This film will no longer be available in Subscription from 29 September
The Wound
A traditional rite of passage ritual forms the backdrop for this tough and complex tale of closeted sexuality in South Africa.
Director: John Trengove
Overview
A traditional rite of passage ritual forms the backdrop for this powerful exploration of masculinity and unspoken queer desire. In the remote mountains of South Africa’s Eastern Cape, the teenage boys of the Xhosa community are initiated into manhood through an annual circumcision ritual. This painful ordeal is followed by two weeks healing, during which each initiate is assigned an elder to teach the culture’s codes of masculinity. Factory worker Xolani is tasked with caring for Kwanda, a petulant adolescent from Johannesburg. As the days pass, Kwanda begins to notice Xolani harbours a deep affection for fellow elder Vija, leading to growing tensions between the three men.
Privileging a need for cultural authenticity, director John Trengove worked with a cast of exclusively native Xhosa speakers, many of whom are non-actors. The result is a visually breathtaking, thematically complex meditation on the wounds that exist on the surface and those deeper scars that never truly heal.
strong sex, language, drug misuseRelated
Evil Does Not Exist Evil Does Not Exist
Drama 2023 106 mins Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to Drive My Car is a hauntingly enigmatic eco-thriller. Winner of Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival.
Rare Beasts Rare Beasts
Comedy 2021 92 mins Director: Billie Piper
Billie Piper stars in her own directorial debut, a no-holds-barred, Fleabag-esque anti-romcom about a modern woman’s struggles in work and love.
Baltimore Baltimore
Historical drama 2023 98 mins Director: Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor
Imogen Poots grounds Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor's meditative portrayal of terrorist, disinherited heiress and expectant mother Rose Dugdale.
Four Little Adults Four Little Adults
Drama 2023 123 mins Director: Selma Vilhunen
A Finnish couple facing a marital crisis venture into the world of polyamory, in this mature meditation on love.
The Teachers' Lounge The Teachers' Lounge
Drama 2023 99 mins Director: Ilker Çatak
A teacher’s life unravels when one of her students is accused of stealing in this arresting, Oscar-nominated thriller.
The Protagonists The Protagonists
Drama 1999 87 mins Director: Luca Guadagnino
The rarely seen debut by acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) is a bizarre drama-documentary recreating a motiveless London murder.
The Handmaiden The Handmaiden
Crime 2016 146 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Stoker) channels Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, to create a sumptuous twisty psychological thriller full of erotic intrigue.
The Untamed The Untamed
Fantasy 2016 98 mins Director: Amat Escalante
Amat Escalante follows Heli with a boundary-pushing, mind-blowing mix of sex, sci-fi and social drama.
Beach Rats Beach Rats
Drama 2017 98 mins Director: Eliza Hittman
Gripping account of repressed sexual desire in a hyper-masculine environment, with British newcomer Harris Dickinson as a virulently macho Brooklyn teen.
Rafiki Rafiki
Drama 2018 83 mins Director: Wanuri Kahiu
Romantic sparks fly between the daughters of two opposing politicians in Wanuri Kahiu’s neon-bright story of forbidden love in Kenya.
Vita & Virginia Vita & Virginia
Biopic 2018 110 mins Director: Chanya Button
Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki relive a literary love affair, fiery and forbidden, with a remarkable legacy.
Firebird Firebird
Drama 2021 107 mins Director: Peeter Rebane
At the height of the Cold War, a love triangle between a junior officer, his best friend and a handsome fighter pilot enters dangerous territory.
Evil Does Not Exist Evil Does Not Exist
Drama 2023 106 mins Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to Drive My Car is a hauntingly enigmatic eco-thriller. Winner of Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival.
Rare Beasts Rare Beasts
Comedy 2021 92 mins Director: Billie Piper
Billie Piper stars in her own directorial debut, a no-holds-barred, Fleabag-esque anti-romcom about a modern woman’s struggles in work and love.
Baltimore Baltimore
Historical drama 2023 98 mins Director: Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor
Imogen Poots grounds Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor's meditative portrayal of terrorist, disinherited heiress and expectant mother Rose Dugdale.
Four Little Adults Four Little Adults
Drama 2023 123 mins Director: Selma Vilhunen
A Finnish couple facing a marital crisis venture into the world of polyamory, in this mature meditation on love.
In Cold Blood In Cold Blood
Crime 1967 135 mins Director: Richard Brooks
Powerful adaptation of Truman Capote’s true-crime novel about the massacre of a family in Kansas, and the manhunt for the killers.
One False Move One False Move
Crime 1990 106 mins Director: Carl Franklin
Explosive thriller starring Bill Paxton as a small-town Sheriff, out to bust a gang of LA drug dealers… until he learns his ex-girlfriend is one of them.