Amulet (2020)
Amulet (Streaming July 24, OnDemand)
Set vaguely in the past following a vague, unnamed war, this film delves into parallel timelines. Unfolding somewhere in Eastern Europe, the central character is Tomaz (Alec Secareanu). A former soldier, he suffers from PTSD. In exchange for food and shelter, Tomaz attempts to fix a dilapidated home belonging to Magda (Carla Juri), and her mother, locked away in an upstairs room. Romance sparks with Magda, though Tomaz becomes increasingly distressed by Magda’s unseen, noisy mom. The film’s middle portion sags, but in the final act, writer/director Romola Garai captures effective imagery.
The Kissing Booth 2 (Streaming July 24, Netflix)
Director/screenwriter Vince Marcello returns for this sequel, based on characters from Beth Reekles’ 2012 young adult romance. Though the 2018 predecessor was panned, its PG-13 romantic fantasy brought in the viewers. Joey King returns as Elle, a high school senior whose summer love Noah (Jacob Elordi), is now a college freshman. Noah wants Elle to join him at Harvard, but she plans to attend Berkeley with her male best friend, Lee (Joel Courtney). Mean local girls rub Elle's nose in posts depicting Noah’s Harvard girlfriends. Elle tries to outmaneuver Noah while appearing to be unconcerned, when, in reality he's all she thinks about.
Radioactive (On Disc/Streaming Jul 24, Amazon)
Rosamund Pike depicts Polish Marie Curie, a naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. Directed by Marjane Satrapi, we meet young, Marie shortly before she's approached by her future husband, fellow scientist Pierre Curie. Despite earning a pair of Nobel Prizes, Marie feels slighted by the scientific community. A personal scandal finds her rejected by the French, largely unaware of the physical toll Curie’s research exacts. Well-scripted and filmed with the silver tint of an old photograph, the film's conceit gives Curie psychic vision as she peers into our nuclear future.
The Room (On disc/Streaming July 21, VOD)
After Kate and Matt (Olga Kurylenko and Kevin Janssens), chuck city life for a care-worn rural mansion, they soon discover the house contains a wish-room, capable of fulfilling their every desire. The catch is that wish-items disintegrate if taken outside the house. Despite this flaw, Kate wishes for a baby and one materializes. She names him Shane and is obsessively devoted. Matt has no use for the unnatural offspring. It returns Matt’s feelings. Director Christian Volckman delivers excellent cinematography and special effects in this psychological horror. The unexpected twists nearly make up for clunky, expository dialog.
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