Stuck on what to stream this month? Unlike other lists, we’re on hand to recommend a variety of films for every mood, from tearjerkers to trailblazers. Here are our picks for the best films to stream in the UK this month.
The Silver Screen Classic
Nosferatu (1922) dir. F.W. Murnau
A film celebrating its 100th birthday this month takes you back almost to the beginning of cinema as a branch of popular entertainment. Except one of the most important films of this early era of popular cinema was almost wiped from existence, courtesy of a copyright purge by the Stoker estate. But it survived, and just as well. F.W. Murnau’s loose adaptation of Dracula is one of the most important horror films ever made. Nosferatu is rich with iconic imagery and inspired creativity, particularly in its use of prosthetics and silhouettes, even today it harbours an unmistakable fear factor. As an exercise in paranoia and whipping up an addictive aura of blood-chilling suspense, there is nothing else from the era like it. And if you are ever lucky enough to catch a screening accompanied by a live score, then you will witness something very, very special.
Available to stream on Shudder
The Underrated
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) dir. Justin Lin
Just because a film is underrated doesn’t mean it’s good. It just means that it got more of a critical slamming that it deserved. The third Fast and Furious film, generally agreed to be one of the weaker entries in the franchise, falls into this category. When a teenager escapes the American justice system by moving to Tokyo, he becomes enveloped in the Japanese capital’s illegal drift racing scene. Initially he sticks out worse than Godzilla at a tea party, but soon starts to lay down some serious competition to the local racers. It’s evident script shortcomings aside, there is an undeniable corny fun to be had with Tokyo Drift, which proves far funnier than the filmmakers behind it probably intended. With the film now re-embraced courtesy of Furious 7 and F9, Tokyo Drift has recovered some pride from what was once a neon-coloured puddle of semi-successful shame.
Available to stream on Amazon Prime
The Underseen
Antiporno (2016) dir. Sion Sono
Japan’s most perverse, subversive filmmaker finds a new fire whenever throwing his creative weight behind a more obvious socio-cultural cause. Sion Sono’s 2016 surrealist mindwarp Antiporno is a colourful critique of sexual exploitation and the pornography industry. Specifically Japanese ‘pink film’ produced by Nikkatsu. By focusing on the inner turmoil and collapse of protagonist Kyōko (Ami Tomite), a young actor cast in a pornographic film alongside a more experiencec so-star, Sono brings out his typical flourish for the terrifyingly, distressingly absurd. The bright colours and initial energy betray how difficult the film can be to watch; a fascinating tug of war between pleasure and discomfort (although at a blissfully short 76 minutes, it remains digestible). Besides being a feminist unravelling of sexploitation cinema, Antiporno toys with the question of whether watching a movie is in itself the ultimate act of voyeurism.
Available to stream on MUBI
The Foreign Language Gem
Stranger by the Lake (2013) dir. Alain Guiraudie
A thriller as erotic as it is dangerous, Stranger by the Lake finds an intoxicating balance of desire and terror that ensures not a single moment of Guiraudie’s award-winning film is wasted. At a remote, lakeside touring spot for gay men, Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) falls in love with Michel (Christophe Paou), a passionate and attractive man who holds a love-fuelled grip over Franck even after he sees Michel drown another man in the water. A tense, bloody affair ensues soon after, and the result is one of the most acclaimed French films of the last ten years. Asides being stunningly shot, the tranquility of the beach feeling at odds with Michel’s insidious actions, Stranger by the Lake blends humour and heart in with its high-stakes murder plotline. This is a movie with plenty to offer in search of something provocative and beautiful,
Available to stream on BFI Player
The Tearjerker
Babyteeth (2019) dir. Shannon Murphy
Babyteeth is one of the most heartbreaking films of recent years. Milla (Eliza Scanlen), a seriously ill sixteen-year-old, falls in love with charismatic drug dealer Moses (The Society’s Toby Wallace). This places strain on the relationship with her mother (Essie Davis) and father (Ben Mendelsohn), who are already under pressure themselves and struggling to process the reality of their daughter’s condition. Babyteeth is tragic but also refreshingly realist in its depiction of family dynamics, never quite throwing support behind any of the parties concerned in favour of a more rounded, holistic depiction. Combined with several profound, deeply moving performances—particularly from Scanlen and Mendelsohn—the result is a story that overwhelms its own love with an inescapable sorrow. There are some uplifting morals hiding behind the tragedy, but even so there are few films out there more likely to leave you in an uncontrollable fit of tears.
Available to stream on Netflix
The Feel-Good
Big Trouble in Little China (1986) dir. John Carpenter
Both a commercial and critical flop upon release, Big Trouble in Little China is now a fondly remembered and endlessly entertaining cult favourite. When trucker Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) agrees to help his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) rescue his fiance, their adventure takes them to a mystical underworld underneath San Francisco’s Chinatown. There, they confront a sorcerer (James Hong) who is battling to free himself from an ancient curse. It sounds ridiculous, and it is—apparently too much so for viewers at the time. But today, it is rightfully viewed as a swashbuckling, energetic and funny tribute to B-movie adventures led by yet another starring collaboration between Carpenter and Russell. Its depictions of racial stereotypes are definitely outdated, albeit the film is a deliberately nonsensical satire of such problematic representations. As an absurd slice of 1980s entertainment, it will likely leave you grinning from ear to ear.
Available to stream on Disney+
The Trailblazing
The Searchers (1956) dir. John Ford
The Searchers pushes the traditional narrative boundaries of the Western and has had a profound effect on genre cinema. Few films from the era balance moral complexity so capably. Everything from Star Wars to the films of Martin Scorsese owe some debt to The Searchers, the greatest film from legendary director John Ford. John Wayne plays Ethan, who has to help his part-Cherokee nephew Martin (Jeffrey Hunter) rescue Debbie (Natalie Wood), Ethan’s niece, from the Comanche. Ford’s filmmaking career spanned several decades, but he never bettered The Searchers; a Western that still feels dated by today’s standards but shifted the moral, racial and nationalistic foundations of the genre in a way never seen before. Sight & Sound rank The Searchers seventh on their list of the greatest films of all time. It’s an essential watch not only for casual viewers, but for those inextricably fascinated with the history of film.
Available to stream on BBC iPlayer
The Transgressive
Love (2015) dir. Gaspar Noé
Love is another intoxicating, lewd example of Gaspar Noé’s filmmaking tradition. The film opens with mutual oral sex, and that very much sets the tone. Murphy (Karl Glusman) lives in Paris with his girlfriend Electra (Aomi Muyock) and the pair decide to have a no-strings-attached threesome with Omi (Klara Kristin) to spice up their love life. However, this one-off experience spirals into an unforeseen series of events, fuelled by equal mixtures of passion and regret. Love has some notoriety for its use of unsimulated (and often unchoreographed) sex scenes, and Noé does not hold back in his depiction of graphic sexual activity—in 3D, no less. Yet Love is also strangely warm and personal, slowing things down when it matters. This arguably makes it less interesting than Noé’s other films, but this balance of the personal and the provocative remains a fine showcase of his unique filmmaking ethos.
Available to stream on Curzon Home Cinema
Read More:
- 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
- Films To Stream In The UK In November 2021
Words by James Hanton
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