Dual (2022):

Scottish actress Karen Gillan (“Avengers: End Game”) teams up with Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”) in this sci-fi thriller shot entirely in Finland, not because it was set there, but because at the time, deep in the grip of Covid-19, the Finns seemed to have a very good handle on preventing the pandemic spread. If you watch carefully, you will note that none of the car license plates, nor the street signs are legible, designed to create the appearance that the action is taking place in a near-future America. Gillan is Sara, a young woman diagnosed with a terminal illness. Using the science of the day, she opts to be cloned, which would allow for the “new” version of her to carry on living her life while the “old” version passes away. Oops! Big surprise – Sara is amazingly cured of her affliction, and now has a prognosis that allows for a normal life span. But there’s a law on the books now that says a person and their clone cannot exist at the same time. So, either the clone is to be disposed of, or the “real” Sara has to go. The clone has no intention of giving up this life, and Sara has no desire to see another person occupy her space, so the fight is on and there can only be one winner. As Sara works at killing the clone, or being killed by the clone, she begins to wonder if the life she was living was really the life that she wanted. The clone gets along better with her boyfriend and her mother than she did, and now, with a dual to the death facing her, it’s time to get some combat training under her belt. Rated 14A.

Drive My Car (2022):

The Oscar Winner for Best International Picture (the category that used to be called “Best Foreign Film”), this unusual film from Japan was very polarizing, with North American audiences either loving it or ignoring it. Set and shot in Hiroshima, Japan, we meet Yusuke (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a renowned stage actor and director, still grieving the loss of his wife two years earlier. He is given an opportunity to direct the Chekhov play, “Uncle Vanya” and feels that this maybe a chance to disappear into his work, and deal with his grief. As part of the package, Yusuke is given a driver for his prized bright red Saab 900 Turbo, and almost all of the dialogue and all the action takes place in the vehicle, along with his female driver Misaki. Although his dead wife is nowhere in the picture, she is a haunting presence as he listens to tapes of her voice – she was a screenwriter, and in the process, we learn a number of truths about infidelity and about the lives they lived that now appear to be something of a lie. Complicated, heavily oriented toward relationships, and with no shortage of rabbit holes down which to go, a delicate balance is sought that will find peace for all. Rated 14A.

Let Them All Talk (2020):

This Meryl Streep vehicle took a long time to get to DVD release and to On Demand outlets. Directed by Steven Soderbergh (“Behind the Candelabra,” “Magic Mike”) it stars two Oscar winners, Streep and Diane Wiest, as well as Oscar nominee Candice Bergen. Streep is Alice, a successful author with troubles haunting her in many ways. She decides to go on a cruise with her friends and one family member, to accept an award in Paris. Because Alice does not fly, she’s on the Queen Mary 2 which allows for lots of time for the drama to play out. Also stars Lucas Hedges. Rated 14A.

Persuasion (2022):

Based on the Jane Austin novel, this period piece is, a dramatic romance, stars Dakota Johnson as Anne Elliott, a young woman, persuaded earlier in her life to turn away the affections of a dashing young man of humble origins, and living with her snobbish family, may have a second chance. Anne is a modern-thinking young lady, and she is aware that despite her parents' uppity ways, they are on the brink of bankruptcy. When her one-time suitor, Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) comes crashing back into her life seven years later she wonders now if she should pick up where he left off. Henry Golding ("Crazy Rich Asians") also stars. Rated PG.

Operation Mincemeat (2021):

This film, based on actual events in WWII, was released by Warner Bros in the UK theatrically, and is being released by Netflix in North America. Colin Firth stars in this ingenious story of an espionage operation in 1943 that turned the tide of the war when a pair of British operatives used a combination of a corpse and false identity documents to deceive the Germans at a critical point when a huge build-up of troops was set to quash the allies. It tells the story of those who fight in the shadows, and whose true exploits are sometimes unknown and lost in the fog of war and the mirage of history. Rated 14A.