What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 16th October 2025

This years Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) runs from Wednesday 15th through until Sunday 26th October in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. AFF is South Australia’s premier screen event and one of Australia’s leading film festivals. It’s a celebration of courageous cinema where filmmakers and audiences come together for two weeks of local and international film premieres, art, talks and parties in October. Named as one of the top fifty film festivals in the world by Variety, and winner of the 2021 Ruby Award for Best Festival, AFF has a reputation for being distinct and innovative. AFF screens features, shorts, documentaries and moving image projects you can’t see anywhere else - from both emerging and established Australian and global talent. AFF is renowned for its warmth and inclusivity, welcoming new audience members and industry guests alike to South Australia and its eclectic cinema theatres . . . so reads the official website.

This years Opening Night Gala film presentation is 'Jimpa' from Australia, Netherlands and Finland and Directed by Sophie Hyde. In Amsterdam, an Adelaide filmmaker Hannah (Olivia Colman) and their non-binary teen Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) reconnect with the family’s flamboyant patriarch known as Jimpa (John Lithgow). As old tensions resurface, Jimpa becomes a tender, emotionally precise portrait of queer family, care and the shifting boundaries between generations. The Closing Night Gala feature film is 'Wolfram' from Australia and Directed by Warwick Thornton and set in 1932 in Central Australia, marking the follow up to his acclaimed 'Sweet Country'. Aboriginal children are forced into wolfram (tungsten) mining until violence entangles them with ruthless outlaws. At the heart of the story is Pansy (Deborah Mailman), longing for her stolen children in a tightly wrought western of reckoning.

This years Feature Fiction Film Competition sees the following entries :-

* 'Vanilla' - from Mexico and Directed by Mayra Hermosillo. In late-1980's Mexico, Vanilla is a textured family drama told through the eyes of a young girl raised by seven formidable women. As debt threatens their home, she witnesses resilience, tenderness and struggle that reshape her sense of belonging and the meaning of family. Australian Premiere.

* 'Reedland' - from the Netherlands and Belgium and Directed by Sven Bresser in his feature film debut. Johan harvests reeds in the Dutch marshlands. When he discovers the body of a girl, he embarks on a search for the killer. Australian Premiere.

* 'Perla' - from Austria and Slovakia and Directed by Alexandra Makarova. In 1981 Vienna, a Slovakian exile struggles to support her daughter. When the child’s father re-appears in her life, Perla makes the dangerous journey back to communist Czechoslovakia, where she is torn between the demands of conflicting loves that threaten to pull her life apart. Australian Premiere.

* 'Phantoms of July' - from Germany and Directed by Julian  Radlmaier. When Ursula and Neda embark on a ghost hunt, their encounter becomes a story of eccentric locals, spectral rumours and the surprising connections strangeness can spark. Australian Premiere.

* 'A Useful Ghost' - from Thailand, France, Singapore and Germany and Directed by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, here we have a politically tinged, absurdist comedy/drama in which the ghost of a young woman returns to her husband as a bright-red vacuum cleaner, determined to prove herself a loving ghost.

For the details of the Feature Documentary Film Competition, plus all the other film strands being showcased, and a whole lot of other good stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://www.adelaidefilmfestival.org

Homing in on this weeks five new release movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, we kick off with a psychological thriller in which a college professor finds herself at a personal and professional crossroad when a star student levels an accusation against one of her colleagues, threatening to expose a dark secret from her own past. This is followed by another psychological thriller telling the story of when his past and his debts start to catch up with him, a high-stakes gambler laying low in Macau encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation. Then we turn to a supernatural horror film sequel that sees this young man, now 17, struggling with life after his captivity and subsequent escape having killed his abductor, when his sister begins receiving calls in her dreams from the black phone and seeing disturbing visions. Next up is a crime comedy drama offering based on an unbelievable true story, the film follows a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s. And closing out the week we have a drama film telling the story of a group of troubled boys who are kidnapped, abandoned and forced into a ruthless 'Wilderness Therapy' programme in the Utah desert, and cut off from the world, they must survive both the elements and the mind games of a director who may not be trying to save them at all.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five 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 week ahead.

'AFTER THE HUNT' (Rated MA15+) - is a psychological thriller film Co-Produced and Directed by Luca Guadagnino who prior feature film making credits include his debut offering in 1999 with 'The Protagonists' and which he would follow up with the likes of 'I Am Love' in 2009, 'A Bigger Splash' in 2015, 'Call Me by Your Name' in 2017, 'Suspiria' in 2018, 'Bones And All' in 2022, and both 'Challengers' and 'Queer' in 2024. This film had its World Premiere showcasing out of competition in this years Venice International Film Festival in late August, where it received mixed reviews from critics. It saw a limited released last week in the USA, before going wide from this week. 

Alma Olsson (Julia Roberts) is a respected, well-liked professor at Yale University, who is forced to grapple with her own secretive past after one of her colleagues Henrik 'Hank' Gibson (Andrew Garfield) is faced with a sexual abuse allegation involving one of her students, Margaret 'Maggie' Resnick (Ayo Edebiri). Also starring Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloe Sevigny. 

'BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER' (Rated MA15+) - this British psychological thriller film is Directed by Edward Berger whose most recent feature film making credits are the two critically lauded films 'All Quiet on the Western Front' and 'Conclave'. This film is based on the 2104 novel of the same name by Lawrence Osborne. Here, Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell) is laying low in Macau, spending his days and nights on the casino floors, drinking heavily and gambling what little money he has left. Struggling to keep up with his ever mounting debts, he is offered a lifeline by the mysterious Dao Ming (Fala Chen), a casino employee with secrets of her own. However, in hot pursuit is Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton), a private investigator ready to confront Doyle with what he is running from. As Doyle tries to climb to salvation, the confines of reality start to close in. The film saw its World Premiere screening at the Telluride Film Festival on 29th August, will have a limited release in the USA, UK and here in Australia from this week before streaming on Netflix from 29th October. 

'BLACK PHONE 2' (Rated MA15+) - is an American supernatural horror film Co-Written for the screen, Co-Produced and Directed by Scott Derrickson and is a sequel to the 2021 film that took US$162M at the global Box Office off the back of a US$17M production budget, and was also Directed by Scott Derrickson. Bad dreams haunt fifteen-year-old Gwen (Madeleine McGraw, reprising her role from the first film) as she receives calls from the black phone and sees disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp. Accompanied by her brother, Finn (Mason Thames, also reprising), they head to Alpine Lake Camp to solve the mystery, only to confront the Grabber (Ethan Hawke, reprising), a killer who's grown even more powerful in death. Also starring Demian Bichir, Jeremy Davies and Arianna Rivas. The film Premiered at Fantastic Fest on 20th September, is released in the US and here in Australia this week, and has garnered generally favourable critical reviews. 

'ROOFMAN' (Rated M) - this American crime comedy drama film is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Derek Cianfrance who made his Directorial debut with 'Brother Tied' in 1998 and would follow this up with 'Blue Valentine' in 2010, 'The Place Beyond the Pines' in 2012, and 'The Light Between Oceans' in 2016. The film is a biopic of the fugitive Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), a former United States Army Reserve officer and struggling father, known colloquially as Roofman due to his propensity to steal from branches of McDonald's after entering their premises via the roof. After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys 'R' Us store for six months, surviving undetected while planning his next move. But when he falls for Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a divorced mum drawn to his undeniable charm, his double life begins to unravel, setting off a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in. The film had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September, was released in the US last week and has generated largely positive press. Also starring Ben Mendelsohn, Peter Dinklage, Juno Temple, LaKeith Stanfield and Tony Revolori.

'THE WILDERNESS' (Rated CTC) - is an American drama film that is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Spencer King who made his feature film debut in 2016 with 'Black Petunia' and would follow this up with the documentary 'Death on Me : The Story of Dex Osama' in 2020 and 'Time Now' in 2021. In this story, a group of troubled teenage boys are kidnapped from their homes and taken deep into the unforgiving Utah desert and forced to attend a wilderness therapy programme. Cut off from the outside world, their only path home lies in gaining the favour of the cryptic programme director, whose intentions are anything but healing. As rehabilitation slips into manipulation, the boys must choose to either endure the programme or find a way out. Starring Hunter Doohan, Lamar Johnson, Vinessa Shaw, Sam Jaeger, Sean Avery and Liana Liberato. This film is released Stateside this week too.

With five 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 coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-