DRUGGY DRAMA/WOMEN
His Three Daughters
Three sisters – Katie (Carrie Coon), Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) and Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) – converge at the New York apartment where their father, who has incurable cancer, lives in Azazel Jacobs' family drama. The sisters argue, mostly elder Katie, who immediately takes issue with step-sis Rachel's pot smoking. In a declaration of her rights, especially since she lives with dad and is his caretaker, Rachel gruffly says: "In the morning I smoke a blunt. And I smoke at least three more throughout the day. That's how I do shit!"
Since Katie thinks the smoke and smell are bad for dad, Rachel agrees to puff outside. "Shit's legal now." she tells building security guard Victor (Jose Febus) when he asks her to move from a bench that's becomes her home away from home while the sisters are there.
The third sis Christine practices yoga and TM. She's a mom now, but before that Christine liked to do mushrooms at Grateful Dead shows. "People have a picture of me naked in the mud, all that Woodstock shit," she says, "but the truth is at the shows it's just a group of people who look out for each other."
After much bickering the sisters reconcile and go their separate ways knowing there's work to do to keep the family together following dad's death.
No box office
Similar to: Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Watch at Netflix
DRUGGY DRAMA/TEENS
How to Have Sex
Three sixteen-year-old British girls take a spring-break style vacation on Crete in Molly Manning Walker's film. One, Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce), is a virgin, the others, Skye (Laura Peake) and Em (Enva Lewis), aren't. So, the focus is on getting Tara laid (their terminology).
They make some friends in the hotel and hang with them during the non-stop pool partying and clubbing. Two of the guys – Badger (Shaun Thomas) and Paddy (Sam Bottomley) – show interest in Tara while Em pairs up with Paige (Laura Ambler) and Skye generally flits around.
Tara's inexperience opens the door for the boys to take advantage of her, especially Paddy. It's a sad realization for her and dulls the joy of the trip.
Box Office: $167,700
Similar to: Ibiza (2018)
Watch at Mubi via Prime Video
DRUGGY DRAMA/OPIOIDS
Junction
This year's opioids-crisis movie is a good one. Bryan Greenberg writes, directs and stars. Set in Ohio, CanMed is being sued by the state for damages wrought by the proliferation of Oxycontin. Three stories intertwine: CanMed headed by Lawrence (Griffin Dunne); his son Michael (Greenberg) who's strung out; and pill-pushing doctor Mary (Ashley Madekwe). Greenberg has the toughest part, playing the clichéd addict, but Dunne and Madekwe's roles are more nuanced. Mary actually tries not to write so many scripts but her ghoulish patients demand that of her. And Lawrence is a Big Pharma monster who pays for his crimes in multiple ways in the end.
No box office
Similar to: Pain Hustlers (2023)
Watch at Prime Video
DRUGGY DRAMA/COCAINE/WOMEN
MaXXXine
Maxine is a theme director Ti West and actress Mia Goth first explored in X in 2022. This sequel of sorts moves from Texas to Hollywood where Maxine is now a coke-snorting adult-film star and popular exotic dancer. It's 1985 when rotary phones were still a thing. The Night Stalker is terrorizing women and Maxine and her friends get caught in the middle of it.
With the help of her agent Teddy Knight (Giancarlo Esposito), Maxine scores a role in a mainstream horror flick directed by Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki). She's a fan and walks Maxine through the process. But her life is in chaos. Maxine wields a gun several times and eventually discovers who's killing all the women (including a fellow dancer played by singer Halsey). However, the strong cast, which also includes Kevin Bacon, Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan, exceeds the quality of the film. Weird flashbacks, torture and S&M all figure into the storyline. Maxine survive the campy mayhem.
Box office: $15.1 million
Similar to: Boogie Nights (1997)
Watch at HBO Max
STONER COMEDY/SHROOMS/WOMEN
My Old Ass
Megan Park’s sophomore effort is a delightful coming-of-age tale with Elliott (Maisy Stella) meeting her 39-year-old self, the delightfully deadpan Aubrey Plaza. It all starts with mushroom trip while camping on the eve of Elliott leaving home to attend college in Toronto. Older Elliott offers advice on love and life after Ro (Katrice Brooks) provides the caps and stems, which are brewed into a tea. "May you experience a new level of consciousness tonight," Ro says and Elliott does. (Roy Trakin)
Box office: $5.3 million
Watch at Prime Video
