5 exciting movies at the Glasgow Film Festival

·Contributor

24 January 2019 at 6:40 am

The Glasgow Film Festival is back, and yesterday’s full line-up announcement was packed with movies to be excited about. The festival runs from 20th Feb – 3rd March, and here’s just five of the films we’ll be queuing up to see.

Vox Lux

Natalie Portman as a drug-snorting, booze-swilling, self-obsessed pop star, swaggering her way through a series of increasingly intense encounters? Yeah, this is instantly gone straight to the top of our must-see-in-Scotland list. Combine Madonna with Beyonce, dial up the controversy levels, and you’ve got Portman’s Celeste, who sings songs written by Sia and wears costumes Lady Gaga would turn down for being too crazy. We can’t wait.

Under The Silver Lake

It’s been delayed, then delayed again, re-edited, and delayed, but next month, fans of It Follows will finally get to see David Robert Mitchell’s follow-up feature, which is reportedly a twisted detective noir starring Andrew Garfield, set in LA. Let’s hope this isn’t a Richard Kelly situation (whose next film after cult horror hit Donnie Darko was the disappointing LA-set Southland Tales), and Silver Lake follows-up on It Follows‘ massive promise.

Mid90s

Jonah Hill’s directorial debut is a coming of age drama about a 13-year-old boy who begins to hang out with an older group of skateboarders in 90s LA.

Jonah Hill’s directorial debut (from his own script), has had plenty of positive buzz at the other festivals it’s dropped in on. Starring a bunch of brand-new actors as a gang of teenage skateboarders who use their hobby as a method of escape from difficult circumstances, Mid90s has been acclaimed for its naturalistic style. We’ll be pulling on our tie-dye t-shirts to take the ‘90s nostalgia trip in Glasgow.

The Matrix / Fight Club / The Blair Witch Project

Speaking of the ‘90s, The Glasgow Film Festival isn’t just about introducing audiences to the latest cutting-edge movies, it’s also about given film fans a good time, with a series of special pop-up screenings in cool locations.

This year, the fest will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of some of the best movies ever made, with Secret Cinema style screenings of The Matrix, Fight Club and The Blair Witch Project. Yeah, we know this is technically three films, but they’re all so perfect we couldn’t choose between them.

Eighth Grade

You probably vaguely remember your last year before entering high school. Between stressful parental relationships and typical teenage woes, it’s high-key stressful.

Bo Burnham’s directorial debut has had plenty of attention in the States, with both the National Board of Review and American Film Institute selecting it as one of the Top 10 Films of 2018. It’s nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Feature, while star Elsie Fisher was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress.

The story follows an eighth-grader, played by Elsie Fisher, during her last week of classes. She suffers from social anxiety but produces vlogs giving life advice. Reportedly intelligent and moving, we reckon this will be a big audience favourite.