What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 24th July 2025

This years 8th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) runs from Sunday 19th through until Sunday 27th July in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Founded with a vision to cultivate a dynamic environment for emerging talents within the film industry, MIFFest is committed to amplifying diverse voices and promoting creativity. Since its establishment in 2016, it has offered a range of opportunities and platforms for filmmakers to showcase their work and connect with industry professionals. Set against Malaysia’s vibrant backdrop, MIFFest aims to be the premier cinematic hub in Southeast Asia. The one-week festival provides a platform for creatives to showcase their work, nurture emerging talent, and feature exceptional films from around the world. MIFFest opens a window to the world, offering audiences the chance to embark on a cinematic journey through films from diverse countries and cultures. In 2024, the festival proudly showcased fifty films from thirty countries in thirty-five different languages, emphasising the commitment to celebrating cinematic diversity. MIFFest believes in the power of film to inspire, connect, and transform, so reads the official website.

This years Opening Night film presentation is 'Ninavau', a family drama film from Malaysia and is Co-Written and Directed by Bebbra Mailin in her Directorial debut. Ninavau, a Kadazan based in West Malaysia, returns home to East Malaysia, Sabah for her sister’s wedding. Her family, deeply rooted in tradition and community values, sees her as a source of pride and a symbol of continuity. However, Ninavau carries with her a personal transformation that she has yet to share. The Closing Night film is 'Transamazonia' a drama offering from Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, Brazil and France and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Pia Marais. Rebecca, the daughter of missionary Lawrence Byrne, was declared a 'miracle' after she survived a plane crash as a child, deep in the Amazon forest. Years later, Rebecca has become a miracle healer, sustaining their mission thanks to her growing fame. But when illegal loggers invade the land belonging to the indigenous people they’re evangelising, Rebecca’s father manoeuvres them into the epicentre of this escalating conflict. 

This year there are nine films in Official Competition, and those are :-

* 'All That's Left of You' - from Germany, Cyprus, Palestine, Jordan, Greece, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, and this historical drama film is Written, Co-Produced, Directed and starring Cherien Dabis. A Palestinian couple finds hope and courage in the midst of relentless struggle as they face an extraordinary life decision that will change their family’s destiny.

* 'DJ Ahmet' - from North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia and Croatia, and this comedy drama film is Written and Directed by Georgi M. Unkovski. Ahmet, a 15-year-old boy from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia, finds refuge in music while navigating his father’s expectations, a conservative community, and his first experience with love — a girl already promised to someone else.

* 'My Friend An Delie' - from China and this drama offering is Co-Written, Directed and starring Dong Zijian. Upon hearing about his father’s death, Li rushes back to his hometown in the Northeast of China. He runs into his childhood friend, An Delie, on the flight. The two have not seen each other since middle school. Even though they are heading to the same funeral, An Delie insists that he does not know Li. As Li tries to revive An Delie’s memory, a weighty past starts to emerge.

* 'Paternal Leave' - from Germany and Italy and this coming of age drama film is Written and Directed by Alissa Jung. Alone and looking for answers, a teenager travels to the North Italian coast to meet her biological father. Their first encounter is tense – fraught with questions, longing and unresolved anger. Can they work towards finding acceptance, love and honesty?

* 'Red Path' - from Tunisia, Belgium, France, Poland, Qatar and Saudi Arabia this human rights drama film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Lotfi Achour. Mghila Mountain, Tunisia, November 2015. When a jihadist group attacks two very young shepherds, 14-year-old Ashraf is forced to take a macabre message back to his family. Traumatised and trying not to lose his mind, Ashraf finds himself confronted with the powerlessness of his elders and abandoned by the authorities.

* 'Soft Leaves' - from Belgium and this coming of age drama film is Written and Directed by Miwako van Weyenberg. Yuna’s parents separated when she was young. Her mother returned to Japan to remarry and start a new family, leaving her in Belgium with her father. Years later, a sudden accident leaves him in a coma, prompting her mothers return, this time with a half-sister Yuna barely knows. It’s more than Yuna can handle at first, but as her father shows signs of recovery, she is forced to confront her own feelings and navigate the complexities of her fractured family.

* 'To a Land Unknown' - from the UK, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Palestine, Denmark, Netherlands, France and Germany and this crime thriller is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Mahdi Fleifel. Chatila and Reda are saving to pay for fake passports to get out of Athens. But when Reda loses their hard-earned cash to his dangerous drug addiction, Chatila hatches an extreme plan, which involves them posing as smugglers and taking hostages in an effort to get him and his best friend out of their hopeless environment before it is too late.

* 'Universal Language' - from Canada and this fantasy offering is Co-Written and Directed by Matthew Rankin. In a mysterious and surreal interzone somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg, the lives of multiple characters interweave with each other in surprising and mysterious ways. Grade schoolers Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen in the winter ice and try to claim it. Meanwhile, Massoud leads a group of increasingly befuddled tourists through the monuments and historic sites of Winnipeg. Matthew quits his meaningless job in a Quebec government office and sets out upon an enigmatic journey to visit his mother.

* 'Winter in Sokcho' - from France and South Korea and this drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Koya Kamura. In Sokcho, a small seaside village in South Korea, Soo-Ha, 25, lives in a bit of a rut, rhythmed by visits to her mother, a fishmonger, and her relationship with her boyfriend, Jun-Ho. When a French man named Yan Kerrand arrives in the boarding house where Soo-Ha works, it awakens within her questions about her own identity, and that of her French father, of whom she knows almost nothing. As winter settles over the town, Soo-Ha and Kerrand will observe and gauge each other, trying to communicate any way they can.

For the full summary of other film strands being showcased, plus a whole lot of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://www.miffest.com.my/

Turning to this weeks six hot new release movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, we kick start with the 37th film offering in the MCU that sees Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and the Thing face their most daunting challenge yet as they defend Earth from Galactus and Silver Surfer. Next up we have a drama offering about young lovers who embark on their own individual journeys of heartache and misplaced love, before fate contrives to pull the threads of their lives together. Then we turn to a French comedy drama where suddenly having to care for his little sister, a young man must focus on the best chance he's got to provide for them, by entering a local cheese-making competition. And closing out the week we have a trio of horror films beginning with a British offering where after a mother and son are involved in a car wreck, they soon become hunted by a mutated grief-stricken deer on a deadly rampage seeking revenge for the death of its mother. The second horror movie sees a trio of paranormal investigators setting out to film their next case that sees them encountering a malevolent, ancient spirit that resides in an abandoned house deep in the woods; before closing out the week with the third such offering that sees a man who begins working at a retirement home where his job reveals unexpected dangers, as he discovers that both residents and staff are concealing dark secrets. 

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the six latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'THE FANTASTIC FOUR : FIRST STEPS' (Rated PG) - is an American action adventure Superhero film based on the Marvel Comics Superhero team The Fantastic Four, is the 37th film in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and is the first film in Phase Six of the MCU. This is the second reboot of the 'Fantastic Four' franchise, with the first two films coming in 2005 with 'Fantastic Four' and its sequel in 2007 'Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer' both Directed by Tim Story, with the first reboot coming in 2015 with 'Fantastic Four' this time Directed by Josh Trank. Those first three films in the series grossed a total of US$803M at the global Box Office from combined production budgets of about US$350M, although the 2015 offering tanked both commercially and critically, resulting in a planned 2017 sequel being removed from the production schedule. This film is Directed by Matt Shakman in only his second feature film offering following 'Cut Bank' in 2014, although he has Directed numerous episodes of TV series since 2002 right up until 2023. The film is released in the US this week too, and a sequel is already in the works.

Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960's inspired, retro-futuristic world, the film introduces Marvel's First Family, Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space God Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus' plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren't bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal. Also starring John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne and Paul Walter Hauser.Content expanded.

'FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE' (Rated M) - this UK and Irish Co-Produced drama film is Directed by Polly Steele whose previous feature film output includes her debut in 2008 with 'Lena : The Bride of Ice' and 'Let Me Go' in 2017 with a number of documentary films in between time. This film is based on Niall Williams 1997 novel of the same name, and tells the story of Nicholas Coughlan (Fionn O'Shea) and Isabel Gore (Ann Skelly) who are made for each other, but fate does not always choose the easiest path to true love. As destiny pulls them together, so do family, passion, and faith drive them apart. Nicholas' father, William (Pierce Brosnan), comes home one day to shatter his family's quiet, modest life. He tells them that in a moment of divine intervention, God has instructed him to dedicate his life to painting. He quits his job and sets off for the coast, leaving his shell-shocked wife Bette (Imelda May) and son to fend for themselves. Meanwhile Isabel and her family live a charmed existence on a nearby small neighbouring island, their house full of music and poetry. When tragedy strikes and her brother Sean (Donal Finn) suffers a terrible accident, the music stops, and Isabel's parents Margaret and Muiris Gore (Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne respectively) decide in their grief to send Isabel to a convent school on the mainland. The young lovers embark on their own individual journeys of heartache and misplaced love, before fate contrives to pull the threads of their lives together. The film was released in the US in late April, and in the UK and Ireland last week.

'HOLY COW' (Rated M) - is a French comedy drama film Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Louise Courvoisier in her feature film Directorial debut. Following the tragic death of his father in a car accident, eighteen year old Totone (Clement Faveau) is thrust into the unexpected and very adult role of looking after his younger sister Claire (Luna Garret) and their failing family farm in the Jura section of France. He assumes even more responsibility when he enters a cash competition for the best Comte cheese made in this western part of the French Alps. The film saw its World Premiere screening in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in mid-May 2024, was released in its native France in mid-December last year, has so far grossed US$7M and has garnered positive critical reviews. 

'BAMBI : THE RECKONING' (Rated MA15+) - is a British independent horror film Directed by Dan Allen who made his feature film debut with 'Unhinged' in 2017 (no, not the 2020 film of the same name starring Russell Crowe), then 'The Mummy Reborn' in 2019 and 'It Came from Below' in 2021. This is the fourth film in the 'Twisted Childhood Universe' after 'Winnie-the-Pooh : Blood and Honey' in 2023, 'Winnie-the-Pooh : Blood and Honey 2' in 2024 and 'Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare' earlier this year. Those first three films in this ever evolving franchise grossed US$16.5M against combined production budgets of about US$900K. So, here then, a woman named Xana (Roxanne McKee) and her son Benji (Tom Mulheron) are involved in a car accident and must fight to survive when they find themselves as prey to a mutated, grieving, killing machine of a deer on a deadly rampage, seeking revenge for the death of his mother. The film is also released this week in the US.

'HOUSE ON EDEN' (Rated CTC) - this American found footage horror film is Written, Co-Produced, Directed and stars Kris Collins in her feature film making debut. Setting out to film their next paranormal investigation, Kris (Kris Collins), Celina (Celina Myers) and videographer Jay (Jason-Christopher Mayer) expect nothing more than their usual jump scares this time around. However, when they arrive at an abandoned house deep in the woods they encounter a malevolent, ancient spirit the like of which they have never come across before. As the night spirals out of control they soon come to realise that an evil hostile presence is tracking their every move. This film is released Stateside this week too. 

'THE HOME' (Rated CTC) - is an American psychological horror film Co-Written and Directed by James DeMonaco whose prior feature film credits take in his debut with 2009's 'Staten Island' and which he would follow up with 'The Purge' in 2013, 'The Purge : Anarchy' in 2014 and 'The Purge : Election Year' in 2016, and 'This Is the Night' in 2021. Here, Max (Pete Davidson), a troubled man and rebellious twentysomething is sentenced to community service at a quiet retirement home. He soon comes to realise that its residents and caretakers harbour sinister secrets. As he investigates the building and its forbidden fourth floor which is strictly off-limits, reportedly for those residents requiring 'special care', his suspicions grow and he digs deeper. What he uncovers reveals a chilling secret that puts both the residents' lives and his own in grave danger, as he starts to piece together connections to his own past and upbringing as a foster child. The film is released this week also in the US.

With six new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-