Watch out: J.Lo and co. are out to steal your filmgoing dollars this weekend with the heist film Hustlers, in which a group of ex-strippers stick it to the man by robbing their rich-jerk clients. In another story of women’s power, see Keira Knightley as a reluctant Iraq War whistleblower in Official Secrets. (Also released this weekend: The Goldfinch, which our critic called “remarkably tedious.”) In addition, two unmissable (and very different) series are beginning this week: the art films of the internationally renowned, much-mourned Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, and the sexy horror-film/burlesque bash Nocturnal Emissions. For a serious look at police violence and Black Lives Matter, be sure to watch the emotionally perceptive documentary What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? See all of our film critics’ picks for this weekend below, and, if you’re looking for even more options, check out our film events calendar and complete movie times listings (which are now location-aware!).
Note: Movies play Thursday–Sunday unless otherwise noted
Abbas Kiarostami Retrospective
Four treasured Seattle arthouse cinemas will revisit the masterpieces of one of the most important filmmakers of the 20th and 21st centuries: the Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, who died in France in 2016. During his long career, he explored the fine line between documentary and fiction, the relationship between spectator and image, and the mysteries of life and death. The theaters will show eight of his extraordinary movies, beginning with Where Is the Friend’s Home? and The Traveler at the Forum. Where Is the Friend’s Home?, playing Saturday, is a deceptively simple story about a boy who accidentally takes home a fellow pupil’s notebook; to keep his classmate from being punished, he must navigate the squabbles and distractions of rural life. The Traveler, playing Sunday, is also a closely observed study of Iranian society starring a child, a boy who’ll stop at nothing to get to a Tehran soccer match.
Northwest Film Forum
Friday–Saturday
