Netflix releases 5 films in Irish Cinemas

Now that cinemas are back open, the streaming juggernaut has announced that 5 of its Original Films will play on the big screen in select Irish cinemas.

Including Mank, The Prom, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Over The Moon and Rebecca, the feature films will play at cinemas like Movies @ Dundrum, Swords, The Light House Cinema, The IFI Dublin, and The Gate Cork. Read on to find out about each film and where you can see them.

Mank

Written by his late father, Jack Fincher, Mank is the story of the writing of Citizen Kane and also a startling, insightful and humorous exploration of creation, addiction and the search for self-respect. Gary Oldman is Herman Mankiewicz, a veteran studio screenwriter who worked on everything from Marx Brothers comedies to The Wizard of Oz. He was also a hopeless gambler and heavy drinker who was less than respectful of his chosen profession. Mank sees the title character in a metaphorical last chance saloon, holed up in a bungalow in the Californian desert in 1940, employed by Orson Welles (Tom Burke) to write a screenplay – with no studio interference. Mankiewicz needs money, but as the writing goes on – with the support of secretary Rita Alexander (Lily Collins) – he becomes more creatively invested, fuelled by memories of old friends... and enemies. Back in the 1930s, he clashed with M.G.M studio chiefs Louis B. Mayer (Arliss Howard) and Irving Thalberg (Ferdinand Kingsley), disgusted not only at their hubris, but at his own part in the system. He also befriended movie star Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried) and met her lover, William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance), a hugely wealthy and influential media mogul. Mank’s exposure to the establishment, and to a charismatic figure who valued power more than people, would eventually give the screenwriter an idea… Memories of life feed his art as he works furiously on the screenplay for what will become Citizen Kane, the film many consider the greatest of all time.

Now On Netflix, and in Cinemas: Light House Dublin, Movies@Dundrum, Movies@Swords and IFI Dublin

The Prom

The Prom is the spectacular, big-hearted film adaptation of Chad Beguelin, Bob Martin and Matthew Sklar's award-winning, Tony-nominated Broadway musical. Dee Dee Allen (three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep) and Barry Glickman (Tony Award winnerJames Corden) are New York City stage stars with a crisis on their hands: their expensive new Broadway show is a major flop that has suddenly flatlined their careers. Meanwhile, in small-town Indiana, high school student Emma Nolan (newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman) is experiencing a very different kind of heartbreak: despite the support of the high school principal (Keegan-Michael Key), the head of the PTA (Kerry Washington) has banned her from attending the prom with her girlfriend, Alyssa (Ariana DeBose). When Dee Dee and Barry decide that Emma's predicament is the perfect cause to help resurrect their public images, they hit the road with Angie (Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman) and Trent (Andrew Rannells), another pair of cynical actors looking for a professional lift. But when their self-absorbed celebrity activism unexpectedly backfires, the foursome find their own lives upended as they rally to give Emma a night where she can truly celebrate who she is.

Directed by Ryan Murphy and also starring Tracey Ullman, Kevin Chamberlin, Mary Kay Place, Nico Greetham Logan Riley, Nathaniel J. Potvin and Sofia Deler.

On Netflix from 11 December, and in cinemas this weekend: Cork - The Gate, Midleton & Mallow, Donegal - Eclipse Bundoran ad Eclipse Lifford, Strabane, Arc Navan, Arc Wexford, Arc Drogheda, IMC Carlow, IMC Killkenny Mart Side, IMC Dun Laoghaire, IMC Galway and IMC Santry

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago, as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey (Academy Award® winner Viola Davis). Late to the session, the fearless, fiery Ma engages in a battle of wills with her white manager and producer over control of her music. As the band waits in the studio’s claustrophobic rehearsal room, ambitious cornet player Levee (Chadwick Boseman) — who has an eye for Ma’s girlfriend and is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry — spurs his fellow musicians into an eruption of stories revealing truths that will forever change the course of their lives.

Adapted from two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s play, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom celebrates the transformative power of the blues and the artists who refuse to let society’s prejudices dictate their worth. Directed by George C. Wolfe and adapted for the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, the film is produced by Fences Oscar® nominees Denzel Washington and Todd Black. Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Taylour Paige, Dusan Brown, Jeremy Shamos and Jonny Coyne co-star alongside Grammy® winner Branford Marsalis’ score.

On Netflix from 18 December and in Cinemas this weekend: Dublin - Light House, Cork - The Gate, Midleton & Mallow, Navan – Arc, Wexford - Arc and Drogheda - Arc

Over The Moon

Fuelled with determination and a passion for science, a bright young girl builds a rocket ship to the moon to prove the existence of a legendary Moon Goddess. There she ends up on an unexpected quest, and discovers a whimsical land of fantastical creatures. Directed by animation legend Glen Keane, and produced by Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou, Over the Moon is an exhilarating musical adventure about moving forward, embracing the unexpected, and the power of imagination.

Now on Netflix and In Cinemas: IMC Carlow, IMC Killkenny Mart Side, IMC Dun Laoghaire, IMC Galway and IMC Santry

Rebecca

After a whirlwind romance in Monte Carlo with handsome widower Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer), a newly married young woman (Lily James) arrives at Manderley, her new husband’s imposing family estate on a windswept English coast. Naive and inexperienced, she begins to settle into the trappings of her new life, but finds herself battling the shadow of Maxim’s first wife, the elegant and urbane Rebecca, whose haunting legacy is kept alive by Manderley’s sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas). Directed by Ben Wheatley (High Rise, Free Fire) and produced by Working Title Films (Emma, Darkest Hour), REBECCA is a mesmerising and gorgeously rendered psychological thriller based on Daphne du Maurier’s beloved 1938 gothic novel.

Now on Netflix and Movies@Dundrum