What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 13th March 2025

Celebrating its eleventh year this year, the Manchester Film Festival (MFF) kick starts on Friday 14th March and runs through until Sunday 23rd March in the northwest city of Manchester, England. The city’s biggest celebration of the best new and independent film, MFF is an annual celebration of storytelling through cinema, uniting film lovers and filmmakers together for ten days of screenings, Q&As, red-carpet glamour, and so much more. 

Those feature films, broken down into UK Narrative Features, International Narrative Features and Documentary Features, of which there are forty-one all up, are here shown with those showcasing their UK and World Premiere screenings :-

* 'Aontas' - from Ireland and Co-Written and Directed by Damian McCann. UK Premiere.

* 'Bang Bang' - from the USA and Co-Produced and Directed by Vincent Grashaw. UK Premiere.

* 'Departures' - from the UK and Written by Lloyd Eyre-Morgan and Co-Produced and Co-Directed by Lloyd Eyre-Morgan and Neil Ely. World Premiere.

* 'The Draw' - from the UK and Directed by Tom Ruddock. UK Premiere.

* 'Foul Evil Deeds' - from the UK and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Richard Hunter. UK Premiere.

* 'Heads or Fails' - from Belgium and Directed by Lenny Guit and Harpo Guit. UK Premiere.

* 'Hostages' - from the UK and Written and Directed by Jim Owen. UK Premiere.

* 'I Love You Forever' - from the USA and Directed by Cazzie David and Elisa Kalani. UK Premiere.

* 'Kid' - from the UK and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Ryan J. Smith. World Premiere.

* 'The Line' - from the USA and Directed by Ethan Berger. UK Premiere.

* 'Meta : The Dazzling Girl' - from India and Written and Directed by Prasanth Mambully. World Premiere.

* 'Mistress Dispeller' - from the USA and China and Co-Produced and Directed by Elizabeth Lo. UK Premiere.

* 'My Dead Friend Zoe' - from the USA and Directed by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes. UK Premiere.

* 'Near Miss' - from the UK and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jamie Rafn. UK Premiere.

* 'Night Call' - from Belgium and France and Directed by Michiel Blanchart. UK Premiere.

* 'The Penguin Lessons' - from the UK and Directed by Peter Cattaneo. UK Premiere.

* 'Pet Shops Days' - from USA, UK, Italy and Mexico and Directed by Olmo Schnabel. UK Premiere.

* 'Phase' - from the UK and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jessica Vogt. World Premiere.

* 'Pot of Gold' - from Pakistan and Co-Written, and Produced by Billy Offland and Directed by Olivier Richomme and Billy Offland. World Premiere.

* 'Silent Notes' - from the USA and Directed by Toni Comas. UK Premiere.

* 'Transamazonia' - from France, Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan and Brazil and Co-Written and Directed by Pia Marais. UK Premiere.

* 'Transplant' - from the USA and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jason Park. International Premiere.

* 'Two Big Feet' - from the UK and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Noah Stratton-Twine. World Premiere.

* 'Y2K' - from the USA and Directed by Kyle Mooney. UK Premiere.

For the full synopsis of these films, plus those others having their Manchester Premiere's, the full line of the short films being showcased, the five films in the Screenplay Competition, and a whole lot more good stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://www.manchesterfilmfestival.com/

This week then we have four new movies coming to a big screen Odeon close to home, kicking off with a spy thriller about a loving couple, but when the wife is suspected of betraying the nation, the husband and intelligence agent, faces the ultimate test, that of loyalty to his marriage or his country. Then we have a historical drama offering about a German theologian and pastor who stood up to the Nazis during the Third Reich. Next up is an Aussie doco about the improbable story of all-time great Hungarian footballer who finds himself in Melbourne in the late 1980's; before closing out the week with an Indian political drama film centering around an Indian diplomat who tries to repatriate an Indian girl from Pakistan, where she was deceived into marrying against her will.

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

'BLACK BAG' (Rated M) - this American spy thriller film is Directed, photographed and Edited by Steven Soderbergh, whose prior feature film making credits take in his debut in 1989 with 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape' which he would follow up with numerous others, including 'Out of Sight' in 1998, 'Erin Brockovich' and 'Traffic' both in 2000, 'Ocean's Eleven', 'Ocean's Twelve' and 'Ocean's Thirteen' in 2001, 2004 and 2007 respectively, 'Contagion' in 2011, 'Magic Mike' in 2012, 'Side Effects' in 2013, 'Logan Lucky' in 2017, 'Unsane' in 2018, and 'Presence' most recently released earlier this year. This film is released in the US this week too, and it has generated universal critical acclaim so far.

The story here centres on legendary intelligence agents George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and his beloved wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). When she is suspected of betraying the nation, George faces the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country. Also starring Pierce Brosnan, Tom Burke, Noemie Harris, Rege-Jean Page and Marisa Abela. 

'BONHOEFFER : PASTOR, SPY, ASSASSIN' (Rated PG) - is a historical drama thriller film that is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Todd Komarnicki in only his second feature film making outing after 2003's 'Resistance' although he has Written and Produced several other notable Hollywood films since then. Set in 1940's Berlin, this film dramatises the life of German theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler), who stood up to the Nazis during the Third Reich, and as the world teeters on the brink of annihilation, he gets swept into the epicentre of a deadly plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. With his faith and fate at stake, Bonhoeffer must choose between upholding his moral convictions or risking it all to save millions of Jews from genocide. Bonhoeffer was born in 1906, and in 1944 was accused of being involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler, ultimately leading to him being hanged on 9th April 1945 during the collapse of the Nazi regime. The film has generated mixed or average reviews and has attracted controversy for its historical inaccuracies and its changes to known facts. It has so far grossed US$12M from a production budget of US$25M.

'ANGE & THE BOSS : PUSKAS IN AUSTRALIA' (Rated PG) - this Australian sports documentary film is Written and Directed by Cam Fink, Rob Heath, and Tony Wilson, and is also Produced by Tony Wilson, and photographed and Edited by Cam Fink. The film tells the improbable story of all-time great Hungarian footballer Ferenc Puskas finding himself in Melbourne in the late 1980's, coaching the Greek National Soccer League team South Melbourne Hellas. Barely able to speak English and comedically overweight, he united and inspired the team to a dramatic championship win in 1991, while eating, drinking, and enjoying himself along the way. As well as being a sports documentary, it’s also a film about life in Australia, immigrant identity and belonging, gluttonous pasta consumption, and the broken window winder in Ange Postecoglou’s Datsun 200B. 

'THE DIPLOMAT' (Rated MA15+) - is an Indian political thriller film Directed by Shivam Nair and is set against the backdrop of high-stakes diplomacy and follows the real-life story of Indian diplomat and Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh (portrayed here by John Abraham, who also Produces here), who embarks on a mission to Pakistan to investigate a critical situation and who tries to repatriate an Indian girl where she was allegedly forced and deceived into marrying against her will. The film is in the Hindi language with English subtitles.

With four 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-