Annette Bening’s Family Drama ‘Hope Gap’ Debuts; Coming-Of-Age Tale ‘Clementine’ Brings The Thrills – Specialty Streaming Preview

Annette Bening, Bill Nighy and Josh O’ Connor are ready to deal with some serious family issues in the drama Hope Gap. Screen Media Ventures and Roadside Attractions released the film today on digital platforms after having to pivot from their originally planned March 5 theatrical release due to the pandemic –because the show must go on.

Roadside Attractions/Screen Media

Directed by Oscar-nominated screenwriter William Nicholson and based on his Tony Award-nominated play, The Retreat From Moscow, Hope Gap made its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival before hitting the festival circuit.

Hope Gap follows the lives of Grace (Bening) and Edward (Nighy), who have been married for 29 years, as they navigate through stages of shock, disbelief and anger, to a place of hope. They live in a small seaside town near a cove under the cliffs called Hope Gap — hence the title of the film. When their son Jamie (O’Connor) comes to visit for the weekend, his dad tells him that he plans on leaving mom that day. Now that’s some big news to come home to.

Related Story ‘The Infiltrators’ And ‘Deerskin’ Set Virtual Premieres, ‘The Wretched’, ‘Arkansas’ And ‘Driveways’ Debut – Specialty Streaming Preview

As a result, they have to work through some things — and it’s not easy as they are forced to face hard truths, and out of those truths to fashion new lives.

The film was produced by David M Thompson of Origin Pictures and Sarada McDermott.

Watch the trailer below.

Merging elements of a coming-of-age drama and a psychological thriller, Clementine will make its debut this weekend. The film bowed at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and went on to screen at San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ film fest Frameline before being acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Clementine marks Lara Jean Gallagher’s feature directorial debut and follows the character of Karen (Otmara Marrero) who escapes Los Angeles after a devastating one-sided break-up. She flees to her ex’s lake house in the Pacific Northwest where she becomes entranced by a mysterious younger woman (Sydney Sweeney). She cannot escape her alluring magnetism and as a result, she has a sexual awakening and a tense lovelorn journey to love and how to let go.

The film was also written by Gallagher and also stars Will Brittain and Sonya Walger. The film was produced by Aimee Lynn Barneburg of High Pony Pictures, Davis Priestley of Revery, and Kim Bailey and Isabel Marden of Corporate Witchcraft. Watch the trailer below

Written and directed Christophe Honoré, the comedy On A Magical Night is described as “playful” and follows Maria (Chiara Mastroianni), a woman who isn’t happy with marriage. After an intense argument with her husband of 20 years, she spends the night in room 212 of the hotel across the street from their home.

‘On A Magical Night’ Strand Releasing

While there, she can keep her eye on her apartment and her husband and while doing so, she confronts her past lovers and relationships, fantasizing about all the lives that could’ve been. As a result, she spends this one magical night wondering if she’s made the right life decisions.

On a Magical Night premiered at Cannes where Mastroianni won Un Certain Regard for Best Performance. The film opens virtually at Film at Lincoln Center and nationwide starting today.

Emily Cohn takes a page out of the female-driven sex comedy book with her feature directorial debut CRSHD starring Isabelle Barbier, Deeksha Ketkar and Sadie Scott. The film from Strand Releasing first hit the screen in 2019 at the Tribeca Film Festival.

‘CRSHD’ Lightyear Entertainment

True to classic lose-your-virginity comedies from the days of yore, the Lightyear Entertainment film follows college freshman Izzy Alden (Barbier) and her two BFFs, Anuka (Deeksha) and Fiona (Sadie), as they set out on a journey to get Izzy to a “crush party” so she can lose her virginity before the end of the semester.

Also hitting on demand and digital platforms this weekend is Walkaway Joe from director Tom Wright. Written by Michael Milillo the drama stars David Strathairn, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Julian Feder. The story follows the unlikely friendship between a young boy searching for his father in pool halls across the country, and a wandering loner hiding from his past. In each other they experience the power of a second chance, and a shot at redemption.

Sasha Joseph Neulinger’s documentary Rewind will hit streaming and on demand platforms starting today before airing on PBS’s Independent Lens on May 11.

The docu premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and marks Neulinger’s directorial debut. An autobiographical feature, Rewind stems from Neulinger’s father’s video camera which documented major moments and celebrations in his family’s life: birthday parties, hockey games and major holidays. But his father’s camera also documented a hidden secret, a revelation that lead to a media firestorm, a high-stakes court battle, and a generational reckoning.

With the expansive video archives, Neulinger revisits these events 20 years two weave together a story about the cycles and consequences of abuse, what it means to heal and how to use those experiences to affect positive change in the world.

Like, OH MY GOD!, there’s a comedy musical remake of Valley Girl out this weekend!

A musical adaptation of the classic 1983 movie, Valley Girl follows the ultimate ’80s valley girl Julie (Jessica Rothe). She’s a creative free spirit who loves spending time with her friends at the mall and making plans for senior prom. But when she falls hard for Sunset Strip punk rocker Randy (Joshua Whitehouse), he challenges everything the Valley and Julie stand for. Despite push-back from friends and family, Julie must break out of the safety of her world to follow her heart and discover what it really means to be a Valley Girl.

Directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg from a script by Amy Talkington, Valley Girl also stars Jessie Ennis, Ashleigh Murray, Chloe Bennet, Logan Paul, Mae Whitman, Mario Revolori, Rob Huebel, Judy Greer, Alicia Silverstone and Camila Morrone.