‘Holes’
Director: Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan
Starring: Mariam Abdulrahman, Meshal Almutairi
Saudi writer-director Aldhabaan’s latest feature has echoes of his last, “The Matchmaker,” in that “Holes” is also a psychological thriller. It centers on Rakan and his wife Rim, desperate to find their own place so that they no longer have to live with Rakan’s mother. The only issue with their new home is the hole that someone appears to have hammered through one of its walls. After moving in, Rakan becomes increasingly distant from his wife. Through flashbacks, we begin to learn why his mood has changed, and when his mother is attacked by burglars breaking into her house, Rakan is confronted by an unwelcome reminder of his past.
‘Better Man’
Director: Michael Gracey
Starring: Robbie Williams, Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman
It’s the story of UK pop superstar Robbie Williams, but “Better Man” is not your average musical biopic. While the rest of the cast consists of actors (including some of England’s finest), Williams is played by a CGI chimpanzee (voiced by the man himself), because of Williams’ feeling of being a “performing monkey” for most of his career. The result is actually genuinely moving as we follow Williams’ meteoric rise as a member of boy band Take That through his record-breaking solo career to his struggles with fame, addiction and depression — arguably far more moving because of the choice to not have Williams, or, indeed, any other actor, play the lead. An astonishing technical achievement.
‘Lail Nahar’
Director: Abdulaziz Almuzaini
Starring: Abdullah Al-Sadhan, Zyad Alamri, Nawaf Alsulaiman
Saudi writer-director Almuzaini is best known as the co-creator of the wildly popular animated series “Masameer.” With “Lail Nahar” he turns his satirical lens on the Saudi entertainment industry. Popular singer Nahar is accused of racism in a video that goes viral. To counter the accusations, he announces — live — his upcoming marriage to a black woman. There’s just one snag: he doesn’t yet have a fiancée. However, he comes to an arrangement with a wedding singer, and the pair find that their fake romance unexpectedly blossoms into an emotional journey.
‘My Driver and I’
Director: Ahd Kamel
Starring: Roula Dakheelallah, Mishaal Tamer, Mustafa Shehata
Saudi actress, writer, director and producer Kamel mines her own childhood in this coming-of-age story set in Jeddah in the Eighties and Nineties. It centers on the relationship between a rebellious girl, Salma, and her family’s chauffeur, a Sudanese man named Gamar, who quickly becomes her confidant and something of a father figure in lieu of her real dad, an always-on-the-go businessman. But as Salma grows up, their relationship becomes strained as Gamar tries to rein in her defiance, believing that he is protecting her reputation.
‘Night of the Zoopocalypse’
Directors: Ricardo Curtis, Rodrigo Perez-Castro
Voice cast: Gabbi Kosmidis, David Harbour, Scott Thompson
Animated comedy-horror inspired by a short story by English horror writer Clive Barker. A meteorite crashes into Colepepper Zoo, releasing a virus that turns the majority of the animals there into zombies. The handful of survivors, led by a young wolf named Gracie and the gruff old mountain lion Dan, team up to find a cure and defeat the mutant Bunny King. Family-friendly fun.
‘Yalla Parkour’
Director: Areeb Zuaiter
Starring: Areeb Zuaiter, Ahmad Matar
Palestine-born filmmaker Zuaiter’s debut feature documentary picked up the International Prize at DOC NYC. It was reportedly 10 years in the making and was completed before the events of Oct. 7, 2023 (although the ongoing destruction of Gaza is noted in the prologue). The film was inspired by internet footage the Washington-based Zuaiter discovered in 2013 of a group of young men performing parkour in Khan Yunis, in south Gaza. At the time, Zuaiter was searching for connection to her homeland, having lost her Palestinian mother. Via social media, she gets in touch with one of the athletes, Ahmad Matar, and they begin to talk about life in Gaza — where Zuaiter is unable to visit. But with Matar as her guide, she begins to rediscover childhood memories, and to see parkour as a form of hope and freedom in the face of oppression.
‘A Sudden Case of Christmas’
Director: Peter Chelsom
Starring: Danny DeVito, Andie MacDowell, Wilmer Valderrama
This seasonal film is a family affair on several levels, not least because comedy legend Danny DeVito stars alongside his daughter Lucy. It’s the story of an American couple on the verge of separating. To break the news to their 10-year-old daughter Claire, they take a trip to her grandfather’s hotel in Italy. Hoping that she can hatch a plan to keep her parents together, Claire asks the whole family to celebrate a final Christmas together. In August.
