The Melbourne International Film Festival returns for the 2018 season, and we’ve made it easy to get you started by sharing 10 must-see movies at the festival.
MIFF is back for its 67th year and will feature 374 films from 80 different countries!
With so much quality viewing at this year’s festival, it was hard to narrow it down to just 10 must-see films, but this should be a good place to start.
For the more information about the festival, and to access the full program, head to the MIFF homepage here.
In the meantime, here are Janks’ 10 picks from the festival.
Drive (2011)
Director: Nicolas Winding-Refn
This isn’t just any old screening of the cult-classic movie Drive starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan.
The ‘Hear My Eyes: Drive’ event at MIFF will gather an all-star group of Melbourne musicians that will play music from the film LIVE as you watch it!
This special audio-visual event will see the musicians performing tracks like Nightcall, Under Your Spell and A Real Hero.
Get in quick, because tickets are selling fast!
Check out the awesome opening scene from the movie, featuring one of the film’s most popular tracks below.
American Animals (2018)
Director: Bart Layton
Based on a story about one of the more daring heists in US history, American Animals features an awesome cast of young rising stars, in a crime film that looks like a lot of fun.
This is director Bart Layton’s followup to his intriguing 2012 documentary, The Imposter.
First Reformed (2017)
Director: Paul Schrader
From Paul Schrader, the writer of Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980) comes this unique character study of a priest (Ethan Hawke) who struggles to cope with past tragedies in a world gone to hell.
Hawke looks like he’s put on a career-defining performance here judging by the film’s trailer, and Amanda Seyfried and Cedric the Entertainer also star.
First Reformed comes to us from powerhouse production company A24 films, who have produced some gems over the last few years including Get Out (2017) and It Comes at Night (2017) to name a very small few (from a list of many)!
Thoroughbreds (2017)
Director: Cory Finley
This awesome psychological crime-thriller features the up-and-coming stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke, as well as the late Anton Yelchin’s final screen performance.
Taylor-Joy and Cooke play two friends with sociopathic tendencies that hatch a plot to be rid of Taylor-Joy’s character’s oppressive father-in-law.
This small, slick film will have your eyes glued to the screen for its entirety, and is one you won’t easily forget.
Wildlife (2018)
Director: Paul Dano
Wildlife stars Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal in this familial drama from director/actor Paul Dano.
Set in the 1960’s, the film follows a boy (played by Melbourne’s own Ed Oxenbould) as he witnesses his parent’s marriage falling apart.
The film looks to feature some outstanding performances along with some gorgeous cinematography.
Check out its trailer below and grab your tickets here!
West of Sunshine (2017)
Director: Jason Raftopoulos
West of Sunshine comes to us from Australian director Jason Raftopoulos and stars Damian Hill and Ty Perham.
It follows a father who has one day to pay back a debt to a violent loan shark while having to look after his young son.
Shot in and around Melbourne, this dramatic crime-drama looks like it will pull on the heart-strings.
Actor Damian Hill is Ty Perham’s real-life stepfather, so the dynamic between the two actors should be as genuine as it gets.
Climax (2018)
Director: Gaspar Noé
Climax comes to us from the director of controversial cult films like Irreversible (2002), Enter the Void (2009) and Love (2015) – Gaspar Noé.
This no-holds-barred director is a living legend amongst his fans, and his films are an experience you won’t forget, for better or worse.
Trying to explain the plot of this film feels like I wouldn’t be doing it justice.
Just check out the trailer below to see what I mean.
Grab your tickets for this provocative film here!
Everybody Knows (2018)
Director: Asghar Farhadi
For those unfamiliar with Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, the time to familiarise yourself is now!
With past works like About Elly (2009) and the Oscar-winning films A Separation (2011) and The Salesman (2016), Farhadi could go down as one of the all-time greats.
The director has the unique ability to take a seemingly ordinary tale of family drama and turn it into one the most intense movie-viewing experiences you’ll ever see.
His latest, Everybody Knows stars Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem in a Hitchcock-ian inspired thriller that centres around a shocking event that threatens to reveal the secrets of those involved.
Book your tickets to the film here.
Three Identical Strangers (2018)
Director: Tim Wardle
The documentary film Three Identical Strangers tells the story of triplets, separated at birth, who have reunited again later in life as young men.
If that’s not remarkable enough, there are twists.
What starts out as an optimistic, happy-go-lucky tale of an overdue family reunion, quickly turns into one of controversy and conspiracy once more details are unearthed.
There’s nothing better than a riveting documentary full of twists and turns, and Three Identical Strangers aims to deliver the goods.
Mandy (2018)
Director: Panos Cosmatos
Nicolas Cage features heavily in this year’s MIFF as he gets his own movie marathon, appropriately dubbed the Cage-A-Thon!
The Cage-A-Thon features some of the actor’s best work, however, it’s his latest film Mandy which is the most intriguing.
Starring Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough and Linus Roache, Mandy is a balls-to-the-wall zany action-horror-thriller that sees a man seek revenge on a cult leader that’s kidnapped his girlfriend.
Check out what could be the greatest trailer of the year (maybe of the decade) for this must-see film below.
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