LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Giving you something a little different this week!
Film critic Josh Bell reviews his two new picks that stray from the mainstream.
This week's biggest movie releases are not really worth your time, so this week includes a couple of lesser-known picks to recommend. First up is the horror movie "The Power," now streaming on Shudder. In 1974 London, a young nurse (played by Rose Williams) endures a harrowing night at a rundown, mostly abandoned hospital. Writer-director Corinna Faith takes on a turbulent period in U.K. history, with labor strikes forcing nightly power outages. Add in a spooky story about a haunted hospital, with a traumatized protagonist experiencing pervasive institutional sexism, and it can be a little much for the movie to handle. But Faith brings the elements together effectively, making pointed social commentary, delivering genuinely scary moments, and giving her fragile protagonist the chance to assert herself. That's The "Power," now on Shudder.
Now available for VOD rental is the South African drama "Moffie." This BAFTA-nominated film chronicles the harsh conditions in the South African military in the early 1980s, when the country was still under apartheid rule and at war with neighboring Angola. Sixteen-year-old Nick deals with dehumanizing treatment during basic training for his mandatory military service, while also struggling with his sexual identity in an intensly homophobic culture. There are no easy answers here, either for the characters or for their fractured society. Director and co-writer Oliver Hermanus creates a sensitive coming-of-age story alongside a brutal but beautiful depiction of the horrors of warfare. That's "Moffie," now on VOD.
