Angel of Mine

Thriller

Available on VOD: 12 september 2019

Director: Kim Farrant

Cast: Luke Evans (Fast & Furious 6-8, Ma, Midway), Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter, Killer Elite, The Handmaid's Tale), Noomi Rapace (Millennium 1-3, Prometheus, Bright)

Based on the French film, L'Empreinte D'Lange by Safy Nebbou, years after losing her daughter in a devastating fire, a mother, still struggling to cope with the loss, becomes convinced that a stranger's daughter is in fact her own. As her obsession grows, she becomes more and more entwined in this young girl's life, causing her to lose touch with reality.

Reviews

• RogerEbert.com: Farrant's confidence as a storyteller — along with Rapace's full-bodied performance - enrich the story and guide it toward its delicately bonkers premise.
• FilmThreat.com: Angel of Mine is a good movie for fans of the dysfunctional family melodrama. Primarily from the performances from its leads and a strong story that holds together to the end.
• Observer.com: The understated direction by Kim Farrant lead you into elements of surprise you do not anticipate as the film detours into a shock ending that will leave you wide-eyed with awe.
• Screen International: Its equally challenging and cathartic payoff is worth the journey.
• Los Angeles Times: A terrific cast and a rich sense of atmosphere.

Manhattan Nocturne

Crime, Thriller

Available on VOD: 25 augustus 2016

Director: Brian DeCubellis

Cast: Adrien Brody (Midnight in Paris, The Pianist, The Darjeeling Limited), Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter, Killer Elite, The Handmaid's Tale), Jennifer Beals (Flashdance, The Book of Eli, Runaway Jury), Campbell Scott (The Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2, The Exorcism of Emily Rose)

Porter Wren is a Manhattan tabloid writer with an appetite for scandal. On the beat he sells murder, tragedy, and anything that passes for the truth. At home, he is a dedicated husband and father. But when Caroline, a seductive stranger asks him to dig into the unsolved murder of her filmmaker husband Simon, he is drawn into a very nasty case of sexual obsession and blackmail--one that threatens his job, his marriage, and his life.

Based on the New York Times Notable Book of the Year by Colin Harrison.

Reviews

• Nytimes.com: Adrien Brody is an actor who knows what he's good at. And in "Manhattan Night," a classic film noir set in contemporary New York, his character, Porter Wren, is a scuttling tabloid columnist ensnared in an elaborate story of deception, blackmail, murder and sexual duplicity. In its complexity and zest for evil, the plot rivals that of "Chinatown."
• Hollywoodreporter.com: A largely enjoyable neo-noir.
• Theguardian.com: Adrien Brody plays a crime columnist mixed up with a femme fatale in a steamy drama that manages to entertain.
• AVClub.com: The most compelling character is an eccentric, extravagantly acclaimed film director, Simon Crowley (Campbell Scott), who is seen only in flashbacks tied to his habit of videotaping, sometimes surreptitiously, his encounters with strangers and loved ones alike. There's something disturbing and recognizably contemporary about Simon's DV fetish, and Scott, always a fascinating actor, has the stare of a true voyeur. In its best scenes, the film plays with the tension between its antagonist's insatiable need to transform real life into melodrama and its own relentless narrative gamesmanship. The script plays keep-away with the audience, and the mystery being withheld is so truly, luridly tantalizing that it's almost disappointing that the filmmakers give it up at all.
• Screenspotlight.com: Brody has teamed with director/screenwriter Brian DeCubellis to make a movie that is spellbinding from the first frame and well-beyond its last. Manhattan Night may be labeled as film noire but to assign only one descriptive characterization to this movie is a misstep. Only a flourishing crowd of adjectives and adverbs will draw out the near perfection that is Manhattan Night. Movie lovers, feast your eyes on the macabre dance that is Manhattan Night and quench your appetites for a movie whose nose is always to the grindstone. Let Adrien Brody take you on a journey into the unknown.
• Cutprint.film: Brody is one of the more interesting actors working today, and he gives the part his all, bringing an appropriate weariness and foolishness to his part as we watch him get suckered into one problem after another.
• Azcentral.com: Modern-day film noir is an engrossing showcase for Brody and newbie writer-director Brian DeCubellis. it pulls you in its web, which gets increasingly dense and tangled. Brody's journo is an engaging presence, and the actor knows how to make the wisecracking dialogue snap.