Climax
MA 15+
France, 2018
Genre DramaLanguage: FrenchDirector: Starring: Sofia Boutella, Souheila Yacoub, Romain Guillermic
It's murder on the dance floor (and then some), when someone spikes the punch and all hell breaks loose, in Gaspar Noe's wild and woozy Climax. When a dance troupe gathers for post-rehearsal drinks on the eve of an American tour, we already know things are going to pear-shaped: the film opens where it ends, on a scene of bloody aftermath from the next day. A quick diversion to the end credits brings us back to the Night in Question, and an epic opening sequence (the first of a few) shows off the un-named dancers' bodies in perfect sync, before the LSD-laced sangria takes effect and weaponises them. Limber up, settle in, and be sure to mix your own drinks.
Read an interview with Director Gaspar Noe
The Host
M
South Korea, 2006
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Language: Korean
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Starring: Song Kang-ho
Bong Joon-ho's Parasite Best Oscar win is widely held to be the Last Good Thing to have happened this year (yes, that was this year), before the novel Coronavirus was upgraded to pandemic status and the world went home. It should come as no surprise that the droll visionary, Director Bong, has already made the perfect movie to watch during a pandemic. This 2006 genre-hopper focuses on an effort to contain a toxic monster on the loose within Seoul's primary water supply, the Han River. Bong's frequent front man, Song Kang-ho, stars here too, as Gang-du, an employee at a U.S. military base, who gets the first glimpse of the coming catastrophe as he watches a fishy mutant flee the facility and attack a crowd of onlookers with its tentacles. Funny and freaky at the best of times, The Host now offers relatable comic tension for 2020 audiences, in the fact the monster is unleashing a deadly virus, and warnings of flu-like symptoms abound.
The Host screens on SBS World Movies on Saturday 11 July at 10.45pm and will be available to stream at SBS On Demand afterwards.
Arctic
M
Iceland, 2018
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Language: English
Director: Joe Penna
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen
I'm a sucker for survival movies, elemental tales in which a stranded soul faces insurmountable odds as they apply their wits, contemplate their place in the universe, and basically try not to die. . . . And so on. Add to the canon: Mads Mikkelsen on thin ice. A helicopter crash is the start of his woes, as his food sources dwindle, a polar bear stalks close by, and each frozen step is a leap of faith, made with increasingly cloudy judgement. The chilblains practically leap off the screen in a series of exhausted, frozen close ups.
[link title="Mads Mikkelsen Fights For Survival In 'Arctic'" url="node/193687"]
Arctic premieres on SBS World Movies Saturday 18 July at 8.30pm and will be available to stream at SBS On Demand afterwards. 
And pair it with...
Mads Mikkelsen in 'Arctic' Source: Supplied
The Grey
2012
Genre: Thriller, Action
Language: English
Director: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie
Less 'individual against the elements' so much as 'men vs. wolf pack', The Grey is a great chilly chaser if you crave some company after Arctic. A(nother) plane crash strands a group of homeward-bound FIFO workers on the freezing Alaskan tundra. Liam Neeson is the gruff and instinctual leader you need in such a crisis, when predators circle the (dwindling) survivors.
Tanna
2017, Australia, Vanuatu
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: Bislama
Director: Martin Butler, Bentley Dean
Starring: Mungau Dain Marie Wawa Marceline Rofit Chief Charlie Kahla Albi Nangia Lingai Kowla Dadwa Mungau Linette Yowayin Kapan Cook Chief Mungau Yokay Chief Mikum Tainakou
Tanna brings a fresh angle to the classic 'forbidden lovers' fable, in framing it within one of the last traditional tribes in the South Pacific. Two would-be lovebirds defy a tribal edict, and risk it all with a dramatic break with custom. They're forced to choose between their hearts and the future of the community, which is in the midst of an existential crisis. Preserve traditional culture or adapt to the changing world and permit individual freedom? Tanna is based on a true story and performed by the people of Yakel, who worked with Australian documentary filmmakers Martin Butler and Bentley Dean to adapt the local story to the screen. The collaboration took Tanna and its stars, Marie Wawa and the late Mungau Dain, to the world's festivals and all the way to the Oscars red carpet, where the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.
Tanna is now streaming
The Girl in the Fog
Germany, France, Italy, 2017
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Mystery
Language: Italian
Director: Donato Carrisi
Starring: Toni Servillo, Jean Reno, Alessio Boni, Lorenzo Richelmy, Galatea Ranzi, Michela Cescon, Greta Scacchi, Jacopo Olmo Antinori, Lucrezia Guidone, Daniela Piazza, Antonio Gerardi
Jean Reno and Toni Servillo make a meal of this wily whodunit, based on the bestselling novel by Donato Carrisi. A teen disappears without a trace in an Italian Alpine village and - you won't believe this, but nothing is as it seems. Have fun trying to outsmart the inspector (Servillo) and the smug psychiatrist (Reno), who listens intently. Watch for red herrings on the windy way to the end.
The Girl in the Fog airs on SBS World Movies Sunday 19 July at 10:30PM and will be available to stream after broadcast 
Churchill
PG
United Kingdom, 2017
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Language: English
Director: Jonathan Teplitzky
Starring: Brian Cox, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, Julian Wadham, Richard Durden
In his now-legendary role in Succession, Brian Cox plays a formidable media baron facing down a series of hostile takeovers, whilst trying to keep a lid on a health crisis that threatens to topple his empire. Logan Roy shares more than a little with Cox's rendition of Winston Churchill in this film by Jonathan Teplitzky; the British Prime Minister is a far cry from the confident Statesman with the rapier wit, as as we experience his paralysing indecision over whether to authorise the D-Day landing. As the clock ticks down, Churchill battles a deepening depression, triggered by guilt about the disastrous Gallipoli campaign and his fear that history may repeat itself.
Churchill is now streaming 
Listen to Brian Cox in this 2017 episode of SBS pop culture podcast, The Playlist
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