It’s that time of year again, when studios, hoping for awards-season glory, release dozens of the best films of the year within a matter of mere weeks. Following a somewhat cautious 2021, this year promises a bumper crop (with no shortage of excellent choices screening already), and even die-hard moviegoers might find themselves overwhelmed by the onslaught. Fortunately, the good folks at Independent Film Festival Boston have you covered: starting tonight and continuing through Tuesday, the IFFBoston’s Fall Focus series will bring preview showings of some of the year’s most anticipated offerings to the big screen at the Brattle. Thanks to the festival’s always-impeccable curation it’s tough to go wrong, but here are some of the Hassle’s picks in case you need help narrowing your own fall focus!
Women Talking (dir. Sarah Polley)
The opening night selection is a deceptively timely film from actor-turned-director Sarah Polley, about an all-female clan of Mennonites (including Frances McDormand, Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, and Claire Foy) plagued by a rash of abuses. The Hassle’s own Nick Perry caught it at NYFF, and calls it “stark, brutal, and blunt, so incredibly blunt, with moments of tenderness and humor punctuating the overwhelming circumstance.”
Screens Thursday, 10/27, 8:00pm
Nanny (dir. Nikyatu Jusu)
A Senegalese immigrant (Anna Diop) takes a job caring for the child of a wealthy Manhattan couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector), only to find herself grappling with homesickness, the family’s domestic squabbles– and a sinister, paranormal entity which may or may not be haunting her dreams.
Screens Friday, 10/28, 9:30pm
Broker (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda)
The director of the irrepressible Palme d’Or-winner Shoplifters joins forces with Parasite’s Song Kang-ho to tell the offbeat story of a renegade black-market adoption broker and a young mother who insists on joining the process to make sure her baby is sold to a good home.
Screens Saturday, 10/29, 6:00pm
Saint Omer (dir. Alice Diop)
The narrative debut from acclaimed documentarian Alice Diop (We), Saint Omer is a courtroom drama about a novelist (Kayije Kagame) studying the case of a young woman accused of leaving her child for dead. Nick Perry raved about the film in his NYFF dispatch, calling it “One of the best movies I’ve seen this year.”
Screens Sunday, 10/30, 2:30pm
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (dir. Rian Johnson)
Like most, we loved Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, a delightfully inventive murder-mystery-comedy which packed moviehouses from Thanksgiving of 2019 all the way up to that thing that happened in March of 2020. Regrettably, Netflix is confining this follow-up to a one-week “preview” theatrical run late next month preceding its Christmas streaming debut. If you want to beat the crowds and see Benoit Blanc on the big screen, this may be your best option.
Screens Monday, 10/31, 7:00pm
IFFBoston’s Fall Focus series runs from Thursday, 10/27 through Tuesday, 11/1. For tickets and full schedule, click here.
