Stuck on what to stream this month? Unlike other lists, we’re on hand to recommend a variety of films for every mood, from tear-jerkers to trailblazers. Here are our picks for the best films to stream in the UK this month.
The Silver Screen Classic
West Side Story (1961) dir. Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins
Steven Spielberg’s reinvention of West Side Story, and his first real foray into musical film, has proven to be a resounding success capped off by actress Ariana DeBose taking home the Best Supporting Actress award at the Oscars last Sunday. Spielberg’s effort moves the goalposts from Wise & Robbins’ 1961 original but never forgets its roots, and the latter is still worth its weight in gold. The film, itself an adaptation of a Broadway musical, focuses on young lovers Tony (Richard Beymer) and Maria (Natalie Wood) whose longing for one another puts their respective, rival gangs on the warpath. It is a story for the ages; as charming as it is tragic, and as warm as it is damning. Asides from being stunningly choreographed and featuring stand-out performances across the board, West Side Story’s camerawork is the stuff of legend. Wise & Robbins’ film is one of the greatest relics of movie decades since passed.
Available to stream on Amazon Prime
The Underrated
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) dir. Michael Showalter
Although The Eyes of Tammy Faye brought Oscar glory in Jessica Chastain’s direction, the film itself has been met with considerably less rapture. Numerous critics have simply argued that the 2000 documentary of the same name tells the same story with more dedication and focus. This may be true, but it remains somewhat unfair to gloss over everything that Showalter’s biopic gets right. The movie looks amazing, thanks largely to its now Oscar-winning makeup and hairstyling team, and Chastain throws herself at the role with almost alarming dedication. Behind the outlandish style, she completely loses herself in Faye, bringing her to life with mesmerising depth. Chastain proved victorious against the likes of Kristen Stewart and Penelope Cruz for their performances in Spencer and Parallel Mothers respectively, and one watch of the film will leave you in no doubt as to how she secured her first Academy Award.
Available to stream on Disney+
The Underseen
Asako I & II (2018) dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
With all the drama that unfolded on Oscars night, Japanese auteur Ryusuke Hamaguchi barely managed to get the recognition he deserved (despite learning his acceptance speech in English just for the occasion). Hamaguchi has delivered Japan’s first Oscars win in 14 years, with Drive My Car coming on the back of the equally impeccable Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. An earlier work from now one of Japan’s most acclaimed directors is Asako I & II, based on a 2010 novel by Tomoka Shibasaki. It focuses on Asako (Erika Karata) who falls in love with the mysterious Baku (Masahiro Higashide), who subsequently disappears. Two years later, Asako meets Ryohei, who looks exactly like Baku but has a totally different personality. A love story that refuses to tie up loose ends neatly, it has all the thought-provoking nuance that has marked Hamaguchi out as an outstanding director for quite some time.
Available to stream on MUBI
The Foreign Language Gem
The Hand of God (2021) dir. Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino has enjoyed a distinguished career, yet his most recent film has not received the same attention as other Best International Picture nominees like Drive My Car or Flee. It is not the director’s best film, but it still has so much to offer in the way of a semi-autobiographical, tender coming-of-age story. In Naples in the 1980s, Fabietto (Filippo Scotti) endures a family tragedy while pursuing his footballing aspirations. The event starts to lay the foundations for his career as a filmmaker, yet clearly much about the future is still uncertain. The film shifts tone with a deliberate, spellbinding patience that nonetheless feels like it is riding along the natural wavelengths of life. Put simply, it never feels overly fanciful or too hum-drum. Sorrentino instead crafts a wonderfully delicate and moving story that owes so much to his own experiences. A quietly wonderful movie.
Available to stream on Netflix
The Tearjerker
Encanto (2021) dir. Jared Bush & Byron Howard
It has become a cliché for Disney-Pixar films to triumph in the Best Animated Feature category, possibly at the expense of other potential winners. Since the category was established, only six Academy Awards out of a possible 21 have gone to non-Pixar entries. Perhaps Encanto was the predictable winner then, but a deserving one nonetheless. Pixar is at its best when it really nails emotional and thematic depth, and while Bush & Howard’s stunning adventure relocates the studio to a new spot on the map, this secret ingredient never changes. The animation, the music and the story are all something to bask in, with the end product proving to be one the most toe-tapping Disney properties in recent memory. There is a beauty, grace and passion to Encanto that will make you well up with that classic Pixar mix of sadness and joy. Just don’t talk about Bruno…
Available to stream on Disney+
The Feel-Good
The Lion King (1994) dir. Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff
Sticking with Disney (somewhat hypocritically), last Sunday was also a memorable night for Hans Zimmer. The legendary German composer picked up only his second ever Academy Award for his work on Dune. Zimmer’s first Oscar for Best Original Score came courtesy of The Lion King, the film that kickstarted Disney’s 1990s renaissance period. The music is just one of the most sensational elements of a family animation that barely needs an introduction; a Shakespeare adaptation brimming with imagination, pathos and warmth. Not long after Mufasa (James Earl Jones) welcomes his new lion cub Simba into the world, evil uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons) plots to steal the throne for himself. He succeeds, and in a bloodthirsty manner. In exile, Simba encounters new friends who help him prepare to take the fight back to Scar. One of Disney’s best-ever properties, they don’t come much more memorable and feel-good than this.
Available to stream on Disney+
The Trailblazing
CODA (2021) dir. Sian Heder
It was only a matter of time before a streaming service film won Best Picture, but you would have put good money on it coming from Netflix or possibly Amazon. Not from Apple TV+, which is less than two-and-a-half years old, yet the glory goes to them. More importantly, CODA is the first-ever Best Picture winner at the Oscars that stars predominantly deaf actors, and the hype surrounding its success has exploded. Ruby (Emilia Jones), the hearing child of two deaf parents, wants to chase her passion for music but is conflicted by a very real fear of abandoning her parents Frank (Troy Kotsur) and Jackie (Marlee Matlin). A revolutionary Oscars winner, CODA rests firmly on the shoulders of its cast and they deliver to an unbelievable extent. This moving, uplifting and vivid story reminds you of what a great movie experience should be like. An indisputable gem.
Available to stream on Apple TV+
The Transgressive
The Piano (1993) dir. Jane Campion
Jane Campion is now one of only three women to have won the Academy Award for Best Director. The Power of the Dog has led the way on critics’ end-of-year lists, yet her earlier work should be remembered for pushing boundaries in the way that it did. The Piano, for which Campion won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, is a textbook example. A speechless Scottish woman, Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter) is sent to New Zealand with her daughter and prized piano in order to marry Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill), but is soon longed after by one of Stewart’s friends, George Baines (Harvey Keitel). It is a haunting, sensory drama that toys with what exactly a story like this is supposed to make you feel. The unexpected is never far away in one of Campion’s crowning achievements; a film that leaves you reeling until the very end.
Available to stream on Netflix
Read More:
- Films To Stream In The UK In March 2022
- Films To Stream In The UK In February 2022
- Films To Stream In The UK In January 2022
- Films To Stream In The UK In December 2021
Words by James Hanton
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