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Welcome to

Come on in! The water’s fine! Yep, we’re

‘IN EVERY FILM THAT I HAVE DONE, THE MISTAKES ARE MINE. I ALWAYS TOOK THE LAST DECISIONS.’

ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU

Dialogue

Mail, rants, theories etc.

60 SECOND SCREENPLAY

TF SAVES YOU THE COST OF A MOVIE EVERY MONTH. THIS ISSUE: BEAST

TEASERS

NO STRINGS ATTACHED

HOT RIGHT NOW

LILY-ROSE DEPP IS SINKING HER TEETH INTO THE GOOD STUFF…

FAMILY VALUES

WEDNESDAY Tim Burton’s TV debut explores the turbulent school days of a teenage proto-goth.

MAJORS CONFLICT

CREED III Old friend becomes new foe in MBJ’s toughest-ever tussle…

THE STATE OF THE UNION

THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDING Anglo-American family nuptials go comically pear-shaped.

DREAM PALACE

EMPIRE OF LIGHT Sam Mendes takes on movies, mental health, and the mighty Margate…

CLOSE TO HOME

REBEL Batgirl directing duo Adil & Billal bounce back with a wartime musical tragedy.

ROYAL PEDIGREE

CORSAGE Vicky Krieps shines in Marie Kreutzer’s mischievous portrait of an Austrian empress desperate to escape her gilded cage.

SOUND BYTES

The month in dialogue and digits.

MURDER MYSTERY

LITVINENKO George Kay takes us inside the perilous world of his new crime series…

SHORT CUTS

The latest happenings in movieland…

NEXT BIG THING

JALYN HALL HAS A DREAM…

CAN WE TALK A BOUT?

LOSING INDEPENDENT CINEMAS CMI’S COLLAPSE SIGNALS A STARK FUTURE FOR UK INDEPENDENT EXHIBITION.

ELF DEFENCE

THE WITCHER: BLOOD ORIGIN A prequel series that dives into the history of the Continent.

STRAIGHT SHOOTER

COPENHAGEN COWBOY Nicolas Winding Refn rides in for the strangest horse opera…

BETWEEN TAKES

GUY PEARCE

FOOL FOR LOVE

MAMMALS James Corden makes a dramatic comeback for a TV comedy of crisis and romance.

MIND GAMES

NOCEBO Vivarium director Lorcan Finnegan is back noodling noggins…

IT SHOULDN’T HAPPEN TO A FILM JOURNALIST

Editor-at-Large JAMIE GRAHAM lifts the lid on film journalism.

BAD ROBOT

CHRISTMAS BLOODY CHRISTMAS Grindhouse guru Joe Begos gifts viewers a crazed robo-Santa swinging a bloody great axe…

THE HERO

MARK RYLANCE THE STAGE AND SCREEN THESP TALKS METHOD AND MITCHUM

A Bigger Splash

The long-awaited sequel to the highest-grossing film of all time and the opening chapter in a fully conceived four-film saga, Avatar: The Way Of Water is a 13-years-in-the-making return trip to cinema’s most immersive world. Total Film plunges back into Pandora with James Cameron, the film’s cast and its crew to uncover the bigger, bolder, even bluer sequel.

’dunit again

After the unexpectedly huge success of Knives Out, Benoit Blanc is back on another case. Total Film meets writer/ director Rian Johnson, returning star Daniel Craig and a new line-up of potential suspects/victims for clues on how to crack the murdermystery follow-up.

QUEST IN SHOW

Thirty-four years after the original movie, the dry spell finally ends with Willow, an eight-part continuation on Disney+. Warwick Davis and his fellow adventurers reveal why it’s time for a new kind of magic…

RED ALERT

AFTER ESCAPING RUSSIAN PRISONS AS RED GUARDIAN IN BLACK WIDOW AND BATTLING THE UPSIDE DOWN AS CHIEF JIM HOPPER IN STRANGER THINGS, DAVID HARBOUR IS NOW SUITED AND BOOTED AS SANTA CLAUS IN COMEDY ACTION-THRILLER VIOLENT NIGHT. TOTAL FILM TALKS TO THE STAR WHOSE HALTING CAREER BECAME ALL GREEN LIGHTS WHEN HE STARTED SEEING RED IN HIS FORTIES…

PASSION PROJECT

Nearly a century after Lady Chatterley’s Lover first made readers clutch their pearls, a new adaptation promises to sizzle with as much sexual politics as sauce.

HUNGER GAMES

Florence Pugh continues her patriarchy-smashing form with pertinent period drama THE WONDER. She and her filmmaking team tell Total Film how a Victorian tale of fasting and fables reflects the conflicts of a modern audience.

TOXIC SHOCK

FROM HITLER ACADEMICS TO MEDICATED MUMS, WHITE NOISE IS AN EPIC SATIRE ON AMERICA. ADAPTING DON DELILLO’S ‘UNFILMABLE’ NOVEL, IT’S ALSO DIRECTOR NOAH BAUMBACH’S MOST AMBITIOUS MOVIE YET. TOTAL FILM MEETS HIM AND HIS CAST TO DISCUSS DEATH, DRUGS, AND DANCING.

AFTERSUN 12A

Halcyon daze…

GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO PG

Accept nose substitutes…

THE MENU 15 TBC

Kitchen nightmare…

MATILDA THE MUSICAL PG

Schoolgirl power…

MY POLICEMAN 15

★★☆☆☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS, PRIME VIDEO Harry Styles

RETROGRADE TBC

★★★☆☆ OUT 11 NOVEMBER CINEMAS Matthew Heineman’s (Cartel Land)

HOUSE OF

DARKNESS 15 ★★★☆☆ OUT NOW DIGITAL Neil LaBute’s

NANNY 15

WARNER, AMAZON, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, DOGWOOF, ALTITUDE, REPUBLIC FILM,

BONES AND ALL TBC

Meat cute…

CAUSEWAY TBC

Jennifer’s buddy… ★★★★☆ OUT NOW APPLE TV+ W

LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER 15

She got gamekeeper…

YOU WON’T BE ALONE 15

★★★☆☆ OUT NOW DIGITAL A shape-shifting witch shares

HONG KONG: CITY ON FIRE TBC

★★★★☆ OUT 22 NOVEMBER CINEMAS This revealing doc

LYNCH/OZ 15

★★★☆☆ OUT 2 DECEMBER CINEMAS After incisive docs

WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY? U

★★★★☆ OUT 25 NOVEMBER CINEMAS From vocal seedlings

THE WONDER 15

Fast friends…

WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY TBC

Accordion in progress…

SHE SAID 15

A history of silence…

RAYMOND & RAY 15

★★★☆☆ OUT NOW APPLE TV+ Ewan McGregor and

GOOD NIGHT OPPY PG

★★★★☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS 23 NOV PRIME VIDEO

NEPTUNE FROST TBC

★★★★☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS Afrofuturist cine-poem or protest

LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE PG

★★★☆☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS There’s a definite Paddington

TORI AND LOKITA 15

★★★☆☆ 2 DECEMBER CINEMAS Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s

CLARA SOLA 15

★★★★☆ OUT 18 NOVEMBER CINEMAS A 40-year-old woman

A BUNCH OF AMATEURS 12A

★★★★☆ OUT 11 NOVEMBER CINEMAS The amateurs in

HE’S WATCHING 15

UNIVERSAL, PICTUREHOUSE, PECCADILLO, BLUE FINCH, SIGNATURE, ALTITUDE, SKY

THE SILENT TWINS TBC

Sister pact…

NO BEARS TBC

★★★☆☆ OUT 11 NOVEMBER CINEMAS Despite being currently

HUNT 15

★★★☆☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS, DIGITAL Squid Game’s Lee

FINAL CUT 15

★★★☆☆ OUT NOW DIGITAL An amiable zom-com from

AISHA 12A

★★★★☆ OUT 17 NOVEMBER CINEMAS, SKY Having fled

ARMAGEDDON TIME TBC

Gray matters…

HALLOWEEN ENDS 18

★★★☆☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS Flawed but fascinating, the

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT 15

★★★★☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS, NETFLIX At turns both

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT 15

★★☆☆☆ OUT NOW DIGITAL After his misjudged heist

DEAR ZOE TBC

WARNER, PARAMOUNT, UNIVERSAL, SIGNATURE, NETFLIX, REEL 2 REEL,

CONFESS, FLETCH 15

Taking the Picasso…

THE WITCH: PART 2 18

★★★☆☆ OUT 28 NOVEMBER DIGITAL Subtitled The Other

THE WITCH: PART 2 18

★★☆☆☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS With Rise Of The

ARGENTINA, 1985 15

★★★★☆ OUT NOW PRIME VIDEO Santiago Mitre’s impressively

INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE 15

★★★★☆ OUT NOW BD Another bizarro tale from

BLACK ADAM 12

Rock of rages…

HIGHLANDER 15

MacLeod and ultra-clear… 1986 ★★★★☆ OUT NOW 4K

GHOSTWATCH 12

STUDIOCANAL, 101 FILMS, ARROW, BFI, DISNEY Mock docs

THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL U

Mock docs have never been so utterly, skintinglingly

CASQUE D’OR 12A

1952 ★★★★★ OUT 25 NOVEMBER CINEMAS, 4K UHD

THE DRAUGHTSMAN’S CONTRACT 15

1982 ★★★★☆ OUT 11 NOVEMBER CINEMAS 21 NOVEMBER

A BOY AND HIS DOG 15

1975 ★★★☆☆ OUT NOW BD EXTRAS ★★☆☆☆ Commentary,

VIDEODROME 18

Broadcast spews…

CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE

’Tis the season to be jolly flummoxed looking for the right pressies. Let us Rudolph you towards the best film/TV-related fare out there, starting with toys and games…

HOME PAGE

Time for some room service…

ON THE BUTTONS

Get your head in these games…

YULE TOGS

Garments of the galaxy…

SOUND CHOICES

Keeping Christmas on song…

TECH SUPPORT

The viewing party starts here…

PAPER BOON

Feel the need, the need to read…

GOLD DISCS

Gifts that keep on spinning…

BUFF

CINEMA CELEBRATED AND DEBATED. BOOSTING YOUR MOVIE GENIUS TO SUPERHERO LEVELS…

IS IT BOLLOCKS?

Film Buff investigates the facts behind outlandish movie

ON LOCATION REEL SPOTS BEHIND THE CAMERA

20TH CENTURY STUDIOS, WARNER BROS, GETTY WHAT? Moneypenny

ALTERNATIVE BOX OFFICE

The biggest movies… WITH WATERY TITLES

BATHTUBS IN MOVIES

Brilliant baths

HINDSIGHT CORNER

November 2019 “I’ve gotten lighter, but he’s [his

FLOP CULTURE

In 2011, Martin Scorsese made a children’s film. But could his emotional cinephile fable overcome the challenges of Miss Piggy and shooting in 3D?

IS IT JUST ME OR IS THE BATMAN A TERRIBLE DETECTIVE?

To be fair, James Gordon isn’t much cop

LAST TIME SHOULD MOST MINISERIES BE MOVIES?

WARNER, DISNEY GILES HARRIS Nope, as they would

ANGELA LANSBURY

GETTY From Cukor to criminology, Broadway to broomsticks,

ROBBIE COLTRANE

SHUTTERSTOCK Born Anthony Robert McMillan in the Glaswegian

INTERMISSION

A WRITER TAKES PAUSE TO CONSIDER… His debt to a hairdresser called Rita.

MY MOVIE LIFE

DERREN BROWN THE MASTER OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ILLUSION ON THE FILMS THAT MOVE AND INSPIRE HIM

SAMANTHA MORTON

Keep on, Morvern…

KEY WORKS

20TH CENTURY STUDIOS, CHANNEL 4, TARTAN, ALAMY, GETTY

ELVES

Test your knowledge… Anyone who cheats is a son of a nutcracker!

NAME THE FRAME

Can you guess these eight underwater scenes?