New Stories and Unexpected Twists
Souleymane – Available 1 August in the US and Canada in this Cannes-award-winning drama, an immigrant food delivery worker in Paris, Souleymane (Abou Sangaré), follows his dreams.
As he readies for a fateful legal residency interview, he has to commit a false backstory to memory, all while scraping out an existence. Directed by Boris Lojkine, the movie is a gripping, brisk narrative on immigration and survival, described as one of the best of its kind.
Guns – Out in cinemas worldwide on 8 August, American filmmaker Zach Cregger's ambitious horror epic opens with 17 children disappearing overnight.
With Josh Brolin as the searching parent and Julia Garner as the suspect teacher, the mystery unspools as if it had been a punch spiked with Magnolia. Cregger delivers a spooky, sprawling story here.
Caught Stealing. Darren Aronofsky takes a break from darker works with this crime caper out on 29 August. Austin Butler plays a bartender who gets entangled in a criminal brouhaha with Matt Smith, Zoe Kravitz, Liev Schreiber, and Vincent D'Onofrio. Planted in New York in the 1990s, it is pure chaos and a romp in that Tarantino way.
Highest 2 Lowest – Out on 22 August in the US, Spike Lee recasts Kurosawa's High and Low as a music-industry thriller. Denzel Washington stars as a record label boss whose son is kidnapped.
Featuring A$AP Rocky and Ice Spice in supporting roles, it's at once wildly entertaining and deeply meaningful.
Sequels, Comedies, and Heartfelt Films
The Bad Guys 2 – Out 1 August internationally, DreamWorks brings back its group of animal anti-heroes. Now aiming to remain on the right side of the law, the gang runs into trouble after they are blackmailed into collaborating with another crew, The Bad Girls.
Director Pierre Perifel contributes some Mission: Impossible- and blockbuster-style action beats.
Freakier Friday – Out 8 August, Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis return for this sequel about not just a mother-daughter body swap, but one that spans generations. Lohan says the movie is light and fun and made to lift the spirits.
Splitsville – Us release 22 August. A romcom from the team behind The Climb; stars Dakota Johnson, Adría Arjona, Michael Angelo Covino, and Kyle Marvin. It's a delightful send-up of open relationships and life messiness in general.
The Roses. This re-imagining of The War of the Roses stars Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch as a couple locked in personal and professional rivalry.
Directed by Jay Roach and written by Tony McNamara, the movie is in theaters on 29 August and combines outrageous raunch with heartfelt emotion.
Music, Mystery, and Nostalgia
It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley – A beautiful film about the life and intense career of Jeff Buckley and the troubled times. Amy Berg's movie is a celebration of Buckley's gift with his voice, a reveling in his soul and his dreams.
The Naked Gun: Liam Neeson will be filling Leslie Nielsen's shoes in this 'howler' of a reboot, set to be released in August. With Pamela Anderson as the femme fatale and Seth MacFarlane producing, it's a riotous return to the laugh-out-loud spoof cinema we love.
The Thursday Murder Club – Based on Richard Osman's bestseller, this adaptation debuts 28 August on Netflix with Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie. A cozy, clever mystery directed by Chris Columbus about a group of retirees who turn sleuths.
The surprise 2021 hit gets a sequel, with Bob Odenkirk's Hutch squaring off against a new opponent while on vacation with his family. Out on 15 August worldwide, it delves into the dynamics of rest and work, and the impossibility of ever fully leaving behind a past. Sharon Stone enters the cast as a formidable new adversary.
From edge-of-your-seat thrillers and gripping dramas to light-hearted comedies and touching documentaries, August is filled with an array of great films for all cinematic tastes. Whether your fix is heart, horror, or humor, this month's new releases have you covered.
