Wonderland.

SCREEN WONDERS

A look at the best in film and TV to get excited about right now.

Us

A couple of years ago, first-time director Jordan Peele shocked us into submission with his horror-comedy Get Out, which not only snagged an Oscar for his wildly inventive screenplay, but also addressed race relations in a tongue-in-cheek yet terrifying way (permanent shudders at the “sunken place”). And now, after much teasing, Peele is back with Us, his eerie doppelgänger home invasion film, starring Lupita Nyong’o, Elisabeth Moss and Black Panther’s Winston Duke. Expect just as much fanfare (and frights) as his debut.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Zac Efron has come a long way since his basketball-twirling, jazz-hands, cartwheeling-on-a-golf-course tween days in High School Musical. How far? The actor’s latest controversial role sees him stepping into the shoes of notorious 70s serial killer Ted Bundy – and with terrifying commitment and conviction. The film follows Bundy’s relationship with his increasingly fearful fiancé Liz Kloepfer (played by Lily Collins), as well as the events leading up to his arrest in Florida. Not to be watched alone.

High Life

Robert Pattinson in space. Robert Pattinson in space with André 3000, Mia Goth and Juliette Binoche. Robert Pattinson in space in an A24 film, directed by French legend Claire Denis. Yes, it’s safe to say we’re obsessed. RP plays a man living in isolation with his daughter in deep space, years after a mission sees a group of convicts experimented upon. So far, it’s all a bit shrouded in mystery, but we’re fully expecting nightmarish interstellar horrors to unfold.

Wild Rose

Irish actress Jessie Buckley is swiftly earning a name for herself as one of the most exciting indie screen talents around. And if her raw performance in disturbing 2017 fairytale-thriller, Beast, hadn’t already sealed her trajectory to stardom, then Wild Rose should do it. Buckley plays a rambunctious Glaswegian woman who, fresh out of prison, embarks on a quest to become a Nashville country singer. Saddle up.

Birds Of Prey

Back in 2016, the release of Suicide Squad was met with widespread hype from comic book fans and film buffs alike, thanks only in part to its super buzzy cast (Will Smith, Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne and Viola Davis). But it’s common knowledge that one character stole the show – in turn spurring on endless copycat Halloween costumes. Yes, one Margot Robbie, who played grinning super-villain Harley Quinn with gusto. And now, DC Comics is back with an all-female spin-off, centring around her character and a new gang, and will be directed by Cathy Yan, only the second ever woman to direct a DC film. Into. It.

Words
Maybelle Morgan