The Tale
Award-winning documentarian Jennifer Fox set the Sundance Film Festival ablaze this year with her narrative feature film debut: a cinematic distillation of everything behind the #MeToo movement drawn from her own harrowing story of sexual trauma. When a documentary filmmaker (Laura Dern) uncovers a startling short story she'd written when she was a child, she must sift through painful layers of suppressed memory to uncover the truth of her sexual molestation and rape at the hands of a beloved childhood teacher. Fox confronted her own experiences as a 13-year-old to tell this story, which explores the idea of victims hiding their own suffering, even from themselves, in order to live. Premieres May 26; hbo.com.
Picnic at Hanging Rock
One of Australia's most enigmatic novels, Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, has already been translated to the screen once before: by Australian auteur Peter Weir in his critically and commercially successful feature adaptation. But, as with all things in our streaming age, there is much more story to be told than two hours can contain. This time, Canadian director Larysa Knodracki, known for her work on cutting-edge series like Legion, Better Call Saul, and The Americans, picks up where Weir left off: she oversaw production and directed three of the series' six episodes. For those unfamiliar with Lindsay’s classic, three schoolgirls and their teacher go missing on a geological field trip in turn of the century Australia. The inexplicable mystery of their disappearance throws their entire small community into chaos worthy of David Lynch. Game of Thrones’ Natalie Dormer headlines the young cast. Premieres May 25; amazon.com.
