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[This story contains major spoilers from the Say Nothing finale.]

In his 2019 book Say Nothing, journalist Patrick Radden Keefe put forth a potential answer to one of the Troubles’ lingering mysteries: Who killed Jean McConville?

The author laid out a case for a conclusion that he came to after years of reporting: that Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer Marian Price fired the bullet ultimately killing the single mother of 10 and one of Northern Ireland’s “Disappeared.” (Price said in a statement after the release of the book that she “vehemently denies” the allegations.) Accused of being an informant for the British Army during the period of sectarian conflict, McConville had been abducted from her Belfast home in 1972 by members of the Ira and killed. After decades of searching, her remains were finally discovered on a beach in Ireland in 2003. Three years later, the police ombudsman for Northern Ireland released the results of an investigation finding there was...

As we are now officially in June, BritBox has announced their slate of new programming arriving this month. From beloved, returning police dramas to new series premiering for the first time. We have the complete list and have selected three of the most exciting titles landing on the service during the month.

In the United States, BritBox has just one subscription price. American Anglophiles can sign up for the service for just $8.99 per month. Not only will they have access to all of the new titles every month, but they will also get an incredible library of iconic series like, “Sherlock,” “Luther,” “Vera,” “Father Brown,” “Death in Paradise,” and more.

7-Day Free Trial $8.99+ / month BritBox.com What are the 3 Best Shows, Movies, and Specials Coming to BritBox in June 2024? “Changing Ends” | Thursday, June 6

Chatty Man himself Alan Carr stars in the semi-autobiographical sitcom that focuses on the comedian’s upbringing...

Today, BritBox, the premiere streaming destination for British television offering the biggest and best collection of unmissable British television, announced a dynamic slate of upcoming Original series.

Sharing a suspenseful teaser, BritBox announced that the thrilling new mystery Passenger, led by Wunmi Mosaku (Loki), will premiere in October. In the captivating screenwriting debut of actor Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch), inexplicable crimes haunt the fictional village of Chadder Vale, where perhaps more is afoot than meets the eye.

Barry Sloane (Revenge), David Threlfall (Shameless), and Rowan Robinson (A Haunting in Venice) also star in the atmospheric crime drama.

Summer will see the powerful return of gritty, impactful crime dramas, starting with the June 13 return of Blue Lights. A breakout hit in the UK, the Belfast-based series delves into complex local politics through the lens of a police drama.

Multi-bafta-nominated The Responder returns July 11 for a new season, once again led by Martin Freeman...

Warning: spoilers for Blue Lights series 2.

The message in the Blue Lights series two finale could hardly seem clearer. After six episodes of being assaulted, petrol bombed and shot at on their turbulent Belfast patch, police officers Grace and Stevie finally give in to their feelings and drive off into the night while Dolly Parton’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” perkily assures us that “Everything’s gonna be alright/It’s gonna be okay.”

Phew. Thank heavens! If there’s one thing Siân Brooke’s Grace and Martin McCann’s Stevie deserve in Blue Lights, it’s for everything to be alright and okay. He’s a widower who nursed his beloved wife through cancer; she’s a former social worker and single parent whose only son has moved away, and they both do a job so stressful it’s a wonder that they don’t spontaneously burst...

The cast and crew of Belfast-set police drama Blue Lights had less than a month of filming left on their second series in 2023 when they found out that their show had been renewed for a third and a fourth run.

“We were three or four weeks off the end of shooting season two when we got the news,” actor Siân Brooke tells Den of Geek. “I was so pleasantly surprised because it doesn’t really happen very much in this day and age, to have somebody support you and nail their colours to the mast the way that they have, it means a lot that they’re behind us.”

Blue Lights follows the progress of Brooke’s character Grace, with Annie (Katherine Devlin) and Tommy (Nathan Braniff), three new recruits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Grace is a former social worker, Annie’s a young local and Tommy...

Cillian Murphy obtained one of acting’s most coveted achievements when he won an Oscar for his leading role in “Oppenheimer.” But his award season run for the acclaimed Christopher Nolan film didn’t end with his big night at the Dolby Theater. The Irish actor went on to receive his home country’s highest acting honor on Sunday at the Irish Film and TV Academy Awards when he won the Lead Actor — Film category for “Oppenheimer.”

The ceremony honored the best Irish film and television of 2023, with Pat Collins’ “That They May Face the Rising Sun” winning Best Film. Other notable winners included Paul Mescal taking Supporting Actor for “All of Us Strangers” and Alison Oliver winning Supporting Actress for “Saltburn.”

Keep reading for a complete list of winners from the 2024 Irish Film and TV Academy Awards.

Best Film

“Double Blind”

“Flora and Son”

“Lies We Tell”

“Lola”

“That They May Face the Rising Sun...

Cillian Murphy, Kin season two and Paul Mescal were among the winners of the Irish Film & Television Awards 2024, which were handed out during a ceremony in Dublin on Saturday.

Lies We Tell, about an orphaned teenage heiress in 19th-century Ireland who is forced to embrace the dark legacy of her family, led the nominations for the movie portion of the awards with 13 and went home with three. It was followed by That They May Face the Rising Sun, which took home the best film prize, and Double Blind, with 11 each. Rising Sun is an adaptation of John McGahern’s novel about passion, war and migration, while Double Blind is a horror film about an experimental drug trial that goes wrong.

Among the lead acting nominees were such big names as Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Andrew Scott, Pierce Brosnan, Saoirse Ronan, Eve Hewson and Jessie Buckley. Murphy took home the best actor...

When Blue Lights debuted on BBC One last year, it was favourably compared with Line of Duty. The comparison made sense. Both dramas deal with drug-dealing organised crime gangs, and touch on the under-funded reality of PR and stats-led UK policing. Both love an armed response unit and a cliffhanger. They’re both filmed in Belfast (though only Blue Lights is set there) and take place in fictional police sections where the dialogue gets a bit ‘sit rep on the double o-b’ spilled-Scrabble-tiles at times.

There is though, a major difference between the two – and it’s not just Blue Lights being about frontline response policing (uniforms in patrol cars) and Line of Duty being about anti-corruption detectives (suits in undercover vehicles). It’s to do with warmth.

To listen to commissioners, warmth is what audiences are currently craving. It’s what put Richard Osman on the bestseller lists for his Thursday Murder Club books,...

Siân Brooke is back on U.K. screens this week as Grace Ellis in the BBC’s Belfast, Northern Ireland-based police drama Blue Lights season 2.

Blue Lights, about three probationary police officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland struggling with the general pressures of the job and crime and tensions in Belfast, has become a hit show for the BBC, which has already ordered seasons 3 and 4. One of the new officers is Brooke’s Grace, a single mother in her 40s who left her job as a social worker to join the police but must soon wonder if she’s made the right decision.

Season 2 debuted on BBC One on Monday night London time, airing weekly, with all episodes now already available on streaming service BBC iPlayer. The show is also available internationally on streamer BritBox International. The season 2 trailer (see below) highlights tensions and new challenges for the police officers.

Warning: contains spoilers for the Blue Lights series one finale.

When Blue Lights arrived in 2023, it felt like counter-programming to the news headlines. Real life was filled with reports of police corruption, brutality and deadly crimes committed under cover of the uniform, and here was this drama, offering an alternative.

Grace, Tommy and Annie were that alternative. New recruits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, they weren’t in uniform to abuse power or take greasy backhanders, they were there to help, and they had the courage of their convictions.

That isn’t to say their courage and convictions weren’t sorely tested by the reality of the job. As they discovered, policing a community riven by historical conflict is tough enough without MI5 doing deals with local kingpins that keep the drugs and crime flowing. Not to mention anonymous death threats and the violent loss of beloved colleagues.

The BBC has released the trailer for series two of the hit Belfast-based police drama ‘Blue Lights.’

Co-created and written by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson and produced by Two Cities Television, Blue Lights is an authentic, gripping and darkly funny drama about ordinary people doing an extraordinary job.

Series one, which aired in March last year, followed three new Psni probationary recruits as they navigated their way through their first few months in a uniquely complex place to be a response police officer. It was recently commissioned for two more series.

Reprising their roles in the forthcoming second series are Siân Brooke (Grace Ellis), Martin McCann (Stevie Neil), Katherine Devlin (Annie Conlon), Nathan Braniff (Tommy Foster), Joanne Crawford (Helen McNally), Andi Osho (Sandra Cliff), and Hannah McClean (Jen Robinson).

Also set to return are Paddy Jenkins (Happy Kelly), Desmond Eastwood (Murray Canning), Jonathan Harden (Jonty) and Andrea Irvine (Nicola Robinson...

Exclusive: The CW has rounded out the series regular cast of The Librarians: The Next Chapter. Callum McGowan, Olivia Morris, Bluey Robinson and Caroline Loncq join previously announced Jessica Green and guest star Christian Kane, who reprises his role as Jacob Stone, in the spinoff series.

From writer and executive producer Dean Devlin, The Librarians: The Next Chapter is a spinoff of the original TV series The Librarians, which followed the adventures of the custodians of a magical repository of the world’s most powerful and dangerous supernatural artifacts. The new series centers on a “Librarian” (McGowan) from the past, who time traveled to the present and now finds himself stuck here. When he returns to his castle, which is now a museum, he inadvertently releases magic across the continent. He is given a new team to help him clean up the mess he made, forming a new team of Librarians.

Fresh from his Academy Award win for best actor, “Oppenheimer” star Cillian Murphy now has a chance to claim the same honor at his local awards.

The Irish Film and TV Academy (IFTA) has unveiled the nominees for its 2024 awards, with Murphy going up against “Saltburn’s'” Barry Keoghan and “All of Us Strangers” star Andrew Scott in the best actor category. Elsewhere, Jessie Buckley (“Fingernails”) and Saoirse Ronan (“Foe”) are among those nominated for best actress, while Paul Mescal (“All of Us Strangers”) and Kenneth Branagh (“Oppenheimer”) are in the running for best supporting actor.

But it was actually Irish features leading the pack of nominees, with Lisa Mulcahy’s “Lies We Tell” landing 13, followed by “That They May Face the Rising Sun” and “Double Blind.”

The IFTAs ceremony will be take place on April 20 at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre with Irish TV personality Baz Ashmawy on hosting duties.

Nominations are out for the 21st Irish Film & Television Awards with Lisa Mulcahy’s thriller Lies We Tell leading the pack on the feature side at 13, and crime drama Kin heading up the TV fields with 11 (scroll down for the ful list of nominees). The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) will hand out its prizes on April 20 in Dublin.

Alongside Lies We Tell in the Best Film category are Double Blind, Flora and Son, Lola, That They May Face the Rising Sun and Verdigris. Each of those films also scored a mention for their directors.

In what was a banner year for Irish talent, there are several awards season notables vying for Best Actor as well, including Oppenheimer Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan and All of Us Strangers’ Andrew Scott.

The Best International Film race includes All of Us Strangers, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Poor Things, Saltburn and The Holdovers.

Lies We Tell, with 13, That They May Face the Rising Sun and Double Blind, with 11 each, are leading the nominations for the movie portion of the Irish Film & Television Awards 2024.

Lies We Tell is about an orphaned teenage heiress in 19th-century Ireland who is forced to embrace the dark legacy of her family when she becomes the ward of an uncle determined to marry her off. Rising Sun is an adaptation of John McGahern’s novel of passion, war, and migration. Double Blind is a horror film about an experimental drug trial that goes horribly wrong. Andrew Legge’s Lola, a science fiction drama set in 1940, received seven noms on Thursday.

Among the lead acting nominees are such big names as Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Andrew Scott, Pierce Brosnan, Saoirse Ronan, Eve Hewson, and Jessie Buckley. The best supporting film actor category, meanwhile, includes Kenneth Branagh and Paul Mescal.

And...

Stars: Kate Bosworth, Lucien Laviscount, Martin McCann, Thomas Kretschmann | Written by Malachi Smyth | Directed by Tanel Toom

Set about 40 years from the present day, Last Sentinel follows a platoon of four soldiers who are stranded on a military base waiting for relief. This world is now covered in water with only two land masses, who are now at war. Now three months past their duty time, the soldiers are wondering whether the relief will come at all, or if it is the enemy who will find them first.

There is plenty to enjoy about Last Sentinel. Right from the first few seconds you can see that it either has a decent budget or the small budget is used very well. I can only assume that much of it was shot at sea but even the shots where we don’t see the ocean, you really do feel like they are...

Last Sentinel is a film directed by Tanel Toom starring Kate Bosworth and Thomas Kretschmann.

Last Sentinel is one of those films that, unfortunately, will not go down in history. It entertains, just enough, but it never ceases to be, look, and behave like what it is: a film with a limited budget whose only appeal is to let us see Kate Bosworth again, who, within her limited role, does the job very well.

Movie Review

Last Sentinel is born as one of those films that, when they come out well, have a lot to offer, especially as a showcase for the director to shine, Tanel Toom in this case. He proves he knows how to do his job. It is a well shot film (given the circumstances), whose idea could not be simply better exploited as the script by Malachi Smyth was written.

Little action and a lot of tension,...

Kate Bosworth and Lucien Laviscount star as soldiers aboard an abandoned military base in a futuristic war-ravaged Earth – could their crew be the only survivors?

Starring

Kate Bosworth (Barbarian, Superman Returns), Lucien Laviscount (Emily in Paris, The Bye Bye Man,) Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong, Resident Evil: Apocalypse) and Martin McCann (The Survivalist, Marcella)

Kate Bosworth and Lucien Laviscount star in Academy Award® nominated director Tanel Toom’s (Truth and Justice, The Confession) Last Sentinel – an enthralling Sci-Fi thriller set in a futuristic, devasted Earth, that finds a squad of soldiers on an abandoned military base waiting for the arrival of reinforcements… or the enemy – whichever comes first.

Boasting show-stopping cinematography and an impressive line-up of talent, this atmospheric, nail-biting thriller had its UK premiere on digital on 24th April 2023, courtesy of (Yet) Another Distribution Company and 101 Films.

Set in the future on a war-ravaged Earth, four exhausted soldiers man...

The BBC has tasked His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne to pen a TV adaptation of William Golding’s seminal novel Lord of the Flies.

This marks the first time the novel will be made for television, though there have been two feature film adaptations — the first Peter Brook’s 1963 movie and the second made in 1990 by Harry Hook (above).

Sex Education producer Eleven is attached to make The BBC’s series, which was unveiled by BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore today at a Broadcasting Press Guild event in London. Several other announcements were also made (see below).

Writer Thorne is known for shows such as BBC fantasy series His Dark Materials, Channel 4 Covid-19 drama Help, Shane Meadows’ This is England and Netflix series The Eddy, feature films Wonder and Enola Holmes and theater productions including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Golding’s 1954 novel tells the story...

Crime dramas are rarely revolutionary – we often watch them because they’re comfortingly formulaic – but every so often you get a gem that changes the game. We saw it with Line of Duty, Happy Valley, and Luther – and now Blue Lights is here to make you sit up, stop scrolling and get invested.

What the detectives from the above shows all have in common is experience, but Blue Lights focusses on three fresh-faced officers on probation in Belfast, Northern Ireland’s most dangerous city. Annie (Katherine Devlin) is scrappy and impetuous, Tommy (Nathan Braniff) is bookish and a terrible shot, and Grace (played by Trying’s Sian Brooke) is naively optimistic about making a difference despite having joined the force in her forties after a career as a social worker.

The good news is that what they lack in policing potential, they make up for in instant likeability, and this...

Last Sentinel Trailer — Tanel Toom‘s Last Sentinel (2023) movie trailer has been released by Vertical Entertainment. The Last Sentinel trailer stars Kate Bosworth, Thomas Kretschmann, Lucien Laviscount, and Martin McCann. Crew Malachi Smyth wrote the screenplay for Last Sentinel. Poster Last Sentinel Movie Poster Plot Synopsis Last Sentinel‘s plot synopsis: “Set in the near future, unchecked and rampant climate [...]

Continue reading: Last Sentinel (2023) Movie Trailer: Kate Bosworth Leads Soldiers in a Fight against the Unknown in a Post-apocalyptic World...

"Why would they send us here... if there's no one out there?" Vertical Entertainment has revealed the first trailer for an intriguing sci-fi thriller film titled Last Sentinel, made in Estonia by an Estonian filmmaker named Tanel Toom. Here's the premise: set in the near future, a skeleton crew of soldiers is stranded at sea on an abandoned military outpost awaiting the arrival of reinforcements or an enemy invasion, whichever comes first. That's a good setup, I'm just curious where it's headed. Will someone save them? Will they kill each other first? (The most likely outcome.) What's going to happen to them... The film stars four people: Kate Bosworth, Thomas Kretschmann, Lucien Laviscount, and Martin McCann. I'm a sucker for these kind of sci-fi concepts that play with the ambiguous fear of "what's out there?" This has a few great "holy shit" shots in here, and I'm curious what this...

Exclusive: Vertical has secured Na rights to sci-fi thriller Last Sentinel, written by Malachi Smyth and directed by Academy Award-nominated Tanel Toom. The film stars Kate Bosworth (Along for the Ride), Lucien Laviscount (Emily in Paris), Thomas Kretschmann (Infinity Pool), and Martin McCann (The Informer).

Set in the near future, unchecked and rampant climate change has caused temperatures and sea levels to rise catastrophically. Only two large continents remain, and billions die during the mass migration to these higher lands. Surrounded by an endless ocean thousands of miles from home, a skeleton crew of soldiers stand as the last bastion, defending their homeland from an invasion by an enemy they have never seen, monitoring for signs of attack and prepared to sacrifice themselves for the cause. Their tour of duty ended 3 months ago with no relief in sight. Alone and uncertain as to what fate awaits them,...

Mia Goth is arguably the reigning queen of horror. Though 2022 saw the return of legendary final girls and the rise of a few new scream queens, no one dominated the genre quite like Goth. The London-born actress kicked off the year with a dual role in Ti West’s X and a show-stopping performance in the prequel Pearl as a young woman destined to escape her rural roots.

Goth shows no signs of slowing down as this impressive run continues into 2023 with the highly anticipated Infinity Pool, the latest slice of mind-bending horror from writer-director Branden Cronenberg. Goth stars in the film as Gabi, a young socialite on a luxurious vacation at an all-inclusive island resort. Seemingly on a whim, she invites fellow travelers James (Alexander Skarsgård) and his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman) to venture outside the grounds for a day trip that plunges the couple into a living nightmare.

Series

U.K. broadcaster BBC has acquired CNN‘s Primetime Emmy winning series “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.” The six-part series follows Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci as he travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country’s regional cuisines. In each episode, Tucci visits a different region or city of Italy, showing viewers how the diversity of Italian cooking offers a gateway through which they can glimpse Italy’s history and culture.

The show, which is produced by CNN and London-based film and television production company Raw, has already been renewed for a second season and will be available on BBC Two and streamer iPlayer from Feb. 27.

Tucci said: “It has been a dream of mine to make this show for many years and a great joy to make it with CNN and Raw. I am so honored that it has been acquired by the esteemed BBC.

Exclusive: Sherlock and Good Omens star Siân Brooke is to lead BBC One police thriller Blue Lights from the creators of The Salisbury Poisonings, with filming kicking off in Belfast.

Brooke will play Grace and be joined by The Dig’s Katherine Devlin and newcomer Nathan Braniff as three rookie police officers in the Northern Irish capital, with Grace making the decision in her 40s to leave her steady job and join the force. Just a few weeks into her role, she’s making so many mistakes that her decision no longer looks like a winning bet.

Brooke is best known for playing Sherlock Holmes’ evil sister Eurus in the final ever episode of the BBC’s Sherlock and she has also featured in Good Omens, Doctor Foster and as disgraced Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick in ITV’s Stephen.

Joining Brooke in Blue Lights are Game of Thrones’ Richard Dormer...

New neighbors can be a source of great anxiety. Maybe they’ll be extremely kind and friendly, coming over to introduce themselves and strike up a friendship that lasts years. Perhaps they’ll be quiet and you won’t even know they’re there. But they could be absolute menaces, loudly causing disturbances all night long and creating tension that makes you uncomfortable in your own home. What if, though, their daughter is the reincarnation of your tragically deceased child?

That’s the dilemma plaguing Laura (Andrea Riseborough) in Here Before, the feature debut of writer-director Stacey Gregg. While she will forever mourn the tragic loss of her young daughter, Laura has managed to create a daily routine with her husband (Jonjo O’Neill) and son (Jesse Frazer-Filler), moving through life in the wake of unimaginable loss. When Megan (Niamh Dornan) moves in next door with her parents (Eileen O’Higgins and Martin McCann), though,...

With a limited theatrical release on February 11th and a VOD release on February 15th, here's a look at the trailer for Here Before, directed by Stacey Gregg and starring Andrea Riseborough:

"Andrea Riseborough (Black Mirror) is spellbinding as the distraught mother, haunted by the death of her young daughter, who develops an all-consuming obsession over the neighbor's girl who she believes is the reincarnation of her child.

When new neighbors move in, Laura (Riseborough) is awakened from her mundane daily routine of errands and exercise. She becomes transfixed by their young daughter, Megan (astonishing newcomer Niamh Dornan). Megan’s parents Marie and Chris, initially don’t seem to mind as Laura offers Megan a ride home from school and an invitation to dinner.

Her husband Brendon grows concerned as his wife’s infatuation with the young girl spirals into increasingly erratic behavior. Eerily, Megan seemingly knows far too...

Saban Films has landed rights to “Here Before,” a psychological thriller starring Andrea Riseborough.

When the deal closes, Saban Films will distribute the movie in North America, South Africa and its global partner Defiant Screen Entertainment will handle Australia and New Zealand.

First-time feature filmmaker Stacey Gregg wrote and directed “Here Before,” which had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. Along with Riseborough, the cast includes Jonjo O’Neill (“The Fall”), Martin McCann (“Calibre”), Eileen O’Higgins (“Brooklyn”) and newcomer Niamh Dornan.

In “Here Before,” Riseborough plays Laura, a grieving mother who becomes emotionally affected by the presence of her new neighbors’ young daughter. The logline reads: “When a new family moves in next door, their young daughter, Megan, quickly captivates Laura, stirring up painful memories of her own daughter who died several years previously. Before long, Laura’s memories turn to obsession as Megan’s unsettling behavior begins to convince her of something supernatural.

Hunter Biden Pic Casts Actor To Play Joe Biden

John James (Dynasty) will portray President Joe Biden in My Son Hunter, a film focusing on his son Hunter Biden, who as previously announced will be played by Laurence Fox. Robert Davi (License to Kill) is directing the film. Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney are producing. Filming begins in Serbia this week and will last for four weeks.

‘Sentinel’ Wraps In Estonia

Altitude will launch sales on sci-fi thriller Sentinel, which recently wrapped production in Estonia, at AFM next month. Kate Bosworth, Thomas Kretschmann, Lucien Laviscount, and Martin McCann star in the movie, which comes from Estonian filmmaker Tanel Toom. Set in the future on a war-ravaged Earth, four soldiers man Sentinel – a remote military base in a vast ocean that separates two warring continents. They await the relief or the enemy, whichever comes first. Malachi Smyth wrote the screenplay, producers are Ben Pullen,...

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Tanel Toom (“Truth and Justice”) has wrapped production in Estonia on sci-fi thriller “Sentinel.”

The film stars Kate Bosworth (“Force of Nature”), Thomas Kretschmann (“The Pianist”), Lucien Laviscount (“Emily in Paris”) and Martin McCann (“The Survivalist”).

Written by Malachi Smyth (“The Score”), the film is set in the future on a war-ravaged Earth where four soldiers man Sentinel – a remote military base in a vast ocean that separates two warring continents. While they await their relief or the enemy, the simmering tension amongst them escalates when a mysterious boat drifts into range.

“Sentinel” is presented by Altitude Film Entertainment in association with Head Gear Film and Metrol Technology in association with Br/Arte, Tallifornia, Ichiban Films, Sentinel Entertainment and Vertical Entertainment.

Altitude Film Sales are handling international sales and will introduce the project to buyers at the AFM Virtual Market (Nov. 1-5).

The film is produced by Ben Pullen...

Lucien Laviscount, Martin McCann also on cast of Tanel Toom’s second feature.

Kate Bosworth, Thomas Kretschmann, Lucien Laviscount and Martin McCann have wrapped production in Estonia on Tanel Toom’s Sentinel, for which Altitude is launching international sales at next month’s AFM Virtual Market (November 1-5).

The UK-Estonia-Germany co-production is a sci-fi thriller set in a war-ravaged future, in which four soldiers man a remote ocean military base that separates two warring continents. As weeks turn into months, paranoia descends that tests relationships to breaking point.

The film is written by Malachi Smyth, who recently wrote and directed UK crime musical The Score,...

"Life is no fairy tale... Is it?" Focus Features has released an official trailer for the film titled Wolf, which recently premiered at the 2021 Toronto Film Festival at the end of the fest. This is the "high concept" drama starring the very talented actor George MacKay as a boy who believes he is a wolf. When he is sent to a clinic, Jacob and his animal-bound peers are "forced to undergo increasingly extreme forms of 'curative' therapies." However, once he meets the mysterious Wildcat, everything changes. Lily-Rose Depp stars as "Wildcat", with a cast including Paddy Considine, Martin McCann, Terry Notary, Fionn O'Shea, Eileen Walsh, Lola Petticrew, and Senan Jennings. When this premiered at TIFF, they didn't allow it to be screened for press, for better or worse. I'm definitely curious! MacKay is a tremendously talented actor and maybe he's doing something incredible taking on this tricky role. I just...

2021 SXSW Here Before Review — Here Before (2020) Video Movie Review from the 28th Annual South By Southwest Film Festival, a movie directed by Stacey Gregg, and starring Andrea Riseborough, Eileen O’Higgins, Jonjo O’Neill, Martin McCann, Lewis McAskie, Louise Mathews, Niamh Dornan, and Remi Shore. Crew Stacey Gregg wrote the screenplay for the Here [...]

Continue reading: Video Movie Review: Here Before: Andrea Riseborough’s Performance Stands out in Melodramatic Exploration of Grief & Loss [SXSW 2021]...

By the time Stacey Gregg’s cofounding gaslighting thriller “Here Before” zips its way into an overstuffed final act, audiences will likely have spent some time wondering how this could have been better. Perhaps a perspective shift, or if Gregg’s script started a year earlier or a month later. Instead, we’re left to engage with what is on the screen: a great Andrea Riseborough performance (as if she knows how to turn in anything less) and an undercooked story that often pursues the least interesting possibilities.

Set in an anonymous Northern Ireland suburb, “Here Before” Laura (Riseborough) and her family endured a terrible tragedy many years before, but they’re not really thinking about their lost daughter Josie when a new clan moves in next door, complete with the precocious Megan (Niamh Dornan). Megan is cute and sweet, and she gravitates straight toward Laura, much to the chagrin...

It’s easy — and understandable — for a movie about parents coping with the death of a child to slide into a glum depressive haze. Yet one granddaddy of the genre is neither glum nor depressing; it turns parental despair into something spine-tingling. “Don’t Look Now,” Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 classic of fractured anxiety, may or may not be a ghost story, but it’s most assuredly haunted. And you could say the same thing about “Here Before,” in which Andrea Riseborough plays Laura, a distraught mother in a small town in Northern Ireland who begins to suspect that her dead daughter has been reincarnated. Has Josie, who was killed in a car accident several years before (her father was at the wheel), reappeared as the new girl next door? Or is Laura making connections that aren’t there as a way to ease the impossibility of her burden?

The writer-director, Stacey Gregg,...

It’s hard to believe that it’s already time for the SXSW Film Festival once again, but here we are. For the 2021 iteration of the fest, SXSW is going virtual, which gives more people the opportunity to get to experience their brilliant lineup of films this year. As someone who is already well into my SXSW viewings for this year, I can confidently say that this might be SXSW’s best slate of Midnighters from top to bottom, and a few other genre and genre-adjacent films that are premiering in other sections are very much worth your time as well.

So, if you’re looking to check out some excellent horror and sci-fi cinema during this year’s SXSW from the comfort of your own home, here are 15 different projects you’ll definitely want to make time for. Oh, and because I included both How it Ends and Violation during my Sundance 2021 preview,...

Exclusive: German sales firm Beta Cinema has revealed multiple deals for BIFA-nominated psychological-thriller Kindred.

The UK feature debut, starring Tamara Lawrance (The Long Song), Jack Lowden (Fighting With My Family) and BAFTA-winner Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve), has sold to Sky Cinema for the UK and Ireland, Signature Entertainment for Australia/New Zealand and South Africa, Imagine Film for Benelux, Russian World Vision for Cis and Empire Networks for the Middle East. Beta will continue sales at the upcoming virtual EFM.

In Kindred, plagued by mysterious hallucinations, a pregnant woman suspects that the family of her deceased boyfriend has bad intentions for her unborn child.

Directed by Joe Marcantonio, the film was previously released by IFC Midnight in the U.S. Actor Lowden and producer Dominic Norris (Modern Life Is Rubbish) produce through their recently-launched Scotland-based production banner Reiver Pictures.

Also among cast are Chloe Pirrie (The Queen’s Gambit) and Edward Holcroft...

With most festivals moving full steam ahead, such as the recently wrapped Rotterdam and Sundance, the next two major ones on the calendar are Berlinale, which just unveiled its lineup, and South by Southwest, which has also dropped theirs.

Set to take place March 16-20, the 2021 Film Festival program has 75 features including 57 World Premieres, 3 International Premieres, 4 North American Premieres, 1 U.S. Premieres, 8 Texas Premieres and 53 films from first-time filmmakers + 84 Short Films including Music Videos, 5 Episodic Premieres, 6 Episodic Pilots, 20 Virtual Cinema projects, 14 Title Design entries, plus 30 Special Events.

“It’s been a year unlike any we’ve experienced, first marked by the cancellation of SXSW 2020,” said Janet Pierson, Director of Film. “We feel privileged to have been able to pivot to SXSW Online and present a fantastic treasure trove of programming, including a pared down and wonderful selection of films that we know will delight, entertain and move our attendees. SXSW...

Documentary music films about the careers of singer-songwriter Charli Xcx and late rock legend Tom Petty will headline this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, as the Austin fest has unveiled its full 2021 slate.

Charli Xcx’s “Alone Together” will be the closing night film about how she made an album over the course of 40 days in quarantine, while “Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free” will be the centerpiece film that uncovers new 16mm footage of Petty at work on his 1994 album “Wildflowers.” Rounding out the headliners for SXSW is the previously announced opening night film, “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil,” a YouTube Originals documentary about the aftermath of the actress and singer’s near-fatal overdose in 2018.

This year’s SXSW, now in its 28th year, is virtual and online after 2020’s festival was one of the first major events to be canceled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Way of the Wind

Terrence Malick turns to Jesus for what will stand as his tenth narrative feature The Way of the Wind (which was the recently announced new title of the project formerly known as The Last Planet). Malick has reunited with Hidden Life Dp Jorg Widmer and his cast consists of Geza Rohrig, Matthias Schoenaerts, Mark Rylance, Aidan Turner, Joseph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Douglas Booth, Tawfeek Barhom, Martin McCann, Ori Pfeffer, Shadi Mar’i, Makram Khoury, Numan Acar, Emilio De Marchi, Bjorn Thors, Alfonso Postiglione, Lorenzo Gioielli, Mathieu Kassovitz and Ali Suliman. The elusive Malick, thus far, has won both the Golden Bear (1998’s The Thin Red Line) and the Palme d’Or (2011’s The Tree of Life).…...

Shoring up at Sundance with five films in the past two editions Andrea Riseborough could once again be linked to the festival with Stacey Gregg‘s directorial debut. After about a decade of screenwriting, Gregg went into production in November of 2019 in Belfast for Here Before and the supporting cast includes Jonjo O’Neill, Martin McCann, Eileen O’Higgins, and newbie Niamh Dornan.

Gist: Riseborough plays Laura, who becomes captivated by Megan (Dornan), the young daughter of a new family that moves next door. She stirs up painful memories of her own daughter who died several years previously and before long Laura’s memories turn to obsession as Megan’s unsettling behaviour begins to convince her of something supernatural.…...

Film Constellation handles world sales on the Irish drama, which debuted at Toronto.

Modern Films has secured UK and Ireland rights to Irish drama Wildfire, which recently won director Cathy Brady a top award at the BFI London Film Festival (Lff).

The UK distributor plans to release the feature theatrically in spring 2021 after striking the deal with Film Constellation, which is handling worldwide sales on the film and is in discussion with buyers at the virtual AFM this week.

Wildfire received its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival before screening at the Lff, where Brady won the £50,000 Iwc Schaffhausen...

The BFI London Film Festival (Oct 7-18) is launching a film, TV and immersive content works-in-progress strand as part of its industry program. Scroll down for lineup.

The seven film and immersive projects featured in this year’s lineup are currently in production, post-production or near completion, and will be presented to an invited audience of international buyers and festival programmers. They all come from emerging filmmakers.

The showcase is taking place on 9 October and will be fully online as part of 2020’s virtual and physical hybrid festival. Clips will be screened from each of the selected projects followed by a short Q&a with the director and or the producer. Access will be by invitation only via a secure platform with two repeat screenings to accommodate international time zones.

BFI London Film Festival Director, Tricia Tuttle said: “The Lff has always been a platform for supporting new and emerging...

The BFI London Film Festival has added a new, annual works-in-progress showcase as part of its industry program, and has invited seven projects to participate, including two featuring “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” and “The End of the F***ing World” actor Naomie Ackie and “ZeroZeroZero” actor Andrea Riseborough.

The showcase features works made for cinema, television and immersive platforms by U.K. emerging talent and will be presented to an invited audience of international buyers and festival programmers.

The projects include psychological thriller “Here Before” by Stacey Gregg (“Little Birds”), produced by Sophie Vickers (“Surge”) and Julia Godzinskaya (“The Other Lamb”), starring Riseborough, Martin McCann (“Wildfire”) and Jonjo O’Neill (“Pennyworth”); and heist film “The Score,” directed by Malachi Smyth (“Nocturne”), produced by Matthew James Wilkinson (“Yesterday”), Ben Pullen (“Light of the World), alongside co-producer Isabelle Georgeaux (“Calibre”), starring Johnny Flynn (“Stardust”), Ackie and Will Poulter (“Midsommar”).

Experimental filmmaker Baff Akoto,...

The impending Brexit has pundits on television weighing the option of whether or not it will mean the return of a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland—something 1998’s Good Friday Agreement had more or less dissolved in the wake of the violent period of political unrest known as The Troubles. While some might think a development like that could re-ignite tensions between the sovereign republic and UK province, such thoughts would infer that those tensions had ceased or that the scars of what occurred had somehow faded away these past two decades. Many families impacted by that guerilla war don’t have the luxury of putting it behind them. Many of them have yet to stop running from the carnage left in its wake.

Writer-director Cathy Brady gives a voice to one such household with her feature debut Wildfire. In it she draws a young woman named Kelly...

London-based production, finance and sales company Film Constellation has come on board Cathy Brady’s debut feature “Wildfire,” which world premieres in the Discovery section at next month’s Toronto Film Festival.

The film centers on sisters Lauren and Kelly, an inseparable pair brought up in a small town by the Irish border. Their lives fell apart with the mysterious death of their mother. Left to pick up the pieces, Lauren is confronted with their dark past when Kelly returns home having been missing for a year. “An intense sisterhood reignited, Kelly’s desire to unearth their history is not welcomed by all, and the town is rife with rumors and malice that threaten to overwhelm them,” according to a statement from Film Constellation.

The film’s press and industry screening at Toronto is on Sept. 14 at 11 A.M. via digital access. The festival world premiere is at 9 P.M.

The UK sales outfit will be introducing the project to buyers at the Cannes virtual Marche.

Bankside Films has taken worldwide sales to UK writer-director Stacey Gregg’s feature debut Here Before starring Andrea Riseborough.

The UK sales outfit will be introducing the project and showing a promo to buyers at the Cannes virtual Marche running June 22-26. It has released a first look image [see above].

Here Before is in post-production after shooting in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and stars Riseborough with Jonjo O’Neill, Martin McCann, Eileen O’Higgins, and newcomer Niamh Dornan.

Gregg’s previous work as a theatre and television writer-director...

The Last Planet

In all likelihood, we’re perhaps being wishful thinkers suggesting Terrence Malick will be unveiling his next project, The Last Planet only a year after the long-gestating A Hidden Life was finally unveiled in 2019. Scant details have been revealed about financing, but Malick has reunited with Hidden Life Dp Jorg Widmer and his cast consists of Geza Rohrig, Matthias Schoenaerts, Mark Rylance, Aidan Turner, Joseph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Douglas Booth, Tawfeek Barhom, Martin McCann, Ori Pfeffer, Shadi Mar’i, Makram Khoury, Numan Acar, Emilio De Marchi, Bjorn Thors, Alfonso Postiglione and Lorenzo Gioielli.…...

Rosie Fletcher Alec Bojalad Nov 29, 2019

Calibre, Limitless, Cam and all the best Netflix thrillers to stream into your eyeballs right now.

You'd have to be a slightly odd kind of person to say you don't like thrillers. Nope! No thrills for me please, just lots of peace and quiet! Ok, peace and quiet is good too, but still. Thrillers.

Netflix is a wonderful haven of all sorts of content so we've scanned their offerings and picked out a list of the best thrillers the service has right now. We've tried to aim for a bit of a mix, so in this list you'll find comedy thrillers, psychological thrillers, sci-fi thrillers and horror thrillers - hopefully something for everyone. Everyone who likes thrillers, obviously...

Calibre

Compact Brit thriller which is way better than it looks, and almost too stressful at points to be actually enjoyable, though it’s brilliant nonetheless. Jack Lowden...