Movie guide: New movies on Binge, Netflix and more

The Sopranos is one of the greatest series in the history of broadcast television, so is the prequel any good?

Leigh Paatsch reviews the latest movies on Binge, Netflix, Disney+ and more.

THE ONE WHERE ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO A SPEND

French Exit

FRENCH EXIT (M)

★★★★

FOXTEL, AMAZON or RENT

A strange, wonderful and audaciously unpredictable movie experience is centred around a career-best performance from Michelle Pfeiffer. She plays Frances Price, an imposingly imperious New York socialite who has zeroed out her late husband’s bank account. After capriciously converting all of her worldly possessions to cash, Frances hauls a big boot of loot to Paris with every intention of spending the lot. Also along for the ride: her layabout son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) and a house cat not known for his homely behaviour. What becomes of the trio will not be revealed here. But what can be hinted at is that this deceptively unusual and utterly unique tale will be taking twists, turns, short cuts and extended detours that no-one will see coming. Most of these departures from the expected are clever, caustically sarcastic and yet, unmistakeable sweet in nature. Others are disarmingly melancholy and distinctly insightful. Embodying all of these qualities and more is the extraordinary work of Pfeiffer. Not a word, gesture, glance or sigh is out of place here. How the Oscars failed to give her a Best Actress nomination is a staggering oversight.

THE ONE FOR SOPRANOS FANS

THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK (MA15+)

★★★

PREMIUM RENTAL

A better title might have been Tony Soprano: The Early Years. But that is not so poetic a choice when poetic licence is the order of the day. Especially when you are crafting a stand-alone prequel to one of the greatest series in the history of broadcast television, The Sopranos. Set primarily in the late 1960s and early 1970s, this well-crafted, though vaguely under-energised affair focuses on those colourful figures who shaped a young and hungry Tony Soprano into the maladjusted mobster he would become. Tony is played by a relative newcomer in Michael Gandolfini (son of James), and it must be said he does a fine job of stepping into his late father’s sizeable shoes. The movie picks up some serious momentum once it zeros in on Tony’s wide-eyed study of Uncle Dickie (a standout display from Alessandro Nivola). To be honest, while the filmmakers have gone to great lengths to make Many Saints work in its own right, it is best enjoyed by those who know their Sopranos folklore inside and out. Super-fans of the show will find plenty of fresh intel and surprise revelations about many of their favourite characters. Co-stars Ray Liotta, Vera Farmiga, Corey Stoll.

THE ONE WHERE RISKS AND REWARDS ARE BLURRED

STUNTMAN (PG)

★★★

DISNEY+

This fascinating doco about a daredevil and his dream opens with a stern warning from executive producer Dwayne Johnson. “Do not,” says the man they call The Rock, “try any of what you are about to see at home.” So if you are indeed planning on building a rocket in your backyard, and then piloting it across a massive canyon pass, you might wanna think again, OK? However, second thoughts are not a luxury that the subject of the doco, veteran stuntman Eddie Braun, can afford. He wants to draw the curtains on his decorated career by doing something his idol, the great Evel Knievel, could not: climbing aboard a homemade rocket, and steering the unpredictable metal beast all the way across Idaho’s Snake Canyon. Will he make it all the way over to the other side? Or face the many indignities and injuries that accompanied the failed Knievel mission? If you don’t know the answer, keep it that way until Stuntman’s riveting final minutes. The wait will be worth it, even though you may find yourself tiring of Braun’s many micro-boasts about working for so long in the danger zone.

THE ONE WITH EMOTION OUT ON THE OCEAN

Adrift.

ADRIFT (M)

★★★

RENT ONLY

Ordeal? Or no ordeal? These are your only choices here, as you get to experience 41 days’ worth of being hopelessly marooned on a half-wrecked boat in just 95 minutes. In 1983, American tourist Tami Oldham Ashcraft (well played by Shailene Woodley) and her British fiancee Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin) set sail on a 6500-kilometre journey from Tahiti to San Diego. Mid-voyage, the couple were rag-dolled by a rampant hurricane. The extreme damage done to the vessel – and a remote location far from the nearest shipping lanes – left no choice but to float along on oceanic currents in a vague hope of colliding with dry land.

THE ONE HAVING THE CRIME OF HER LIFE

Olivia Cooke in Pixie.

PIXIE (MA15+)

★★★

RENT ONLY

What this enjoyable Irish crime comedy-drama lacks in originality, it more than makes up for with sheer energy. Pixie (Olivia Cooke) is a quick-witted young woman looking for a swift ticket out of her oppressive home town on Ireland’s west coast. She just might have found it when a large cut of a lucrative drugs deal accidentally lands in her lap. However, to cash in the proceeds, Pixie will have to out-think, out-run and undermine every crook in the region. These include her kindly cutthroat of a stepfather (Colm Meaney), and a bloodthirsty bunch of mobsters who just happen to be Catholic priests (spearheaded by a wonderful Alec Baldwin). Performances in the supporting ranks can be gratingly inconsistent here, but the dialogue is snappy and the charismatic Cooke is clearly going to be a major star very soon.

THE ONE THAT’S MARTIAL ARTFUL

Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (M)

★★★½

RENT or DISNEY+

New to the standard rental line-up after several months exclusive to Disney+. Shang-Chi, the master of weaponry-based Kung Fu, is forced to confront his past after being drawn into the mysterious Ten Rings organisation. Remember when you first clapped eyes on Black Panther, and realised it was changing the game inside (and outside) the MCU? This deliriously enjoyable martial-arts affair can often bring on the same feeling, even if it isn’t quite in the same league. Perhaps loses a little something on streaming, as those Marvel-made visuals deserve to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

THE ONE WHERE THE NAZIS MAKE IT TO ENGLAND

Eddie Izzard in the new film Six Minutes to Midnight.

SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT (M)

★★½

AMAZON, FOXTEL or RENT

Here’s a fairly amazing piece of forgotten history, then: in the years leading up to World War 2, there was a girls’ boarding school in England that catered largely to the daughters of high-ranking Nazi Party officials. While there is a definitely a movie in this material – the students swanned about with both swastikas and union jacks on their uniforms – this rather forced, fictionalised thriller is not really making the most of its opportunity. Eddie Izzard stars as a conscientious teacher who believes the institution ranks as a clear threat to England’s national security. He has a lot of trouble getting himself heard in the right places, but no trouble getting involved in a conspiracy that could put many lives in danger. Saved from severe silliness by the repeated interjections of the great Dame Judi Dench.

Originally published as Movie guide: New movies on Binge, Netflix and more