Vera Loves movies
Our favourites this month
The movies onboard are handpicked from major award winning titles, festival favourites, Hollywood Blockbusters and World Cinema.
After Love
Starring: Joanna Scanlan, Nathalie Richard
Star Scanlan has been impressing awards’ judges with her awesome turn as Mary Hussain, a Muslim by marriage, who after her husband’s unexpected death discovers that he has a secret. To get to the bottom of things she must first across the English Channel...
Belfast
Starring: Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan
Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical love letter to the city of his youth is a feast of delights, from the stellar cast (especially young Jude Hill as Buddy) to the stunning cinematography and a storyline that packs a punch. No wonder it’s been snaffling awards left, right and centre.
Cyrano
Starring: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett
Director Joe ‘Atonement’ Wright’s take on the classic Cyrano de Bergerac tale tells of the quick-witted but diminutive Cyrano (Dinklage) who wants to win the heart of the beautiful Roxanne (Bennett). Packed with great songs and sumptuously shot, it’s a feast for the senses.
The Fallout
Starring: Jenna Ortega, Maddie Ziegler
A school shooting is the springboard for this sensitively handled drama in which survivor Vada (a superb performance from Ortega) navigates her grief with varying degrees of success. What emerges is a genuinely insightful study of trauma studded with darkly comic moments.
The Good Boss
Starring: Javier Bardem, Manolo Solo
This superb Spanish film features an almost unrecognisable Javier Bardem as factory owner Blanco. As Blanco waits for a visit from a committee who might award his company a coveted gong, he spends his time trying to resolve problems with his workers.
Man-Spider
Starring: Liz Kingsman, Harry Michell
Everyone knows the Spiderman story: man gets bitten by spider, man gets spider powers, becomes a hero. But radioactive metamorphosis is a two-way street. So, what happened to the spider who bit Peter Parker?
Nightmare Alley
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett
An ambitious carnival worker (Bradley Cooper) with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a mysterious psychiatrist, his most formidable opponent yet.
North Hollywood
Starring: Miranda Cosgrove, Vince Vaughn
This is the kind of scratchy indie film you’ll either love or hate. We make no excuses for loving it, as we join a young lad, Michael, who dreams of being a famous skater but also has problems at home – most prominently from his determinedly ‘old skool’ dad.
Parallel Mothers
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
Pedro Almodóvar’s latest exercise in idiosyncratic brilliance is a stunning treatise on motherhood. His regular muse Cruz stars in a tale of two women who meet in a maternity ward – one a scared young girl, the other a veteran – and form an important bond.
Don't forget...
These are our top picks this month, you'll find plenty more movies to choose from once you're settled in onboard.