News culture 8 films to see at the cinema in January 2024: there are some great nuggets in the lot

Culture news 8 films to see at the cinema in January 2024: there are some great gems in the lot

Night Swim

We’re starting the year with a horror film (yes, it had to be there) which promises to be quite effective: Night Swim comes to us from director Bryce McGuire, who works in collaboration with James Wan (Insidious, Saw, The Conjuring) and Blumhouse (Sinister, Megan) for a dark and… aquatic story, imagine. When a family moves into a new home, the father, a former sportsman, recommends the in-ground swimming pool to help morally and physically: it was nevertheless without knowing that it contains a slightly evil mystery, with the presence of paranormal phenomena which do not bode well. We hope that the light effects and the plans will do the job, as will the general staging: it would still be a shame to drink in so early in 2024. Come on, we believe in it.

• Cinema release : January 3, 2024
• Director :Bryce McGuire
• With : Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amélie Hoeferle

The Hess

Selected in several festivals dedicated to independent films, La Hess definitely arouses curiosity: the plot immerses us in the heart of the city in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, while a young man, Vlad, sees his talent for sprinting gain unprecedented notoriety in the neighborhood. Yes, he runs fast, very fast in fact, and this ability would have a good chance of getting him out of the ghetto : the only thing is, the environment is not the easiest between crime, a complicated family or even the simple lack of money, which pushes him to do clandestine shopping and all that that implies. With striking photography and a real sense of staging, La Hess has a good chance of being a nice surprise and it is after all not for nothing that it was so noticed by certain cultural organizations.

• Cinema release : January 3, 2024
• Director : Alexandre Lemoine-courx
• With : XXX

Bonnard, Pierre and Marthe

Emeritus painter born in 1867 to whom we owe some slightly important paintings for international culture (Large dining room in the garden, The White Cat, The Bowl of Milk and many others), Pierre Bonnard is a big piece of French art and also deserved his own biopic. It is therefore Martin Provost (Séraphine,Where goes the night) who is in charge of this project where Vincent Macaigne will play the title role alongside Cécile de France: we will follow the rise of the painter and his personal development, his highs and his lows and especially his intimate relationship with Marthe, which definitely influenced him and his career. When the 3rd Art meets the 7th Art!

• Cinema release : January 10, 2024
• Director : Martin Provost
• With : Cécile de France, Vincent Macaigne, Stacy Martin

Poor creatures

Probably one of the most anticipated films of the start of the year: it must be said that the pedigree of the director, Yórgos Lánthimos, is quite splendid with films like The Lobster or The Favorite while the critics have already acclaimed this new project ! “Poor Creatures” thus depicts Emma Stone as Bella, a woman resurrected by a strange doctor and who will thus discover life and society with a certain madness tinged with innocence. Navigating between oddity, poetry and comedy, this feature film which has already made noise at the Venice Film Festival can also boast of having a five-star cast with Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley. Strongly!

• Cinema release : January 17, 2024
• Director : Yorgos Lanthimos
• With : Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe

Nicky Larson – City Hunter: Angel Dust

Basically, Nickey Larson is a manga then an anime, broadcast on television at the end of the 80s in Japan (in the 90s here): we follow the adventures of a former police officer who became a private detective in an atmosphere black and, let’s say it, quite stylish with many adventures. If the live-action French film released a few years ago left you wanting more, know that this mythical hero will return in January, once again under the guise of Japanese animation with City Hunter Angel Dust, a new Japanese feature film: Nicky Larson will investigate a strange technology capable of transforming soldiers into supermen and will come into dangerous contact with various organizations. Whether for a nostalgic trip or simply for curiosity, this new film looks pretty cool and we hope that it will offer a moment that lives up to the reputation of the cult saga from which it comes.

• Cinema release : January 24, 2024
• Director : Kazuyoshi Takeuchi
• With : Vincent Ropion, Akira Kamiya, Anne Rondeleux

Iron Claw

We have long seen Zac Efron as a romantic actor linked to the teenage audience of Disney series, but that era has long since passed. From now on, the actor tries his hand at much more varied roles: sometimes quite dark (“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” to name but one) or in specific themes, like here the wrestling of the 80s with Iron Claw, in which he will star alongside Harris Dickinson (King’s Man First Mission) and Jeremy Allen White (the hero of the excellent series The Bear). Together, They form the Von Erichs, a brotherhood whose particularity is to have all broken through in the ring together, becoming real stars of the discipline and of American culture altogether. A biopic that promises to be powerful, rather serious and visually polished… and that’s already not bad. In any case, the press already seems won over.

• Cinema release : January 24, 2024
• Director :Sean Durkin
• With : Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson, Jeremy Allen White

May December

A psychological thriller selected at the Cannes Film Festival with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore? Directed by Todd Haynes, the author of Carol (several times nominated for an Oscar) and many ultra-renowned works, having also received the Palme d’Or? This only bodes well and, let’s not be afraid to say it, even excellence. May December takes us alongside a famous actress who, in order to best prepare for the role of the person she will play, will meet and hang out with the latter. However, getting into the head of a woman with a heavy past who had already ignited the press decades earlier has consequences: we are obviously counting on the filmmaker to implement as many feelings as love, sadness, anger and fear through his visionary eye.

• Cinema release : January 24, 2024
• Director :Todd Haynes
• With : Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton

Argyle

Argylle is a film that gets a lot of attention and it must be said that its premise is quite original: we follow the adventures of Ally Conway, a novelist specializing in writing a successful spy novel called Argylle… and whose release is scheduled for real very soon, becoming one with the feature film! A mise en abyme which deserved to be highlighted: for the rest, the film promises to be an action adventure which takes up the codes of James Bond and Mission Impossible with an almost parodic tone, also relying on the performances of solid comedians like Bryce Dallas Howard, Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell… and even Dua Lipa. It’s punchy, it doesn’t take itself too seriously and it’s undoubtedly very entertaining: remember that the film will be released in theaters and shortly after on Apple TV+.

• Cinema release : January 31, 2024
• Director :Jason Fuchs
• With : Bryce Dallas Howard, Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell