Last weekend's broad new releases in Australian cinemas included a US crime thriller that was completed in 2018, a political satire that went straight to streaming in the US, and a melancholy UK drama about a marriage breakdown.
The launches last weekend of Gregor Jordan's 'Dirt Music' and Alister Grierson's 'Bloody Hell' underlined the challenges facing independent films in a theatrical market that is severely weakened by the Victorian shutdown, limits on seating capacity and the absence of Hollywood tentpoles.
The closure of cinemas in Australia, the US and many other markets is resulting in a steady stream of movies going straight to digital platforms.