‘Handling the Undead’ Review: A Zombie Drama With a Beating Heart Under Rotting Flesh

EXCLUSIVE: The Black List and Google today revealed the four writers who were selected as the inaugural Black List x YouTube Originals Black Voices Creator Fellows. The recipients are Beverly Chukwu, Shannon Hawkins, Brandon Hines, and Duchant Johnson. More information about the Fellows is below.

EXCLUSIVE: Goodfellas has acquired world sales rights for Emilio Estevez’s The Way: Chapter 2, reuniting the actor-director with the cast members of his original 2010 hit, father Martin Sheen, Yorick Van Wageningen and James Nesbitt.

Filmmaker Matthew Vaughn’s spy film, “Argylle,” is in theaters now, and it hasn’t exactly lit up the box office, but we know the director has ambitious plans for the series. He’s already said that he hopes to connect “Argylle” to the world of his other spy series, “Kingsman.” Late last year, he revealed that he has one more spy franchise in the works that could connect all three into one inter-connected spy universe.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic The winner of the World Dramatic competition at Sundance, co-directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s understated and essential Mexican drama “Sujo” is one of two films in this year’s lineup (the other being “Ponyboi”) in which children who were given distinctive names by doomed macho dads spend years wondering what those monikers mean. In both cases, the eventual reveal puts a poignant coda on stories of young Latinos struggling to escape the cycle of ignorance and unhealthy behavior that threatens to pull them under.

It’s been awhile since Matthew McConaughey last appeared onscreen: four years, in fact. The last time?  Guy Ritchie‘s London gangster caper-comedy “The Gentlemen.” Now Deadline reports McConaughey is ready for a live-action role again, and will star in “The Lost Bus.”  Paul Greengrass will direct the film, with Jamie Lee Curtis co-starring.   READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024 Curtis develops the project through her Comet Pictures banner with Jason Blum through Blumhouse.

Filmmakers have parsed the zombie genre from seemingly every angle possible. George A.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic Leonardo DiCaprio, once again, missed out on an Oscar nomination. But that comes as no surprise. DiCaprio’s portrayal of easily-led naiveté and of greed blotting out love helps to set the tone of last year’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” just as his vexed internal conflict drives “The Departed” forward and his headlong passion launched a million “Titanic” fans.

EXCLUSIVE: The Sea Beyond stars Giacomo Giorgio and Serena de Ferrari are among several Italian actors who have boarded Rai’s ambitious opera drama Bel Canto, which went into production this week.

Carlos Aguilar Elevated by its consistent visual inventiveness, Chinese writer-director Jianjie Lin’s suspenseful drama “Brief History of a Family” could appear, at first glance, as a clear-cut case of a cunning infiltrator wreaking havoc in an unsuspecting household. Yet the closer we observe, the more it reveals itself as a tale of wish fulfillment for everyone involved.No doubt comparisons to “Saltburn,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” or “The Talented Mr. Ripley” will abound, but what Lin conceived is far more subcutaneous, with a sobering tone and disinterested in building up to a grand plot twist — though the resolution is unexpected.

A celebrity edition of The Traitors is allegedly being considered by the BBC, following the huge success of series two of the murder-mystery reality show. The Traitors, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, 52, returned to screens in January with a second series, which has proven to be even more successful than the first series, with around four million people tuning in to watch each episode.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Here we are, three weeks into January, and the Sundance Film Festival has delivered what promises to be the year’s most uncomfortable date movie: a grubby New York-set fable about a facially distinctive actor (modeled on Adam Pearson) who undergoes an experimental procedure that leaves him looking like Sebastian Stan — presumably an improvement, until he realizes that under the skin, he’s still the same miserable loser. The kind of oddball satire only indie studio A24 would dare to produce, Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man” asks what it means to be “normal,” and whether, if we could wave a magic wand and “correct” those qualities that set us apart, that’s really something we’d want.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Norwegian director Thea Hvistendahl’s zombie movie “Handling the Undead,” premiering at Sundance and to be released in the U.S. by Neon, sees the reunion of Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie, the stars of Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person in the World,” in a poetic, visually-charged chronicling of a hot summer’s day in Oslo when the dead mysteriously come back to life.

In the realm of zombie-themed films, a genre often filled with clichés and predictable plot lines, Handling the Undead aims to stand out as something different.

Marta Balaga Thea Hvistendahl’s “Handling the Undead,” fresh off its Sundance premiere, has already scared multiple buyers into submission, Variety has found out exclusively. Starring “The Worst Person in the World’s” Renate Reinsve and sold by TrustNordisk, it has been picked up by Hungary (Vertigo Media), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), France (KinoVista), Spain (Avalon Distribution), Korea (Pancinema), Japan (Tohokushinsha Film Corp.), Taiwan (Swallow Wings Films) and ANZ (Signature Entertainment). Neon Rated acquired North American and U.K.

Between the Temples, directed by Nate Silver and written by Silver and C. Mason, is an exploration of grief, faith and self-discovery. Starring Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman, it’s not just a story about overcoming grief but a testament to the power of self-belief, the importance of accepting support and the transformative potential of unexpected relationships.

Neon is opening Origin on 130 screens and plans to expand the Ava DuVernay film, which premiered in Venice and had a excellent qualifying run in December.

In the space of just two movies, Jane Schoenbrun has established a completely unique aesthetic; from the opening credits alone, a riot of black light and neon pastels, it’s obvious that I Saw the TV Glow comes from the same mind that created the trippy 2021 cult hit We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Anyone puzzled by the latter is advised to stay clear, since the follow-up is more vertiginously dizzying and twice as impressionistic, causing lots of head-scratching at its Sundance premiere. For those ready and willing to embrace its commitment to mood over logic, I Saw the TV Glow is a must-see, pairing the otherworldly ambience of Kyle Edward Ball’s Skinamarink with the morbid surrealism of Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York. (If you know, you know.)

Bring Me The Horizon performed ‘Diamonds Aren’t Forever’ with special guest Olli Appleyard of Static Dress at their Liverpool show last night (January 17) – check out footage below.Oli Sykes and co. played the track from their 2008 album ‘Suicide Season’ during the show at the M&S Bank Arena when they introduced Appleyard to the stage, whose band is opening for BMTH on their UK tour alongside Cassyette and Bad Omens.“Who wants to hear an oldie?” frontman Sykes asked the crowd before introducing the song.

Marta Balaga Veni, vidi, vici: “I came, I saw, I conquered,” reportedly said Julius Caesar after an especially swift victory. Now, his words echo in Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann’s satire about a family so powerful it can get away with murder. Literally.

Viewers of the Primetime Emmy Awards were left teary-eyed as a touching tribute was paid to Friends star Matthew Perry. The emotional "In Memoriam" segment, which honours TV legends who have passed away in the past year, featured a moving clip set to a remix of Wiz Khalifa's See You Again.The tribute ended with the Friends theme song, I'll Be There For You, and an image of Matthew Perry, leaving fans reaching for tissues. Viewers took to X, formerly Twitter, sharing their emotional reactions to the segment.