The SLMan Culture List: December
THE FILM TO STREAM: Leave The World Behind
In this apocalyptic thriller from Sam Esmail (Mr Robot), Amanda (Julia Roberts) and her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) rent a luxurious home for the weekend with their kids Archie and Rose. The trip is upended when two strangers – GH (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) – arrive in the night, bearing news of a mysterious cyberattack and seeking refuge in the house they claim is theirs. The two families reckon with a looming disaster that grows more terrifying by the minute, forcing everyone to come to terms with their place in a collapsing world.
Visit Netflix.com
THE PLAY: Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Stranger Things: The First Shadow brings the world of the sci-fi phenomenon to life on stage. The show opens at the Phoenix theatre on 14th December and will also be on Netflix. In Hawkins in 1959, young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously, and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy, and the shadows of the past have a very long reach. Brought to life by an award-winning creative team, who take theatrical storytelling and stagecraft to a whole new dimension, this gripping adventure will take you right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story – and may hold the key to the end.
Visit ThePhoenixTheatre.co.uk
Manuel Harlan
THE TRUE-CRIME DOC: Face To Face With ETA: Conversations With A Terrorist
This Netflix series presents an exclusive interview with Josu Urrutikoetxea (aka Josu Ternera), one of the key figures in the separatist terror group ETA. Hosted by Jordi Évole, the documentary looks at the Basque group (which was active between 1959 and 2018) and some of its more significant moments before its dissolution. Almost 50 years after one of its most infamous attacks, the conversation helps provide answers to one of the terrorist group’s victims.
Visit Netflix.com
THE FAST-PACED SPORTS FILM: Ferrari
From Michael Mann, this Christmas Day release is the story of motor mogul Enzo Ferrari as he enters the 1,000-mile Mille Miglia race in the summer of 1957. A star-studded cast is led by Adam Driver as Ferrari himself, but look out too for Penelope Cruz as Laura Ferrari, Shailene Woodley as Lina Lardi, Patrick Dempsey as Piero Taruffi, and Jack O’Connell as Peter Collins.
Visit Picturehouses.com
THE BIOPIC: Maestro
Directed by and starring Bradley Cooper, Maestro is a towering love story chronicling the lifelong relationship between composer Leonard Bernstein and Costa Rican actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (played by Carey Mulligan). A love letter to life and art, shot in black and white, Maestro at its core is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love – and looks a shoo-in for award nominations early next year.
Visit Netflix.com
THE TRUE STORY: The Boys In The Boat
The Boys in the Boat is a sports drama based on the number-one New York Times bestselling non-fiction novel written by Daniel James Brown. The film, directed by George Clooney, is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This inspirational true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world. Stars Callum Turner and Joel Edgerton.
Visit Picturehouses.com
THE SPORTS DOC: Bye Bye Barry
When Detroit Lions superstar Barry Sanders vanished at the height of his career, he left the NFL world in shock. He was still in his prime, chasing the all-time NFL rushing record, when he boarded a flight to England and never stepped foot on the field again. Now, 24 years later, Barry retraces his steps through the streets of London to finally confront the mystery. A must for anyone who enjoyed Quarterback or Last Chance U.
Visit NowTV.com
THE BOOKER WINNER: Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
Prophet Song is this year’s exhilarating and terrifying, Booker winner. It offers a devastating vision of a country at war and a deeply human portrait of a mother's fight to hold her family together. On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her step. Two officers from Ireland's newly formed secret police are here to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist. Ireland is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and Eilish can only watch helplessly as the world she knew disappears. When her husband and then her eldest son vanish, she finds herself caught within the nightmare logic of a collapsing society. How far will she go to save her family? And what – or who – is she willing to leave behind?
Visit Amazon.co.uk
THE STOCKING FILLER: Watford Forever by John Preston
From the author of non-fiction hits A Very English Scandal and The Dig comes a sports story with Sir Elton John at its centre. Britain in the 1970s was beset by unrest and unemployment, as inflation soared, fuel was scarce, and hooliganism was on the rise. For Watford FC, the outlook was even gloomier. Rundown and rat-infested, the Hornets were an ailing side with holes in their kit and barely enough fans to fill a stand. Of the 92 clubs in the Football League, Watford were in 92nd place. Meanwhile, Elton was the biggest rockstar in the world. Many assumed he would move to America. Instead, he bought his favourite football club. Inspiring and infectiously funny, this is a tribute to the sport’s unlikeliest friendship as Elton John and manager Graham Taylor – a straight-talking former fullback with a love of Vera Lynn – beat the odds and their personal demons to save a club and a community.
Visit Amazon.co.uk
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