Films for November 🍁
The Apprentice, Layla + films to watch out for this month...
Hello angels 👼
Hope you’re doing ok and the dark nights aren’t getting you down. I’ve got a light newsletter for you this month. I’m five seasons deep into The West Wing which is taking up most of my watching life at the moment, but I have managed to see a couple of films that I wanted to share with you…
The Apprentice
I don’t blame you if you’d rather not watch a film about Donald Trump right now but I did really enjoy this. The Apprentice is a biographical drama, examining Trump’s early career in real estate in New York in the 70s and 80s, and specifically his relationship with his mentor and lawyer Roy Cohn. It’s really an origin story — we see how Donald Trump came to be Donald Trump — with his behaviour and mannerisms becoming increasingly Trumpian throughout the film. The acting is great, especially Jeremy Strong at his sociopathic best as Cohn and Maria Bakalova as Trump’s first wife Ivana. In UK cinemas now.
Layla
This film is the debut feature of writer and director Amrou Al-Khadi. It follows Layla (Bilal Hasna), a London drag queen who falls in love with a cis marketing executive called Max (Louis Greatorex). Layla lives a double life, keeping their true identity hidden from their Palestinian family, who know them as their son, Latif. The film covers Layla and Max’s relationship, how they try (and struggle) to fit into each other’s worlds — Max, with his Scandi-minimalist flat, posh family and corporate job — Layla with their flamboyant fashion and colourful home shared with outgoing housemates, for whom the alternative queer club ‘Feathers’ is a second home. The dialogue did make me want to bang my head against the wall a fair bit, but we’ll forgive it because there’s a lot to love about this film. In UK cinemas from the 22nd (or get yourself to the BFI for a sneaky preview).
Coming to cinemas near you…
Cinema season has well and truly arrived, and there are lots of things to get excited about this month. Coming up very soon are…
🌟 Blitz — Steve McQueen’s new film starring Saoirse Ronan set in London during the Second World War
🌟 Gladiator II — Ridley Scott’s long-awaited sequel, starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington
🌟 Emilia Pérez — a genre-bending musical-comedy-thriller set in a Mexican drug cartel, starring Selena Gomez
🌟 Small Things Like These — an adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novella of the same name, set in ‘80s small-town Ireland and starring Cillian Murphy
Marvels from the community
❤️ Celine recommends Rivals, an adaptation of the 1988 Jilly Cooper novel of the same name, starring David Tennant, Danny Dyer and Emily Atack among others. Very funny and very steamy by all accounts. Available on Disney+.
❤️ Emily + Jack recommend Ludwig, a comedy crime series starring David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin. While seeking to solve his twin brother’s disappearance, a reclusive puzzle-designer takes on his twin’s identity as a detective chief inspector. On BBC iPlayer.
What have you been enjoying lately? Let me know 🤗