4 Best Movies to Watch by George MacKay

It’s 1984 and miners in England are on strike against Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s plans to close pits. Their cause has unlikely appeal for Mark Ashton, a human rights activists who decides to take a group of people who had joined an early Gay Pride parade in London to rural England to show support for the (often socially-conservative) miners.

You can see how things might go wrong, but in this case they didn’t. This heartwarming tale is based on a true story. An easy, funny, and relevant movie about the bond that oppression brings to the oppressed. Super earnest, too.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Abram Rooney, Adam Ewan, Alexander Perkins, Andrew Scott, Ben Schnetzer, Bill Nighy, Bryan Parry, Chris Overton, Christian Patterson, Clare Lawrence-Moody, Dean Ashton, Deddie Davies, Derek Barr, Dominic West, Dyfan Dwyfor, Ed Coleman, Faye Marsay, Feargal Quinn, Freddie Fox, George MacKay, Giles Cooper, Henry Garrett, Huw Euron, Imelda Staunton, Jack Baggs, Jaimi Barbakoff, James McGregor, Jâms Thomas, Jessica Gunning, Jessie Cave, Jim McManus, Johnny Gibbon, Jordan Metcalfe, Joseph Gilgun, Joseph Wilkins, Joshua Hill, Julie Barclay, Karina Fernandez, Kyle Rees, Lauren Johns, Lee Shepherd, Lisa Palfrey, Liz White, Matthew Flynn, Matthew Seadon-Young, Matthew Tennyson, Menna Trussler, Monica Dolan, Neal Barry, Nia Gwynne, Olwen Medi, Paddy Considine, Rhodri Meilir, Richard Shanks, Roger Morlidge, Ross Waiton, Russell Tovey, Sean Hart, Sophie Evans, Tomos Eames, Will Haddington

Director: Matthew Warchus

Rating: R

Are connections truly fated, completely chosen, or purely circumstantial? The slow tragedy of Henry James’ The Beast in the Jungle hangs entirely on the question, which captivated readers and filmmakers with the concept, including Bertrand Bonello, which forms the foundations of 2023’s The Beast. Bonello lets loose The Beast in the Jungle into an AI playbox of time and space and destiny, transforming the simple examination of human life into a sci-fi epic, a moving period romance, and an existential mystery all at once. It can occasionally feel a bit jumbled up at times, with the way Bonello jumps across lives, but Léa Seydoux and George MacKay hold everything together with their performance, making La Bête deeply striking, if a bit derivative.

Genre: Drama, Romance, Science Fiction

Actor: Alice Barnole, Bertrand Bonello, Dasha Nekrasova, Elina Löwensohn, George MacKay, Guslagie Malanda, Isabelle Prim, Julia Faure, Laurent Lacotte, Léa Seydoux, Lukas Ionesco, Marta Hoskins, Martin Scali, Rémi Canaple, Tiffany Hofstetter, Xavier Dolan

Director: Bertrand Bonello

Rating: NR

While gay acceptance has been improving in most of the world, unfortunately, this acceptance isn’t universal to all sexualities and queer gender identities, especially for people of color. Femme depicts this difference through the relationship of Jules, a black gay drag queen, and Preston, a white masculine closeted gay drug dealer. As Jules deepens their relationship for revenge, and Preston opens up and allows himself to become more vulnerable, the film explores the way toxic masculinity and violence still dictates most of their dynamic, through an unsettling, sexually charged, stylish approach from the debut co-writers and directors Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping. However, Femme is particularly uneven, more focused on humanizing the aggressor rather than prioritizing the survivor.

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Actor: Aaron Heffernan, Antonia Clarke, Asha Reid, George MacKay, John McCrea, Luis Torrecilla, Moe Bar-El, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Nima Taleghani, Peter McPherson

Director: Ng Choon Ping, Sam H. Freeman

Rating: NR