of the same title, published in 2020, during the pandemic.
Fittingly, Esmail’s adaptation is foremost a paranoid chamber drama of two families isolated together by an unfolding global crisis.
Tiger Stripes (PG13)
95 minutes, 4 stars
Malaysian film-maker Amanda Nell Eu’s debut feature is rooted in the attitudes and beliefs of her homeland’s rural community.
Twelve-year-old Zaffan (Zafreen Zairizal) is an ordinary girl. When puberty arrives, her friends and family treat her differently, though the pain of leaving her childhood behind is nothing compared with the strange physical and mental transformations to follow.
Zaffan, scared and alone, suffers through the worst moments of her life. She receives small acts of kindness from adults and friends, but what she gets most from them is shaming. Her body is polluted, therefore she must atone accordingly.
Winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the film displays Eu’s fondness for lo-fi practical effects and body horror, while first-time actress Zafreen portrays her character’s fear and confusion with affecting clarity.
Twilight 15th Anniversary Screening
Halloween might be over, but fans of young-adult romantic fantasy film Twilight (2008, PG, 122 minutes) have something extra to celebrate.
The event includes a pre-screening quiz and a best-dressed contest, with a Projector gift card worth $50 awarded to the winner of each competition.
Adapted from Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling 2005 novel of the same name, the film was the first of a five-part series detailing the love affair of human teen Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). He is torn between his affection for Bella and his fear of hurting her because of his superhuman strength and lust for blood.
Where: 05-01 Cineleisure, 8 Grange Road
MRT: Somerset
When: Dec 16, 7.15pm
Tickets: $18 for standard ticket prices
Info: theprojector.sg/films-and-events/twilight
