Limited and VOD Releases: Will Jojo Light the Way?

October 18, 2019

Jojo Rabbit

There are not a lot of films on this week’s list that are earning both great reviews and loud buzz. The Lighthouse is one of the best, both in terms of buzz and in terms of reviews, but Jojo Rabbit is the one I want to see the most.

By the Grace of God - Reviews
 A French film about the sex abuse scandals in the church. It is powerful, but I’m not sure a film with that subject matter will thrive anywhere outside of the art house circuit.

The Captain - Reviews
 A Chinese film about an airline disaster. The film only has three reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a sign that there isn’t enough buzz. However, it is on its way to over $400 million at the Chinese box office, so it is worth paying attention to.

Cyrano, My Love - Reviews
 A comedy about the writing of the play Cyrano de Bergerac. The reviews are excellent, but there are several films on this week’s list with better reviews, so it might get lost in the crowd. It does have a lot of art house appeal, on the other hand.

The Elephant Queen - Reviews
 A nature documentary about a herd elephants and their matriarch. The reviews are among the best on this week’s list and nature documentaries have a lot more mainstream appeal than most other subgenres of documentaries, so this could do well enough to earn some measure of mainstream success.

#Female Pleasure - Reviews
 A documentary about the way different cultures try and deny women sexual pleasure. It is an important topic to discuss and most critics say it delivers the message in an effective way.

Greener Grass - Reviews
 Video on Demand
A satire about suburbia that is about... I’m not even going to try and explain. It has something to do with kids turning into dogs, among other things. The reviews are among the best of the weekend, but it is playing on VOD, so we might not even get box office numbers next week.

Jojo Rabbit - Reviews
 This film had such loud pre-release buzz that many thought it would open fast enough to justify a wide expansion. I was one of them. However, the reviews are merely good and perhaps not good enough to thrive. I hope I’m wrong here, but I fear it will open well, but not be able to sustain its audience as it tries to expand. It could become a cult classic.

The Lighthouse - Reviews
 This film earned some loud pre-release buzz, at least loud for a limited release. Fortunately, its reviews are living up to the buzz. In fact, its reviews are award-worthy and the movie could earn some major Awards Season nominations, especially for the two leads.

Secondary VOD Releases:
The Dark Place - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Devil’s Junction: Handy Dandy’s Revenge - Reviews - Video on Demand
Echoes of Fear - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Thrasher Road - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Trick - Reviews - Video on Demand
There are several secondary VOD releases this week, but they all either have no reviews, or terrible reviews.

Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, The Elephant Queen, Jojo Rabbit, Trick, Grâce à dieu, Edmond, The Lighthouse, Greener Grass, Echoes of Fear, Zhongguo jizhang, The Dark Place, Thrasher Road, #Female Pleasure, Devil’s Junction: Handy Dandy’s Revenge, Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson