Matt Smith stars in Nick Cave adaptation

This week’s picks include Joel Edgerton, the wild adaptation of Nick Cave’s book. Train DreamsFrench remake Dangerous Relationships and a deeply personal documentary about New Zealand singer-songwriter Marlon Williams.

Death of Bunny Munro ★★★ (Extreme)

From screamer punk to national treasure, Nick Cave has created a truly distinctive sound over the last 50 years. Few musicians have been able to make one of his songs their own, and judging by this shocking limited series based on Cave’s 2009 novel of the same name, bringing his writing to the big screen could be just as challenging. A coming-of-age crisis centered on sexual addiction and grandfather delusions. Death of Bunny Munro A sharp British drama about wanting to have it all.

Perhaps this is soured by Matt Smith’s sheer swagger as Bunny Munro, a cocky playboy and serial hustler who sells women’s cosmetics “by appointment” rather than door-to-door. Bunny was with another woman the night he took the life of his wife, Libby (Sarah Greene), who was depressed by his infidelities. Bunny’s first instinct is to leave her bookish, lonely nine-year-old son Bunny Junior (Rafael Mathe) with her father-in-law and return to seducing his clients, but circumstances send the pair on their way together.

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Written by Pete Jackson (Somewhere Child) and directed by Isabella Eklof (Industry), set in Brighton circa 2003, these six short episodes are conventional in structure: Bunny is a loan-sharking narcissist, Bunny Junior hopes for paternal love, their situation worsens, and father and son face endgame. But you can’t overstate the twisted, carnivorous charisma Smith invests in Bunny. Even Doctor Who gave it a long time ago Crown It’s an immoral accusation, and there it is. Appendix A: Libby’s funeral; Bunny escapes in the middle of the service for a quick smoke and some fun.

The twisted grit of Cave’s novel was Bunny’s inner monologues, which are not heard directly here; The sexual obsession of the entire episode, in which Bunny’s sexual fantasies about Kylie Minogue run wild, is replaced by an approving nod as her song plays on the radio. Mathe delivers an extremely sensitive performance, gaining harrowing insight, while Libby makes repeated ghostly turns, but there’s no balancing perspective in the story. I laughed, though, when Bunny labeled sex “a liaison kangaroo”; This is the uncut version of the Australian Cave idiom.

There’s no tolerance for masculinity as much as this tire fire poison, but even as Bunny loses his touch and crosses sharp lines, there’s a needle threaded delicately. You see how Bunny is still afraid of his own monster father, and there are moments of generosity towards Bunny Junior. But the extraterrestrial realm where the final episode takes place feels like an odd sidestep after all the primal lust and selfishness. Think carefully before diving too far into the arms of Bunny Munro.

Train Dreams ★★★★ (Netflix)

Australian actor Joel Edgerton has never been nominated for an Academy Award, but his impressive performance in this period drama should rightfully change that. The story of an ordinary man, Edgerton’s Robert Grainier. Train Dreams is a period drama steeped in lyrical wonders, early 20th-century tactile details, and hints of the unknown. It is far from biographical; time flies by quickly; It’s as if the changing world is always one step ahead of Robert, a stoic logger trying to find personal fulfillment.

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Directed by Clint Bentley and written by Greg Kwedar, who previously collaborated on 2023’s outstanding prison drama Sing Sing Sing, Train Dreams It takes place in the Pacific Northwest region of America. Vast, ancient forests provide the means for unfettered and ultimately destructive national growth, which Robert and his lumberjack friends harness in gnarled and otherworldly conditions. Terrence Malick, the philosophical prophet of American cinema, is a lasting influence, especially of the 1978s. Days of Heaven.

Edgerton’s defining characteristic on the big screen is his caution. His characters take it all in, and in the case of Robert, it becomes an overwhelming task that always has a deeply felt intimacy. Shot in gorgeously flickering light, his scenes of cottage life with his wife Gladys (Felicity Jones) feel dreamy. Their pairing with regrets sharpens the bittersweet teeth of this story. It’s a remarkable film, leaving only one real concern: Can’t Australia find a film this good for Edgerton?

Seduction ★★½ (HBO Max)

It’s only been three years since the last English broadcast version Dangerous RelationshipsThis six-part French remake of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s 18th-century novel of aristocratic deceit and romantic spite starts promisingly with its gripping production design and focus on female characters regaining power in pre-revolutionary Paris, but gradually falters. A savvy mentor, Diane Kruger is the domineering Madame de Rosemonde, but the friction between her treacherous nephew Valmont (Vincent Lacoste) and the young woman he seduced, Isabelle (Anamaria Vartolomei), cannot sustain a dry plot.

Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds ★★★★ (DocPlay)

Homecoming takes many forms in this deeply personal documentary about New Zealand singer-songwriter (and one-time Melbourne resident) Marlon Williams, who returns to record in the port city of Lyttelton where he grew up. Te Whare Tīwekawekaan album composed entirely in Te Reo Maori. Director Ursula Grace Williams (no relation) captures the rediscovery of heritage as well as the tenacity and spark of artistic creation; By the time Williams entered primary school, he had lost the ability to speak the language of his ancestors. Having Lorde guest on a song is an extremely immersive process.

The Best of Los Angeles ★★½ (Stan*)

If you want a female-driven action-oriented cop action, the two seasons of this 2019 law enforcement drama deliver reliable star power and familiar Los Angeles angles. Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba star as LAPD detectives Syd Burnett and Nancy McKenna; the first is a recurring character from the 2003 blockbuster. Bad Boys IIthe latter is hiding his criminal past. There’s plenty of familiar cop-buddy banter here, as well as scenarios from many other Los Angeles cop shows. As Union elevates her role, Alba proves that her transition to action star is a work in progress.

Leanne Morgan: Indescribable Things ★★★ (Netflix)

American stand-up star Leanne Morgan experienced one difference after another in her first stand-up special. I am Every Woman: She was a woman in her 50s from the rural American South, full of life experience and wry observations. Indescribable ThingsWhat goes on is that we see Morgan balancing her outsider stance with the realities of being a high-profile star who also has a successful Netflix sitcom. Leanne. For the most part, he deftly plays two worlds; Now she’s an outsider in Hollywood, working with Reese Witherspoon and feeling motherly towards a stripper during a wild industry night.

*Stan belongs to Nine, the publisher of this imprint.