Sophie Hyde’s 52 Tuesdays and Kriv Stenders’ Kill Me Three Times launched in the US last week, generating copious publicity and another batch of favourable reviews from US critics.
Hyde’s gender-bending drama premiered on Friday at the Quad cinema in New York City and on subscription streaming service Fandor.
Stenders’ comedy thriller starring Simon Pegg as an assassin who encounters a group of increasingly violent locals, with Alice Braga, Luke Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, Callan Mulvey and Sullivan Stapleton, debuted on iTunes and other VOD outlets in the US on March 26.
Released by Magnolia, the film will have its theatrical premiere in around a dozen cities on April 10.
Kino Lorber bought 52 Tuesdays after it won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award at last year’s Sundance.
“Like almost all indie movies releasing at the moment in the US they are starting with one city and will grow if the audiences come," Hyde tells IF.
“Their intention has always been for 30 cities but everyone is playing things very safe right now so we can't really offer any new info. Fandor is subscription-only and VOD will follow post-release.”
Typifying the positive reviews, Twitch Film’s Shelagh Rowan-Legg declared, “It is rare that a filmmaker's fiction debut feature is as assured, polished, and incredibly moving as Sophie Hyde's 52 Tuesdays.
“As this is a kind of long-form filmmaking, inevitably some comparisons might be made with Boyhood. But 52 Tuesdays not only is a more interesting story, it has far greater immediacy and displays a lack of control over its environment that is reflected in that story. In essence, the audience is experiencing the story exactly as the actors and filmmakers did, as it happened.”
The New York Times’ Jeannette Catsoulis described the film as a “frustratingly fragmented yet warmly intimate portrait of an evolving bond that frays but doesn’t sever.”
Lauding Del Herbert-Jane’s performance, she said, “In James’s quiet bravery… the physical and psychological pain of transformation are front and centre. His is the journey that resonates, and his the happiness we hope for.”
Hyde is producing a short film with the intriguing title My Best Friend is Stuck on the Ceiling with writer/director Matt Vesely. Shooting this week, it stars comedian/writer Tom Ward (Please Like Me) and Erin James (who did that memorable deaf phone sex scene in The Little Death).
Entertainment One hasn’t set an Australian release date yet for Kill Me Three Times yet but Stenders teased on his Facebook page, “Standby for some very exciting news about our local release through eOne.”
Producer Tania Chambers tells IF, “We are very pleased with the support and passion that Magnolia has shown for the movie. The premiere in Los Angeles was successful and we're grateful that Kriv, Simon, Alice, Cal and Luke were able to join us.”
Chambers adds the film has been sold to more than 70 countries, with more deals in negotiation, although she prefers distributors to announce such deals.
Hitfix’s Drew McWeeny said, “Kill Me Three Times is a confident smaller film, and if you enjoy this sort of chess game with bullets, you'll probably get a kick out of it, and for Pegg fans, it's pretty much continuous pleasure throughout.”
Latino Review’s Daniel W Tafoya observed, “Stenders does a capable job with the material and seems to be taking a step up in his career with this work… He shows that he's able to corral a star- laden cast and work well with genre material. The only real issue I had was with the slightly scattershot tone of the film. When Pegg is onscreen, he sells the comedic aspects of it, but the other actors' scenes are more serious and seem to be trying to put across a more solemn, neo-noir vibe.”