Blurring fiction with reality, or, maybe better said, reality with extremes of itself, these seven films new to Hulu this month offer an intellectual take, albeit often with comedic elements to pillow the philosophical blow, on what humanity risks when their hearts, loved ones, and reasons for existing are on the line. Which world is better to live in: the world where you stay firmly where you are and see through its pains and gloriousness, or the world you challenge yourself to get to, so you forage new planes of experience and ways of consideration?
The Descendants
Available: July 1
Director: Alexander Payne
Writer: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Nick Krause
A sentimental film (in a good way) with deeply human elements, The Descendants was a departure for Payne after the heartbreaking straightforwardness of Sideways. What is most effective in the narrative, about a man coming to terms with his past, via land ownership, is how his family unravels and integrates into an odd journey that takes on the unexpected things that life can bring.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Available: July 1
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writer: Steph Lady, Frank Darabont
Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh
Based on Mary Shelley’s novel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein takes us through the story of the Creature’s creation and the desertion he experiences as his creator loses interest in him, and he is shunned socially as nobody can understand him. There is terror at many levels, one of which is the Creature deciding, a la Cape Fear style, to kill everyone his creator once held dear.
Sorry To Bother You
Available: July 1
Director: Boots Riley
Writer: Boots Riley
Cast: Tessa Thompson, LaKeith Stanfield, Jermaine Fowler
A fantastic movie, especially in the sense of what knocks your socks off, Sorry To Bother You is pure madness. The film is serious about the extent to which greed corrupts us: we become doozies, actors in our own and party lives, unable to separate a path to desired delights from what ethically makes sense for the world as a whole. Boots Riley's directorial debut is full of riveting performances.
Bohemian Rhapsody
Available: July 1
Director: Bryan Singer
Writer: Anthony McCarten, Peter Morgan
Cast: Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Lucy Boynton
A very good biopic of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the British rock band, Queen, the standout is Rami Malek’s performance, for which he won several awards, as Mercury. The film focuses on his journey with Queen, his challenges becoming a solo artist, and his reunion with the band for the Live Aid concert, and when Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS. Queen’s performance at the concert is considered one of the legendary rock music concerts of all time.
Jumanji
Available: July 1
Director: Joe Johnston
Writer: Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, Jim Strain
Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Robin Williams, David Alan Grier
A playful, exciting film, the original Jumanji considers the idea of whether our play-based realities can lead us to places of truth, where we can explore the meaning behind these games. Both comedic and dramatic and based in fantasy, the film offers escapism through multiple lenses: how far will our imaginations take us to other worlds, and what is our imaginative responsibility in these new places once we get there?
Milk
Available: July 1
Director: Gus Van Sant
Writer: Dustin Lance Black
Cast: Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin
Many still feel the lustful nervousness that takes place between Harvey Milk and the man who would become his partner in the late-night NYC subway. As do many feel the menace and complication of Dan White, who assassinates Milk at the end of the film. There is poetry and politics in this telling of Milk’s life, and legacy, but the film ends with joy, for continuing by heart, which centers on Milk’s activism for the LGBTQ+ community to be protected and treated equally in society.
Radio
Available: July 1
Director: Michael Tollin
Writer: Mike Rich, Gary Smith
Cast: Cuba Gooding Jr., Debra Winger, Ed Harris
Based on a true story, Radio is a love and guidance tale about a mentorship turned friendship between a high school coach and a young student, Radio, who is mentally disabled. Authentic, tender performances ground the film, refuting a savior paradigm. It is not so much that Radio needs help, or that the coach needs to be a helper, but that in each other they find a camaraderie that speaks to what union can achieve on a much deeper level: aka, the elevation of love.