April is already drawing to a close. So it’s time to take a look at what’s coming up in May 2024.
We start with Mubi, which is launching a good number of new releases this time. In fact, a particularly interesting collection will be launched at the same time as Radu Jude’s latest film, Do not expect too much from the end of the world.
So let’s take a look at what’s coming up this May on Mubi.
The year’s releases
High & Low – John Galliano (Kevin Macdonald) | Starting April 26
Galliano dressed some of the most beautiful and prominent men and women in the world for almost 15 years at Givenchy and Dior, and was widely recognized as one of the most successful fashion designers of the 1990s and 2000s. However, his career abruptly ended when he was caught on camera in 2011 hurling antisemitic and racist insults at bystanders outside Paris’s Café La Perle.
Macdonald’s compelling documentary traces Galliano’s career from fashion student at Central Saint Martins to creative director of some of the world’s largest fashion houses, candidly investigating his struggles with addiction and the industry pressure he faced along the way.
Dogleg (James Alexander Warren) – 2023 | Starting May 1
Alan, a balding director, loses his fiancé’s dog at a gender reveal party on the morning of an important shoot. As he struggles to finish his latest project with the help of a New York critic, the pursuit of the lost dog and the chaos of his film begin to blend, and Alan grows desperate for the day to be over.
Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of The World (Radu Jude) – 2023 | Starting on May 3
An overworked and underpaid production assistant must drive around the city of Bucharest to film the casting for a workplace safety video commissioned by a multinational company. When one of her interviewees makes a statement that ignites a scandal she is forced to re-invent the whole story.
Acclaimed as one of the best films of 2023 by John Waters and Edgar Wright, Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of The World won the Special Jury Prize at 2023’s Locarno International Film Festival.
RULES DON’T APPLY: SHORTS BY RADU JUDE collection
Plastic Semiotic
For those who’d like to find out more about the Romanian director, Mubi is offering a collection of his short films. On the program:
Etero, a 48-year-old woman living in a small village in Georgia, never wanted a husband. She cherishes her freedom as much as her cakes. But her choice to live alone is the cause of much gossip among her fellow villagers. Unexpectedly, she finds herself passionately falling for a man.
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry was featured in Cannes Film Festival Directors’ Fortnight in 2023.
Lemon Tree (Rachel Walden) – 2023 | Starting May 14
An irresponsible father and his young son embark on a wild road trip.
Lemon Tree is Rachel Walden’s directorial debut, and the film was featured in Cannes Film Festival Directors’ Fortnight in 2023.
Gasoline Rainbow (Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross) – 2023 | Starting May 31
With high school in the rearview, five teenagers from inland Oregon embark on one last adventure. Piling into a van with a busted tail light, their mission takes them to a place they’ve never been—the Pacific coast, five hundred miles away. Their plan, in full: “Fuck it.”
Gasoline Rainbow is directed by the Ross Brothers who’s notable films include 45365 (2009), which won the SXSW Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature, Tchoupitoulas (2012), and Western (2015).
The coming classics
As we await the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, audiences are invited to join MUBI on a virtual stroll down the Boulevard de la Croisette, indulging in past favorites and champions newly added to the Festival Focus: Cannes Film Festival collection.
Burning (Lee Chang-dong) – 2018 | Starting May 1
Jongsu, a frustrated introvert, has his life complicated by the appearance of two people: Haemi, a spirited woman who offers romantic possibility, and, Ben, a wealthy young man she befriends. When Jongsu learns of Ben’s mysterious hobby and Haemi disappears, his obsessions begin to mount.
Burning was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival in 2018, and won the FIPRESCI Prize – Competition at the festival.
The Beaver (Jodie Foster) – 2011 | Starting May 1
Suffering from a severe case of depression, toy company CEO Walter Black begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter pushes for his parents to get a divorce.
Jodie Foster directs and stars in The Beaver as well as Mel Gibson and Jennifer Lawrence. The film is featured in MUBI’s latest LE BOOING collection, which celebrates movies that, despite being ironically booed at festivals, have left a lasting impact on Cannes’ history.
Zombi Child (Bertrand Bonello) – 2019 | Starting May 1
Haiti, 1962. A man is brought back from the dead only to be sent to the living hell of the sugarcane fields. In Paris, 55 years later, at the prestigious Légion d’honneur boarding school, a Haitian girl confesses an old family secret to a group of new friends—with unthinkable consequences.
Zombi Child was nominated for the Queer Palm at Cannes Film Festival in 2019.
