Another quiet weekend at the box office to usher in the month of February, with only one new wide release and no new expansions.
The sole new major film this week is Winchester, a supernatural horror film from The Spierig Brothers starring Helen Mirren as firearms heiress Sarah Winchester, who, in 1902, becomes convinced that she is being haunted by the spirits of those who died as a result of her family’s firearms. Now, I trust The Spierig Brothers completely, following Daybreakers and the little-seen Predestination (the latter of which is one of the very best films of 2015) — so it’s very disheartening to see this get atrocious reviews. I very much hope that it’s better than people seem to think, because these filmmakers deserve massive success and I don’t want them to sour their prospects in Hollywood. Nevertheless, Mirren in a period ghost story is definitely something I want to see. The cast also includes Jason Clarke and Sarah Snook (who should have been nominated for an Oscar for her revelatory work in Predestination).
Opening in limited release this week is A Fantastic Woman, a Chilean film that won Best Screenplay last year at the Berlin International Film Festival and is currently Oscar-nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. From director Sebastián Lelio (Gloria), the film stars Daniela Vega as a transgender woman heartbroken by the death of her older boyfriend who struggles for the right to be herself when his family arrive and reject her.
What are you planning to see this weekend?
