10 Suggestions for 9 Good Films

A quick round-up of notable movies, new and old, on streaming services, but first, a couple of heads-up on theatrical releases and other events:

"The Ballad of Wallis Island" opens in NY and LA today and rolls out to other cities next week (I'll be reviewing it for the WaPo then), and it's as pleasant as a ⭐ ⭐ 1/2 movie can be, a sweet little tale of an eccentric lottery winner (Tim Key) who invites to his private island his favorite folk-music duo, McGwyer and Mortimer, for a concert to an audience of one. Trouble is, McGwyer and Mortimer have long since broken up both personally and professionally, and McGwyer (Tom Basden) isn't wild about seeing Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) again. Or is he? Yes, Carey Mulligan's in it, which I know will make some of you immediately get up and go. And deservedly so: The movie's a low-key charmer that promises more than it delivers, but what it delivers is nice enough.

If you're in the mood for something a little meatier to stick to your ribs, I would recommend "Misericordia" (⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/2), which is doing a slow roll-out out to independent theaters. (It's playing in Boston now and comes to D.C. in early April.) Writer-director Alain Guiraudie has been ruffling moviegoers' feathers for some time now – there's a fine festival of his earlier films on the Criterion Channel if you'd like to catch up – and his latest is a simmering stewpot of rural melodrama and murder that called to my mind both Patricia Highsmith and the late, great Claude Chabrol, only with a playfully mean queer subtext. A young man (Félix Kysyl) returns to a small town for the funeral of the baker he apprenticed to, and his appearance stirs up lust and blood and mushrooms in equal measure. Featuring Jacques Develay as a village priest who breaks pretty much every rule in the catechism.

A friend from my New York days has alerted me to a documentary streaming exclusively online starting tomorrow, "Borderland: The Line Within," a documentary from award-winning filmmaker and human rights activist Pamela Yates that examines the "border industrial complex" and its implications for and implementations in the future. That future being now, basically. You can get more information at the film's website or at the streaming portal Eventive. "Borderland" normally costs $9 to stream but will be streaming for free this weekend only, March 29 - 31.

My Washington Post reviews of new theatrical releases "Death of a Unicorn," "The Penguin Lessons" and the Andy Kaufman bio-doc "Thank You Very Much" will go out later today to paid subscribers. Also for paid subs, here are ten solid tips for weekend movie streaming. (Sorry to lower the paywall here, but do feel free to sign up – you'll get your money's worth in film recommendations over the course of the month or year, and you'll also earn my sincere gratitude.)