Three new movies for the first weekend of 2025: The Return (starring Ralph Fiennes & Juliette Binoche), A Real Pain, and Wicked.
The Return
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Charlie Plummer
Directed by: Uberto Pasolini
The Return reunites two of the greatest actors of their generation, in a gritty retelling of Odysseus’ return home from war.
After 20 years away, Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognisable. The King has finally returned home but much has changed in his kingdom since he left to fight in the Trojan war.
His beloved wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) is now a prisoner in her own home, hounded by her many ambitious suitors to choose a new husband, a new king. Their son Telemachus, who has grown up fatherless, is facing death at the hands of the suitors who see him as an obstacle in their relentless pursuit of Penelope and the kingdom.
Odysseus has changed too. Scarred by his experience of war, he is no longer the mighty warrior his people remember. But he is forced to face his past in order to rediscover the strength needed to save his family and win back the love he has lost.
A Real Pain
Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin. Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg.
Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honour their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
Wicked
The magical world of Oz, where you can expect the unexpected.
In the land of Oz, ostracized and misunderstood green-skinned Elphaba is forced to share a room with the popular aristocrat Glinda at Shiz University, and the two’s unlikely friendship is tested as they begin to fulfill their respective destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.