Images: Supplied 
Coded Bias: Showing on Netflix
An impressively extensive documentary on how racism and sexism creep into the unseen algorithms that hold more and more influence over our lives, told by women activists who are fighting the big tech companies that hold the code.
Sound of Metal: Showing on Prime Video
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Sound-Of-Metal.jpg "Riz Ahmed as Ruben in \"Sound of Metal\". Image: Courtesy of Amazon Studios")
A breakthrough moment in Riz Ahmed’s career, Sound of Metal is an exceptional film about a drummer’s struggle to adapt to his sudden loss of hearing. Its creative use of sound design to create empathy and immersive subjectivity won it well-deserved Oscars for sound and editing.
The Disciple: Showing on Netflix
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/TheDisciple_Still-41_4096x1716_Rec709g24_2020-08-18_0.jpg "\"The Disciple\". Image: Supplied")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/TheDisciple.jpg "\"The Disciple\". Image: Supplied")
A melancholy character study of a boy with unfulfilled ambitions to be recognised as a master of Indian classical music. The Disciple artfully portrays the pain of being disregarded but also the fulfillment to be found in a love of one’s craft that is not contingent on the recognition of others. Its subtle realism is as absorbing as its transcendent soundtrack.
How to with John Wilson: Showing on Showmax
An absurd, manic documentary miniseries. Lovable neurotic cameraman John Wilson creates montages of New York people-watching and narrated comedy that largely defies explanation, but is decidedly hilarious. HBO has just released a
second season which will be coming to Showmax soon.
Bo Burnham: Inside: Showing on Netflix
A revolutionary Netflix comedy special that transcends the genre. Confined to a single room over lockdown, Burnham openly exhibits his creativity, wit and deteriorating mental state, alternating between razor-sharp satirical songs, and bouts of revealing depressive episodes which have spurred concern for the comedian’s wellbeing. During the trauma and isolation of the pandemic, Inside is an irreverent call to bring mental health issues into the open.
Annette: Showing on Prime Video
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/annette.jpeg "Marion Cotillard stars in \"Annette\". Image: Supplied")
One of the strangest films to have been absorbed into the mainstream this year, Annette is a risky antirealist rock opera with a powerful leading cast that dependably divides audiences. Full of contradictions, it’s a wild, layered odyssey that is utterly engrossing without being entertaining.
In The Same Breath: Showing on Showmax
A cerebral documentary comparing the parallel misinformation campaigns by US and Chinese authorities during the early stages of the pandemic, narrated with profundity and directness by Chinese-born American director Nanfu Wang.
The French Dispatch: Showing in cinemas
Wes Anderson’s 10th and latest film pays tribute to journalists through several stories from a fictional magazine based on The New Yorker. The stories are linked by theme and stylisation rather than narrative, and this anthology format is perfectly suited to Anderson’s idiosyncratic style.
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Coming in 2022
On Circuit
Licorice Pizza: In cinemas from January 28)
Cooper Hoffman (son of late Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman) plays a former child acting star, now in high school, who befriends a famous Hollywood producer played by Bradley Cooper.
This Seventies coming-of-age indie film is first and foremost a drama depicting the vulnerability and turbulence of a young relationship, but with a dry, off-beat comedic flair throughout the entire journey. It was awarded Best Film of 2021 by The National Board of Review in the US and also earned director Paul Thomas Anderson the award for Best Director.
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