The Booksellers is a charming documentary peers under the tattered dust-jacket of an embattled world. Photo: Greenwich Entertainment
A White, White Day, Streaming from 3rd July When a stoic widower starts to suspect that his late wife was having an affair, grief starts to curdle into something more destructive. This terrific, atmospheric drama follows a quiet, decent man who becomes obsessed with unearthing the truth, no matter the pain it will cause. It’s a superb character study, which harnesses the mercurial moods of the volcanic Icelandic landscape to capture a sense of a seemingly solid and immutable man and the anger that simmers under the surface. The Booksellers, Streaming from 3rd July This charming documentary peers under the tattered dust-jacket of an embattled world. The antiquarian book dealers of New York are under siege from exorbitant rents and the internet. Rare book collecting is about “the hunt,” says one dealer, something that online shopping has robbed from the experience. Still, a band of book obsessives persist, peddling first editions, manuscripts and volumes bound in human skin. The meandering structure evokes the experience of wandering through a dusty shop, chancing on treasures. Saint Frances, Streaming from 10th July A prizewinner at South by SouthWest film festival last year, Saint Frances is a wry crowd-pleaser which follows a thirty-something woman whose life has stalled. Bridget (played by Kelly O’Sullivan, who also wrote the screenplay) stumbles into a job as a nanny, while also having to contend with an unplanned pregnancy and abortion. Against the odds, she forms a bond with her six-year-old charge. What could be a saccharine tale of a belated coming of age is a spiky account of female friendship, fertility and flawed life choices.
