You spent more time standing around on the green carpet and waiting for celebrities at the Zurich Film Festival than watching films? No problem, most of the films in the festival program are still to be released in cinemas. Our short list of favorite discoveries will hopefully entice you out of your living room and into the nearest cinema.
An awkward affair: Babygirl
A career woman who has everything – including the greatest husband and children – wants an affair in which she can live out her fantasies of domination. Her young intern wants the same. But when it comes to the execution, things fail dramatically at times, thanks to the amusing awkwardness of the two. An entertaining film that, as you would expect from production house A24, scores with the right amount of weirdness .
Theatrical release: 16. 01. 2025
Death and friendship: The Room Next Door
In keeping with the melodramatic weather, Pedro Almodóvar’s new film is also a melodrama that deals with the inevitability of death and physical self-determination. Thanks to humor at the right moments, the whole thing is not as difficult as it sounds. There are also plus points for the star cast. Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore play old friends who spend one last month together before one of them decides to die prematurely due to her illness.
Theatrical release: 12.12.2014
Religious questions wrapped in horror: Heretic
It’s actually spooky season now. However, Scott Beck and Bryan Wood’s new horror film “Heretic” appears in cinemas shortly after Christmas. It’s also fitting, because Hugh Grant shines as a villain who is both critical of religion and fanatical, who opens the door to two Mormon women and – instead of being converted – sets off an oppressive and bloody game of cat-and-mouse. The clever verbal battles not only provide laughs between moments of horror, but may even provide you with an argument or two that will win you every religious debate at the Christmas party with relatives you only see once a year anyway.
Theatrical release: 26.12.2024
Emotional documentary: Sabbath Queen
Sometimes life is more exciting than fiction. This documentary by Sandi DuBowski, which was made over 21 years, is more captivating than any fictionalized story. He accompanied Amichai Lau-Lavie, a queer Jewish rabbi, on his journey through life. Amichai comes from a family of Holocaust survivors and 38 generations of rabbis. He himself wants to change orthodox Judaism, marries people of different religions and performs as a drag queen. And yet at some point he trains to become an official rabbi. The film could not be more topical. Questions about tradition, belonging and acceptance are raised without any black-and-white thinking.
Theatrical release: tba
Comeback or Not?: The Last Showgirl
Welcome back, Pamela Anderson: the icon plays an aged dancer who has to say goodbye to show business and her big dream. Is there a bit of biography involved? Who knows. The fact that the emotional world and mood are more important here than the content is due to the fact that the film comes from the Coppola universe: The director is Gia Coppola, granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola and niece of Sofia Coppola.
Theatrical release: tba
A different Daniel Craig: Queer
With “Call Me By Your Name” he has filmed the most romantic and heart-warming romance and with “Bones and All” the bloodiest. Luca Guadagnino feels at home in every genre. And we feel at home in every movie theater that shows his work. With “Queer”, he has now brought the semi-autobiographical novel by William S. Burroughs to the big screen. Daniel Craig finally in a role other than the hyper-masculine James Bond? Yes please.
Theatrical release: tba
Musical Madness: Joker: Folie à Deux
A story originally from the DC Comics universe, with Lady Gaga to turn the whole thing into a musical and Joaquin Phoenix, who is a living legend anyway? The second round of director Todd Philipps’ Joker story sounded like a fever dream from the start. But thanks to two icons in the leading roles and new songs by Lady Gaga, there’s no reason not to go and see this spectacle.
Theatrical release: 3.10.2024
Would you like one last movie recommendation? We could watch “The Substance” every few weeks and would be just as enthusiastic every time as the first time.
Find out what else was screened at the ZFF and more details about the individual films here.
