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At Locarno Film Festival on Friday, Emma Thompson will be honored and her latest film, Brian Kirk’s thriller “The Dead of Winter,” will have its world premiere. Variety spoke to the co-chiefs of Augenschein, which produced the film alongside Stampede Studios, about its slate of star-led, director-driven English-language films.

Locarno has a special place in the hearts of Augenschein’s founders, Jonas Katzenstein and Maximilian Leo, as it was there that their company first demonstrated that it had undergone a transformation.

Brian Kirk’s thriller “The Dead of Winter” world premieres Friday at the Locarno Film Festival. Courtesy of Augenschein

Up to that point, the German production company was known for foreign-language arthouse films, such as Berlin Silver Bear winner “Ana, My Love,” but all that changed with the 2019 Locarno launch of Patrick Vollrath’s plane hijacking thriller “7500,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. From that point on, English-language, director-driven, star-led,...

Sam Claflin has worked on several benchmark projects, including the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. However, there is one film that made Claflin a household name, and that was his 2016 tentpole, Me Before You.

Based on Jojo Moyes’s book, the film became a sensation when it was released in 2016. Perched on the crackling chemistry between the 38-year-old and Emilia Clarke, Me Before You became a box office success despite receiving mixed critical reviews.

Me Before You became quite popular among the young fans, which later inspired Netflix to acquire the Ott distribution rights of the film. However, not many years later, the streaming giant let go of the film, but let Clafin’s lower-rated film Love Wedding Repeat still stay on the platform.

Exploring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke’s starrer Me Before You‘s box office success!

Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke shared the screen for the 2016 romantic drama,...

Exclusive: Yale Entertainment, the independent production company of Jordan Yale Levine and Jordan Beckerman, has filed for bankruptcy, Deadline has learned.

“Unfortunately, that is true – Yale Entertainment has filed for bankruptcy,” the founders said in a statement to Deadline. “The climate for making independent films has become increasingly difficult – with the pandemic, the industry-wide strikes, and a major shift in the independent film marketplace. We’ve been very fortunate to have collaborated with some extremely talented creatives, and we’re grateful to everyone that has been a part of Yale’s journey.”

No word yet on what Levine and Beckerman will do next.

Levine founded Yale Entertainment in 2010, with an eye toward producing high-quality, filmmaker-driven features at conservative budgets, maximizing the possibility for creative and commercial success. Beckerman joined as a full-time partner and producer in 2017. The company is best known for its work on the cult hit action thriller Becky,...

‘Islands,’ Jan-Ole Gerster’s thriller that first bowed in the Berlinale earlier this year to critical acclaim, has secured key distribution deals for Protagonist Pictures and augenschein Sales.

The film — Sam Riley, Stacy Martin and Jack Farthing — had already sold to Greenwich Entertainment for the U.S., as Variety announced earlier this month.

Additional deals now include BFI Distribution, which took rights for U.K. and Ireland, Jour2Fête for France, Cherry Pickers for Benelux, Spentzos Film for Greece and Cyprus, Pris Audiovisuais for Portugal, Investacommerce Ag for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, Transilvania Film for Romania, Acme Film for the Baltics, Arthouse Traffic for Ukraine, Front Row Filmed Entertainment for Mena. Penny Black picked up airline rights.

“Islands” is Gerster’s English-language debut, working from a screenplay he co-wrote with Blaz Kutin and Lawrie Doran. The film was developed and produced by Maximilian Leo...

Harper (Myha'la) has undergone significant changes throughout all three seasons of the HBO finance drama series Industry. From a young, hungry junior analyst to a young, hungry venture outfit founder, she has undergone significant growth in the past few years. These changes are seen in how she carries herself, be it her dressing style or hairstyle. The latter has evolved over the years, sparking some theories that these changes are integral to the character's development. Myha'la has seen and heard those theories, and she thinks there is something to them. "I don’t want to give anything away, but what I can say is: all of y’all tracking the hair, you’re all right," the actress recently said while this year's Met Gala. While her statement does not explicitly confirm what Harper's evolving hairstyle represents, chances are it will be addressed in subsequent seasons of the show.

Harper showed...

Thriller | Drama | Mystery | Independent | En | 86 Min | Nr TV-14 Directed by Hala Matar Written by Hala Matar, Daryl Wein, Paul Sado Produced by Daryl Wein, Hala Matar, Jordan Beckerman, Jordan Yale Levine, Tommaso Bertani, Luca Cottafavi Starring Maria Bakalova, Abigail Cowen, Jack Farthing, Daryl Wein Synopsis: An American couple …

The post Electra starring Academy Award® nominee Maria Bakalova, Abigail Cowen, Jack Farthing & Daryl Wein in Select Theatres and On Demand 5/2 from Level 33 Entertainment! appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American distribution rights to “Islands,” following the thriller’s premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The film was co-written and directed by Jan-Ole Gerster, whose previous credits include “A Coffee in Berlin” and “Lara.” It was co-written by Blaz Kutin and Lawrie Doran, and stars Sam Riley (“Control”), Stacy Martin (“The Brutalist”) and Jack Farthing (“Spencer”). The film received four nominations at the prestigious Lola Awards — the German equivalent of the Oscars — including Best Picture, Best Leading Actor, Best Original Music and Best Sound.

The film also scored strong critical notices at its debut in Berlinale with Variety’s Peter Debruge calling it “mesmerizing” and many reviewers highlighting Martin and Riley’s lead performances.

The film follows Tom, (Riley) a tennis coach at a luxurious island hotel, filling the time between lessons and one-night stands. The arrival of a mysterious family pulls Tom out...

Award-winning director Hala Matar makes a provocative entrance into the feature film world with Electra, a sun-drenched, slow-burn thriller set against the backdrop of the Italian countryside. Released by Level 33 Entertainment, the film is set to debut in select US theatres and across digital platforms on May 2.

Marking a significant cultural milestone, Matar becomes the first Bahraini woman to release a feature film. Known for her visually arresting work with high-end fashion houses like Louis Vuitton and Chanel, her transition into feature filmmaking brings a stylised visual flair to a taut psychological thriller steeped in sensuality, secrecy and emotional decay.

Maria Bakalova, Oscar-nominated for her breakout role in Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm, leads the cast as one half of an American journalist couple who arrive at the palatial Italian estate of a reclusive rock musician and his enigmatic partner, played by Abigail Cowen (Fate: The Winx Saga). Jack Farthing (Spencer...

A sun-soaked tale full of beautiful rich people doing terrible things, including a transgressive sexual act that’s got the tabloids foaming at the mouth. On paper, BritBox import “Towards Zero” sounds like another salacious drama to ride on the coattails of “The White Lotus.” Yet it stems, in fact, from the bygone era of cozy crime fiction where the only stiff appendage was the upper lip.

Indeed, following the likes of “And Then There Were None,” “The Pale Horse,” and “Ordeal by Innocence,” the 1930s tale is the latest Agatha Christie whodunit to get a semi-contemporary spin. And just like her predecessor, period drama queen Sarah Phelps, screenwriter Rachel Bennette gives the purists plenty to scream blue murder over.

“BBC viewers left stunned by ‘filthy’ X-rated scene,” was a typical conservative media headline after the three-part series premiered in the UK last month. “Is ‘Towards Zero’ the raciest Agatha Christie ever?...

"Stop thinking! Breathe!" What the funk is this?! Level 33 Ent. has revealed an official trailer for a strange indie thriller tilted Electra, made by Bahraini filmmaker Hala Matar. Not to be confused with the Marvel movie Elektra from 2005. This Electra follows two journalists who travel to the lush Italian villa of a famous musician and his partner for an interview, but all is not as it seems — the trip spirals into deceit & deadly betrayals. Hala Matar teases: "Electra is a film about lies and deceit, where characters wear metaphorical masks to impress or manipulate others. The unicorn, representing the mask of innocence, is drawn from a painting central to the film's plot — something I'd rather keep a mystery for now." The cast features Maria Bakalova, Abigail Cowen, Jack Farthing, and Daryl Wein. This looks very kooky and peculiar, more experimental & conceptual than clever, borrowing from The Talented Mr. Ripley. It's worth a look anyway.

HBO's financial drama Industry has cast actors from Stranger Things and House for its upcoming fourth season. Kal Penn, Charlie Heaton and Claire Forlani are joining the series.

According to Variety, Penn, Heaton and Forlani will join the returning cast members, Marisa Abela, Myha'la Herrold, Ken Leung, Sagar Radia, Kit Harington and Miriam Petche, for the HBO/BBC series, which follows a group of young graduates as they compete to earn a permanent spot at a prestigious investment bank in London. The third season of Industry premiered in August 2024, and was quickly renewed for a fourth season a month later.

Penn, who is known for his role as Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series as well as playing Lawrence Kutner in House, will play Jonah Atterbury, "the CEO and founder of payment processor Tender." Heaton, who stars as Jonathan Byers in Netflix's Stranger Things, will play Jim Dycker,...

“Industry” has added three new additions to its Season 4 cast in Kal Penn, Claire Forlani and Charlie Heaton.

Penn joins the HBO drama as Jay Jonah Atterbury, the CEO and founder of payment processor Tender, while Forlani joins as Cordella Hanani Spyrka, a corporate PR heavy-hitter, who, based on her name, could have familial ties to Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela). Heaton will play Jim Dycker, a finance journalist.

The three actors join the HBO drama series alongside new additions Kiernan Shipka and Max Minghella, who both work at Tender, as well as Toheeb Jimoh, Amy James-Kelly and Jack Farthing.

The principle cast for “Industry” includes Myha’la, who stars as Harper, as well as Abela, Ken Leung and Harry Lawtey, though Lawtey will exit his role as Robert Spearing ahead of Season 4. Mickey Down, who created “Industry” with Konrad Kay, told TheWrap Lawtey’s exit was a “mutual decision” due to...

“Industry” Season 4 is continuing to build out its cast with the addition of Kal Penn, Charlie Heaton, and Claire Forlani.

The trio join returning cast members like Myha’la, Marisa Abela, Ken Leung, Sagar Radia, Kit Harington, and Miriam Petche in the HBO/BBC series, as well as new cast members Max Minghella, Kiernan Shipka, Jack Farthing, Toheeb Jimoh, and Amy James-Kelly.

Penn will play Jay Jonah Atterbury, described as the “CEO and founder of payment processor Tender.” Heaton will play Jim Dycker, “a finance journalist.” Finally, Forlani will play Cordelia Hanani-Spyrka, a “corporate PR heavy-hitter.”

Penn first broke out with playing one of the title roles in the “Harold & Kumar” film franchise before going on to star in shows like the medical drama “House” and the political drama “Designated Survivor.” He recently appeared as a guest host on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and starred in the hit horror film “Smile.

Industry continues to add big names for its upcoming fourth season. Kal Penn (Designated Survivor), Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton and Claire Forlani (Departure) have joined the cast of the HBO/BBC finance drama.

They will appear alongside fellow new additions Max Minghella, Kiernan Shipka, Jack Farthing, Toheeb Jimoh and Amy James-Kelly.

Penn will play Jay Jonah Atterbury, CEO and co-founder of payment processor Tender, a company that is expected to be a major focus in Season 4, with Minghella playing Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s CFO and co-founder, and Shipka portraying Haley Clay, an executive assistant.

Heaton will play Jim Dycker, a finance journalist. Forlani will portray Cordelia Hanani-Spyrka, a corporate PR heavy-hitter.

Farthing plays Edward Smith, a troublemaker and longtime friend of Henry’s (Kit Harington). Jimoh portrays Kwabena Bannerman, trader at Mostyn Asset Management. James-Kelly plays Jennifer Bevan, the newly promoted Minister in the Labour government.

They join returning cast including Myha’la,...

A lush Italian villa becomes the backdrop for sex, deception, and betrayal in the new thriller Electra. The Apprentice's Maria Bakalova stars in the film, which is the debut feature from Hala Matar. An intriguing premise deserves an equally intriguing poster, and Electra certainly has that. Collider can exclusively reveal the first poster for the film, which will hit theaters on May 2, 2025.

The film centers around two journalists who travel to an isolated Italian villa to interview a famous musician and his partner. However, everything is not as it seems, and all four of them soon become ensnared in a web of deceit. Matar is the first Bahraini woman to make a feature film in history, and her film is an exploration of "the dangers of leaving wounds unhealed and the masks we wear to belong—how avoiding the hard work of self-confrontation only deepens the fracture."

She collaborated...

Filming has started for the fourth season of HBO and BBC's hit series Industry. Co-creator Konrad Kay shared the news on his X account. He posted an image of a clapperboard with the production date and the season number, confirming that the season was indeed in production. Filming began on March 24 in England. Kay and his creative partner, Mickey Down, return to collaborate on Industry Season 4. Apart from writing, they also serve as directors on various episodes of the show, including the one shown on the clapperboard. Details about what the fourth season entails are scarce, but cast shakeups hint at a new direction as new characters join and old ones depart.

Industry "gives an insider’s view of the blackbox of high finance following a group of young bankers as they forge their identities within the pressure cooker environment and sex and drug fueled blitz of international bank Pierpoint & Co’s London office.

After the third season of HBO's critically acclaimed series "Industry" wrapped up at the end of September 2024, Harry Lawtey's character Robert Spearing was in a sort of bleak place. We now know that Robert — and, obviously by extension, Lawtey — won't be returning for the show's fourth season, which just recently began filming in the United Kingdom. Aside from "Industry," you may have seen Lawtey as Harvey Dent in the underwhelming 2024 sequel "Joker: Folie á Deux."

So why? In an interview with The Telegraph, "scheduling conflicts" were mentioned, but Lawtey seems at peace with it all. "Ultimately I feel like I'm in a place where I've said everything I had to say with a character, and I think both me and the writers felt mutually happy with where we left him," Lawtey said. "There was actually a stage direction after my final line, in my final scene of the show,...

A dramatic thriller starring “The Apprentice” and “Bodies Bodies Bodies” breakout Maria Bakalova has sold to Level 33 Entertainment for domestic theatrical release.

The sales and distribution entity will take “Elecrtra” out day and date on May 2. The film marks the directorial debut of Hala Matar, an influential filmmaker in the worlds of high fashion and music videos. Matar is also credited as the first Bahraini woman in history to complete a feature film.

“Electra” is described as a potboiler in the vein of “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Saltburn.” Bakalova stars with Abigail Cowen (Netflix’s “Fate: the Winx Saga”) and Jack Farthing (“Spencer,” “Rain Dogs”). Daryl Wein, a producer and script co-writer on the project, also co-stars.

Packaged and shot in Italy, “Electra” follows two journalists who travel to the lush Italian villa of a famous musician and his partner for an interview, but all is not as...

Kiernan Shipka has a new job in the Industry.

The Mad Men and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina vet has joined Season 4 of the aforementioned HBO/BBC series, our sister site Deadline reports. She will play Haley Clay, “an executive assistant at payment processor Tender.”

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Also boarding the show are Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) as Kwabena Bannerman, a trader at Mostyn Asset Management; Jack Farthing (Poldark) as Edward Smith, a troublemaker and...

Industry, the high-stakes financial drama, is returning for a fourth season with a fresh batch of cast members joining the fray. Production on the eight-episode season begins in the UK later this month. Here’s the Lowdown: Kiernan Shipka (Twisters), Jack Farthing (Towards Zero), Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso), and Amy James-Kelly (Three Families) are joining the […]

Industry Season 4: New Faces Join the Finance Frenzy!

Gold Derby's top news stories for March 13, 2025. Black Mirror Season 7 premiere date, trailer revealed

Black Mirror Season 7 will premiere on April 10 with six episodes, including a sequel to 2017's "USS Callister" episode with Cristin Milioti. The streamer also announced new cast members Michele Austin, Ben Bailey Smith, Asim Chaudhry, Josh Finan, James Nelson-Joyce, Will Poulter, Jay Simpson, and Michael Workéyè. Previously announced cast members were Awkwafina, Milanka Brooks, Peter Capaldi, Emma Corrin, Patsy Ferran, Paul Giamatti, Lewis Gribben, Osy Ikhile, Rashida Jones, Siena Kelly, Billy Magnussen, Rosy McEwen, Cristin Milioti, Chris O’Dowd, Issa Rae, Paul G. Raymond, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jimmi Simpson, and Harriet Walter. Watch the trailer below.

Babygirl gets streaming date on Max

This calls for a glass of milk. Babygirl will make its streaming debut on Max on April 25. The Halina Reijn film, starring Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde, and Antonio Banderas, will make its HBO...

Industry season 4 has added four new cast members, including a Ted Lasso star. Created by former investment bankers Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, the HBO/BBC drama premiered in 2020, following a group of young bankers and traders trying to make their way in the financial world by working at Pierpoint & Co, a prestigious investment bank in London. Industry season 4 was renewed with regular cast members Myha'la, Marisa Abela, Ken Leung, Sagar Radia, Kit Harington, and Miriam Petche all returning. However, Harry Lawtey won't be back, and Max Minghella has also joined the cast for season 4.

Now, the finance drama is adding more cast members. According to Variety, Industry season 4 has cast Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso), Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men), Jack Farthing, and Amy James-Kelly. Filming for the fourth season is expected to start in the U.K. in the coming weeks.

What Industry Season 4's New Cast Members Mean For...

Industry Season 4 will feature numerous new faces when the hit show returns. Deadline reports that Kiernan Shipka, Toheeb Jimmoh, Jack Farthing, and Amy James-Kelly have joined the show for the upcoming season, which does not have a premiere date yet. They join Myha'ala, Marisa Abela, Ken Leung, Kit Harington, Sagar Radia, Miriam Petche and new cast member Max Minghella. Shipka plays Haley Clay, an executive assistant at payment processor Tender. Farthing plays Edward Smith, a long-time friend of Henry Muck who is described as a troublemaker. Jimoh plays Kwabena Bannerman, a trader at Mostyn Asset Management. James-Kelly plays Jennifer Bevan, the newly promoted minister in the Labour government.

“Industry” is continuing to build out its cast for Season 4.

Variety has learned that Kiernan Shipka, Jack Farthing, Toheeb Jimoh, and Amy James-Kelly (“Three Families”) have all joined the upcoming fourth season of the HBO & BBC drama series.

They will appear alongside previously announced new cast member Max Minghella as well as returning cast Myha’la, Marisa Abela, Ken Leung, Sagar Radia, Kit Harington, and Miriam Petche.

Shipka will play Hayley Clay, described as an “executive assistant at payment processor Tender.” Farthing will play Edward Smith, said to be a “troublemaker and long-time friend of Henry’s (Harington).” Jimoh will appear as Kwabena Bannerman, a “trader at Mostyn Asset Management.” And James-Kelly will play Jennifer Bevan, a “newly promoted Minister in the Labour government.”

Shipka is repped by WME and Anonymous Content. Farthing is repped by Independent Talent Group and Anonymous Content. Jimoh is represented by B-Side, WME, Tapestry London, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

Industry has added four new cast members for the upcoming fourth season: Kiernan Shipka, Jack Farthing, Toheeb Jimoh and Amy James-Kelly (Three Families).

They join recently cast Max Minghella as the HBO/BBC drama continues to bring a contingent of big names each season.

Shipka will play Haley Clay, an executive assistant at payment processor Tender. Farthing will play Edward Smith, a troublemaker and long-time friend of Henry’s. Jimoh will portray Kwabena Bannerman, trader at Mostyn Asset Management. James-Kelly will play Jennifer Bevan, the newly promoted Minister in the Labour government. Minghella plays Whitney Halberstram, the CFO and Founder of Tender.

They join returning cast including Myha’la, Marisa Abela, Ken Leung, Sagar Radia, Kit Harington, and Miriam Petche. The eighth-episode fourth season starts production in the UK this month.

Industry gives an insider...

"Someone, somewhere, unbeknownst to us, laying a trap..." "What have you done?!" BBC & BritBox have revealed official trailers for the new murder mystery mini-series titled Towards Zero, created by BBC for streaming on BBC's iPlayer. It just launched this week and is available to watch now online if you're curious to find out what is going on in this family. An explosive love triangle, a formidable matriarch, and a house party of enemies. Based on the classic mystery by the best-selling author, Agatha Christie, adapted from her novel also titled "Towards Zero". After a scandalous celebrity divorce, a British tennis star - Nevile Strange - and his ex-wife make the unthinkable decision to spend a summer together. This three-part whodunit series involves a recently divorced British tennis player holidaying at his aristocratic aunt's house on the south coast of England in the 1930s, where a widow suddenly ends up dead.

The Berlin Film Festival kicked off its 75th anniversary edition February 13 with the opening-night world premiere screening of The Light, Tom Tykwer’s politically charged film that takes stock of German society in the first quarter of the 21st century. It starts 11 days of debuts including for movies starring Jessica Chastain, Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Rupert Friend, Marion Cotillard, Rose Byrne, A$AP Rocky, Emma Mackey and more.

The 2025 Berlinale runs through February 23.

Keep checking back below as Deadline reviews the best and buzziest movies of the festival. Click on the titles to read the full reviews.

Blue Moon

Section: Competition

Director: Richard Linklater

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott

Deadline’s takeaway: Richard Linklater’s Broadway chamber piece looks back to a lost time and mourns a lost soul in Lorenz Hart as the booze is about to consume him. In a bravura theatrical performance, Ethan Hawke...

A sun-baked dream noir that unfolds like a rivetingly seductive mixed doubles match between Patricia Highsmith and the main cast of “Challengers,” Jan-Ole Gerster’s “Islands” confronts its protagonist with a question that most people would probably kill for the chance to answer for themselves: When your life is a permanent vacation, where do you go to escape from it?

We never really discover what Tom (a fantastically dislocated Sam Riley) was running from when he decided to pack up his ambition and serve out the rest of his days as a tennis pro at a chichi resort somewhere just west of Morocco (the Canary Island of Fuerteventura gives an ominous and evocative performance as the film’s unnamed setting), but it’s clear from the start that he’s hit a dead end. The surreal opening scene proves indicative of how our man tends to begin most of his days,...

Sam Riley stars as Tom, a washed-up tennis-pro-turned-coach at a luxury island hotel on the Canary Islands, in Islands, the English-language debut of A Coffee in Berlin director Jan-Ole Gerster. He is the protagonist, but we know little about a man seems to avoid any sort of introspection; living night by night, Tom takes a swig of a stashed bottle of something (tequila? vodka? rum?) between the training sessions he is so obviously bored by. He shows up late to work, coffee from the buffet in-hand, and hopes to skip a class whenever possible. It’s a life of leisure, in some ways, but most of the mornings he wakes up hungover from a crazy party out with that week’s tourists. Yet it doesn’t take long before he notices a rather beautiful blonde woman getting off the shuttle bus, or when she notices him too.

Anne (Stacy Martin...

Tennis pro Tom lives in a mellow paradise teaching tourists at a hotel in the Canary Islands. “Permanent sun, permanent fun,” as one client puts it. But why does it also look a bit like Groundhog Day: every day, Tom gets up, coaches people on hitting the ball, visits his friend who has a farm or maybe goes to a nightclub, and the next morning wakes up in someone else’s bed, hung over again. The Canary Islands is not a circle of hell, granted, but he’s getting close to circling the drain.

Not that Tom, played by a rumpled Sam Riley, ever looks especially perturbed: when Islands begins, he’s waking up on a desert dune for a change, but he heads to his car and just gets on with his day at the four-star-ish hotel. Soon after, Jan-Ole Gerster’s slow-burn drama ignites when a watchful new hotel guest,...

German director Jan-Ole Gerster’s mesmerizing, mostly English-language “Islands” opens with a scene that for many would mark “rock bottom” — reason to check oneself into rehab — as Sam Riley’s Tom awakens in a field of sand dunes. He could have been dropped from heaven or belched up from below, but most likely just passed out … again. The camera pans left, and there in the distance is the luxury hotel, big as a cruise ship, where Tom works as a tennis coach for visiting tourists. But mostly, Tom has been living a life of revelry without responsibility, sleeping wherever he can.

Over the course of a lean but revealing film of unexpected existential heft, we witness his wake-up call, as a family of three arrives in Fuerteventura, the largest of the Canary Islands, and gives Tom reason to reassess his life choices. Right from the start, there’s a neo-noir...

German production company Augenschein has just added “The Weight,” starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, to its slate. Company founders Jonas Katzenstein and Maximilian Leo talk to Variety about how they made the shift from foreign-language arthouse fare to English-language elevated genre movies, with stars attached.

Despite its very German-sounding name — which roughly translates as the “shine of the eye” — Augenschein has the global market firmly in its sights. As for the films, they are defined by their “signature-style directing,” Leo says.

Its Berlin lineup is led by Jan-Ole Gerster’s thriller “Islands,” starring Sam Riley, Stacy Martin and Jack Farthing, which world-premieres Sunday in the Berlinale Special Gala section, with Protagonist handling world sales.

“Mother Mary”

Other films on its slate include David Lowery’s pop melodrama “Mother Mary,” starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Cole, with A24 handling worldwide distribution; and Brian Kirk’s action thriller “The Death of Winter,...

Exclusive: UTA has signed BAFTA-award-winning actress and writer Daisy May Cooper for representation in all areas.

Cooper first gained widespread recognition as the co-creator, writer, and star of the critically acclaimed BBC Three comedy series This Country. She received BAFTA Awards for Best Scripted Comedy and Best Female Comedy Performance for her portrayal of ‘Kerry Mucklowe.’

The mockumentary sitcom gives an inside look at rural life in a small English village in the Cotswolds through the lives of two cousins, one played by Cooper and the other by her brother Charlie Cooper who co-created the series. This Country ran for three seasons from 2017-2020.

Following This Country, Cooper starred in the BBC One/HBO dramedy series Rain Dogs. She led the cast in the role of ‘Costello,’ a single mother raising her daughter on the fringes of society attempting to go straight in a crooked world. The 2023 series also starred Jack Farthing,...

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Hulu is one of the best places to find the best movies and TV shows you can watch on any streaming service. Every month, it adds hundreds of new titles to its content library, but with that, there are also some titles that have got to go. So, today, we are here to tell you about the best film you should watch before it leaves Hulu in February 2025.

The Beta Test (February 3) Credit – IFC Films

The Beta Test is a dark comedy thriller film co-written and co-directed by Jim Cummings and Pj McCabe. The 2021 film follows an engaged Hollywood agent, who has an intimate night with an anonymous woman but he soon becomes paranoid that his fiancée will find out about his infidelity. The Beta Test stars Jim Cummings, Pj McCabe, Virginia Newcomb, and Jessie Barr.

Spencer (February...

German filmmaker Jan-Ole Gerster’s latest movie, “Islands,” will make its world debut at the prestigious Berlinale film festival in the Special Gala section. The dramatic thriller, featuring Sam Riley, Stacy Martin, and Jack Farthing, has captured the attention of international film distributors.

Set in the sun-soaked Canary Islands, the film follows Tom (Riley), a former professional tennis player now working as a resort coach in Fuerteventura. His life of routine and casual encounters takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious family arrives at the resort.

The story centers on Tom’s encounter with Anne (Martin), her husband Dave (Farthing), and their seven-year-old son Anton. What begins as a typical resort interaction quickly transforms into a complex narrative when Dave suddenly disappears, leaving Tom potentially entangled in a potential murder investigation.

“It’s an extraordinary blend of intrigue and atmosphere,” said Dave Bishop, CEO of Protagonist Pictures, which has acquired...

Sales, finance and production outfit Protagonist Pictures will handle worldwide sales alongside Augenschein Sales for Jan-Ole Gerster’s thriller “Islands,” starring Sam Riley, Stacy Martin and Jack Farthing. The film will have its world premiere at the Berlinale as part of the Berlinale Special Gala section.

“Islands” is Gerster’s English-language debut and he also co-wrote the screenplay with Blaz Kutin and Lawrie Doran. It is Gerster’s third feature following “A Coffee in Berlin” (2012) and “Lara” (2019). The film was developed and produced by Maximilian Leo and Jonas Katzenstein for Augenschein Filmproduktion. It is co-produced by Leonine Studios and Schiwago Film. Leonine will also distribute the film in Germany.

“This dramatic thriller is an extraordinary blend of intrigue and atmosphere,” Dave Bishop, CEO of Protagonist Pictures, said. “With Sam Riley’s captivating performance at its core and Jan Ole Gerster’s masterful direction, the film explores the darker edges of...

One of the best performances of Kristen Stewart's career is coming to Netflix next month. Though her breakout roles came in David Fincher's Panic Room, Zathura: A Space Adventure, and Into the Wild, Stewart has been synonymous with Bella Swan and The Twilight Saga for much of her career, starring in the five franchise films from 2008 to 2012. In those five films, Stewart's performance as Bella was widely panned, which led to her being unfairly labeled as an emotionless actress.

After starring in another big-budget production, 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman, Stewart shifted her focus to indie projects and, just like her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, reinvented herself as an actor. During the remainder of the 2010s, Stewart starred in the dramas Camp X-Ray, Still Alice, and Equals, but began garnering critical acclaim for her collaborations with director Olivier Assayas in Clouds of Sils Maria and Personal Shopper.

Ahead of the Berlinale 2025 taking place February 13-23, they’ve unveiled their lineups for Berlinale Special, Panorama, Generation and Forum sections. Highlights include confirmation of Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 alongside Ira Sachs’ Peter Hujar’s Day, Ancestral Visions of the Future from This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, a documentary on the making of Shoah, a new Jacob Elordi-led series from Justin Kurzel, and more.

See the lineup below via Deadline and check back for the competition lineup next week.

Berlinale Special

Ancestral Visions of the Future

by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese | with Siphiwe Nzima, Sobo Bernard, Zaman Mathejane, Mochesane Edwin Kotsoane, Rehauhetsoe Ernest Kotsoane

France / Lesotho / Germany / Saudi Arabia 2025

Berlinale Special | World premiere | Documentary form

A poetic allegory of the filmmaker Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s childhood, an ode to cinema and an inner nod to his mother. Through fragmented narratives and mythic imagery,...

Aussie filmmaker Justin Kurzel’s series adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North, starring Jacob Elordi, will screen at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North was among several titles added to Berlin’s lineup this morning.

The festival describes the series as a “riveting new Australian drama” about a WWII hero haunted by his past. The show will screen as a Berlinale Special Gala. Also in Specials strand is The Thing with Feathers starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The pic screens at Berlin following a debut bow at Sundance and is from filmmaker Dylan Southern. The pic is an adaption of Max Porter’s novel about a grieving father wrestling with the sudden death of his wife while also raising their young children. As previously reported, Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 will also screen. Scroll down...

Channel 5 is doubling down on post-Christmas escapism with the premiere of “The Serial Killer’s Wife,” a four-part thriller that asks the age-old question: how well do you really know your spouse? Annabel Scholey and Jack Farthing star as Beth and Tom Fairchild, a seemingly idyllic couple whose world implodes when Tom, a respected doctor, […]

The Serial Killer’s Wife: New Channel 5 Drama Explores a Marriage Built on Secrets...

It’s been four years since the release of Drake Doremus’ most recent film. That’s the longest time without a film the director has experienced in his career. Typically, it takes only one or two years between projects. Well, the good news is that we know what he is working on next, “Next Life.”

Read More: The 20 Best Films Of 2024

According to Variety, Emilia Clarke, Edgar Ramirez, and Jack Farthing have all been cast in “Next Life,” the upcoming film from acclaimed director Drake Doremus.

Continue reading ‘Next Life’: Emilia Clarke & Edgar Ramirez To Star In Drake Doremus’ New Film at The Playlist.

Emilia Clarke (“Game of Thrones”), Edgar Ramirez (“Emilia Perez”) and Jack Farthing (“Spencer”) will star in “Next Life” from writer-director Drake Doremus (“Like Crazy”), L.A. and London-based production and management company 42, Mutressa and Fetisoff Illusion have announced.

“Next Life” tells the love story of Ivy (Emilia Clarke), who finds herself confronted with parallel universes in which her life unspools in very different ways set against the modern London jazz scene.

Mutressa’s Elika Portnoy, Gleb Fetisov of Fetisoff Illusion and 42’s Ben Pugh and Kate Buckley are producing alongside Doremus. John Palfery Smith will also produce. Production is currently underway in London and set to wrap in late December. CAA Media Finance is representing worldwide rights.

Clarke is best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO award winning series “Game of Thrones,” for which she received four Emmy nominations and three Critics Choice Award nominations.

Michel Gondry and Ira Sachs are among the headline filmmakers set to debut new feature works within the sidebar competitions at next year’s Berlin Film Festival.

The German festival announced the pair this afternoon as part of its first crop of confirmed titles.

Gondry will screen Maya, Give Me a Title in Berlin’s Generation sidebar. The festival’s website describes the film as Gondry’s “stop-motion love letter to his daughter Maya brings to life a poetic and amusing journey that invites you to dream and laugh.”

Also set for the Generation competition is Our Wildest Days (I Agries Meres Mas) by Greek filmmaker Vasilis Kekatos who is best known for his 2019 short film The Distance Between Us and the Sky, which won the Short Film Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. He also created the popular Greek series Milky Way.

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John Magaro, Kate Dickie and Jason Isaacs will be heading to the chilly streets of Berlin. The Berlin Film Festival unveiled the first gala screenings for its 2025 edition, which runs Feb. 13-23.

Islands, the new feature from German director Jan-Ole Gerster (Lara, A Coffee in Berlin), is among the gala highlights. The thriller stars British actor Sam Riley (Control, Maleficent) as a once-promising tennis professional now working as a tennis coach for holidaymakers on a resort island, filling his time with alcohol and brief affairs. Stacy Martin, Jack Farthing, and Dylan Torrell co-star.

Köln 75 from director Ido Fluk, follows the true story of Vera Brandes, teenage patron saint of the 1970s Cologne music scene, who risked everything to organize Keith Jarrett’s legendary Köln Concert, considered by many to be the greatest solo concert in music history. German actress Mala Emde play Fluk with John Magaro, Michael Chernus and Alexander Scheer co-starring.

Today, BritBox and the BBC released first-look pictures of Towards Zero, based on the classic mystery by the best-selling author of all time, Agatha Christie. The series was adapted for the screen by BAFTA-nominated Rachel Bennette (Nw) and directed by the Olivier Award-winning Sam Yates (Magpie).

Featuring coastal views, heated summer soirees, and a trip to Wimbledon Centre Court, the new pictures give a first glimpse at Lady Tressilian (Anjelica Huston), Inspector Leach (Matthew Rhys), and British tennis star Nevile Strange (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) – seen here with the two ladies in his life: ex-wife Audrey (Ella Lily Hyland) and new wife Kay (Mimi Keene).

Photo courtesy of BritBox/Mammoth Screen

Clarke Peters, Anjana Vasan, and Jack Farthing are also seen in the new pictures from the series, which co-stars Jackie Clune (Motherland), Grace Doherty (Call the Midwife), Khalil Gharbia (Mary & George), and Adam Hugill (Sherwood).

England, 1936. After a scandalous celebrity divorce,...

Hala Matar is the first of her kind. The director tells The Hollywood Reporter she is the first female Bahraini director to make a feature film. After growing up in the Middle East and studying theater at school, Matar studied in America at the University of Virginia. By mistake, she enrolled in a cinematography class, but it ended up changing the course of her life.

“I felt like it spoke to me more,” Matar says. “Because I feel like I communicate better visually. Theater concentrates on dialogue.”

Now, her most recent project, Electra, will get its premiere on Thursday at the Oldenburg Film Festival, which notoriously champions indie movies like Matar’s. Co-written with Daryl Wein and Paul Sado, Matar’s film is backdropped by a deliciously extravagant Italian palazzo where a journalist, Dylan (played by Wein), and his photographer girlfriend Lucy (Abigail Cowen) are staying with a relatively obnoxious...

Los Angeles-based Great Escape has kicked off sales talks in Toronto on heist thriller Stranglehold starring Ashley Benson from Spring Breakers and Jake Lacy from The White Lotus alongside Justin Long, and Ron Perlman.

Clark Duke directs the feature, which shot this summer and is in the vein of Dog Day Afternoon, Die Hard and the Coen Brothers oeuvre.

Benson stars as a stripper with aspirations of becoming a professional dancer who ekes out a living with her husband (Lacy). They decide to pull off a Christmas party heist at the strip club where she works, unaware that a group...

Warning: This article discusses topics of sexual assault, suicide, and political and religious beliefs.

There are loads of fantastic period drama TV shows from the UK that US viewers havent seen but should check out. Some of the best TV shows of all time are period dramas, with the genre being so popular because of how many settings and plots come under the label. Period dramas are set in the past, which can vary from ten years ago to centuries. This allows for all manner of characters and stories to unfold.

Period dramas continue to soar in popularity, especially in recent years, as streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime are jumping on the trend. TV shows like Bridgerton are notably successful because they send audiences back in time and draw them into a new world. British TV is known for producing stellar period dramas, and some titles are relatively unknown in the United States,...

The Oldenburg Film Festival, Germany’s leading indie movie event, will this year pay tribute to dissident filmmakers Na Gyi and Paing Phyo Thu.

The Myanmar director and actress have been living in hiding for more than three years, after their public opposition to the February 1, 2021 military coup put them in the crosshairs of the country’s ruling junta.

Oldenburg highlighted the couple and their plight, in the 2021 festival, screening Na Gyi’s What Happened to the Wolf?, which stars Paing Phyo Thu, in its world premiere. The story of a gay romance between two terminally ill women, played by Paing and Eaindra Kyaw Zin, the film is not overtly political but its Lbgtq+ storyline drew the ire of the military regime. What Happened to the Wolf? had been submitted to the festival after the coup but before the filmmakers went into hiding. The trailer for the film was a...

Classic Doctor Who and British comedy series are often the first things viewers think of when BritBox is mentioned. Of late, however, the British TV streamer has expanded its offerings to originals and limited series to go along with its archive of U.K. TV classics.

This list of hidden gems is curated around highlighting archive U.K. TV series you may have missed as well as recently-acquired properties from other streaming services that are often overlooked. Whether you subscribe to BritBox directly or use the Amazon or Roku platforms, these series and limited series are must-watches.

Africa and Britain: A Forgotten History

Summary: Historian Dr. David Olusoga guides viewers to observe all of the current historical and archeological evidence documenting Black life in Britain. Olusoga moves from the ancient Cheddar Man through today including the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Why It’s a Hidden Gem: BritBox’s documentary offerings are...