Sick of ‘Wicked’? Here are eight great films showing at Philly’s independent theaters
A Bob Dylan biopic, an animated black cat braving a flood, a Chinese blockbuster, and a Catholic Church thriller. Take your pick.
The long weekend after New Year’s is the perfect time to catch a movie in the theater. But, if the box office is any indication, you’ve probably already seen Wicked and Moana 2. If you’re looking to start 2025 with something more original, here are a number of interesting movies now showing at the region’s local independent cinemas and AMC theaters.
‘Flow’
The Latvian Oscar entry that premiered at Cannes is an animated film but definitely not kids’ fare. It’s the story of a black cat who survives a deadly flood by jumping on to a boat with other animals. Depending on how one reads it, it’s a film about climate change, finding community, and braving the odds with friends.
Playing at: Bryn Mawr Film Institute, Film Society Bourse, Film Society East
‘Seed of the Sacred Fig’
Another film festival favorite that premiered at Cannes, Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s Seed of the Sacred Fig was filmed entirely in secret, given Iran’s censorship laws. The footage was then smuggled into Hamburg where it was edited. For his 10th film, Rasoulof (who has been arrested and banned in his home country) tells the story of a newly promoted investigative judge in Tehran and his wife and two daughters, and how their lives change against the backdrop of Iran’s feminist protests.
Playing at: Landmark Ritz Five
‘Maria’
Pablo Larraín, the Chilean filmmaker whose trademark style is to make biographies focused on a specific period of his subject’s life, is back with Maria. It tells the story of the last years of American and Greek soprano Maria Callas. Angelina Jolie, who spent seven months training in operatic singing, plays Callas.
Playing at: Ambler Theater
‘Conclave’
Edward Berger’s new film, with a star-studded cast, may not be usual holiday fare but is on its way to being one of my favorite Christmas-adjacent movies. The thriller begins with the sudden death of a pope, which prompts the College of Cardinals to elect a new leader for the Vatican. What ensues is a dramatic tale of scandal, secrets, sins, and even a suicide bomber attack.
Playing at: Ambler Theater, Film Society Bourse, Montgomery Cinemas
‘Her Story’
A film that’s breaking Chinese box office records, Her Story is a tale of unexpected friendship between a single mother looking to make a fresh start and her neighbor. The two navigate life, address their differences, and eventually question the beliefs and biases they’ve held all their lives.
Playing at: AMC Cherry Hill
‘A Complete Unknown’
If Wicked has left you wanting for more, here’s a very different sing-along. Timothée Chalamet plays Bob Dylan just as he breaks out as a folksinger and then decides, amid much criticism, to plug in and go electric. This biography is, as Inquirer pop music critic Dan DeLuca said, “filled with fibs.”
“But does it matter? Does A Complete Unknown undermine its depiction of who Dylan really is by not being more fastidious about biographical detail? Not in the least,” DeLuca writes.
Of course, Chalamet transforms himself beyond recognition but watch for some fantastic supporting performances by Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash and Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez.
Playing at: Film Society Bourse, Landmark Ritz Five, Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Also showing at AMC Market Street, AMC Cherry Hill, AMC Deptford,
‘Queer’
A 1985 William S. Burroughs novella gets the Luca Guadagnino treatment. Extending themes of same-sex love, travel, eroticism, and heartbreak that he perfected in Call Me By Your Name, Guadagnino explores the relationship between an American expat and an American GI in Mexico in the 1950s. Does it live up to Burroughs’ style? You’ll have to decide for yourself.
Playing at: Bryn Mawr Film Institute
‘A Real Pain’
Two very differently behaved cousins (Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg) take a trip to their ancestral village in Poland after their grandmother’s death. As they visit Holocaust memorials, cemeteries, and former concentration camps, the protagonists are forced to not just question who they are with respect to their painful histories but also what they make of that history and take into their present lives.
Playing at: Film Society Bourse, Bryn Mawr Film Institute, Montgomery Cinemas, Ambler Theater