With the passing of Memorial Day weekend bringing us even more fully into the summer season, it’s an exciting time once again for movies, as previously unreleased titles get slated and theaters re-open in larger numbers across the country. Our June preview brings some highly anticipated new films–some that have played in film festivals earlier this year and last–that are finally able to be seen by audiences. We rounded up six films coming out this month that you should definitely have on your June preview radar to check out.
Which releases are you most looking forward to watching from our June preview? Did we miss a film? Let us know which releases from our June preview you’ll be watching this month in the comments.
Undine (IFC Films)
I don’t know much about Undine, except that early reviews are comparing it to Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water (which makes me think this mysterious movie might get a bit… fishy). Undine is the name of its lead character (Paula Beer), a historian who, after being left by the man she loves, must fulfill an ancient myth of killing him and returning to the water. The latest from director Christian Petzold (whose films Phoenix and Transit have been well-received by critics, but which I’ve personally yet to see), I’m very excited to see what’s in store with this film, as well as looking forward to Paula Beer’s performance in the lead role (Beer won the Best Actress award at the Berlin International Film Festival where the film was also nominated for Best Picture).
‘Undine’ opens in select theaters and is available on Digital and VOD Platforms starting Friday, June 4th.
Holler (IFC Films)
With a focus on southern Ohio’s economy and commnity, Holler looks like it will continue the blue-collar themes brought to the screen in this year’s Best Picture-winner Nomadland by exploring the evasiveness of the American dream. The story of a young person (Jessica Barden) who must decide whether to enter her town’s scrap metal crew or pursue college and uproot herself from the trappings of her home, Holler is already making me wonder “what kind of life are we willing to settle for?” “What are we willing to risk by choosing to live in our comfortable living situations instead of daring for more?” Writer and director Nicole Rigel’s film looks gritty, evocative, and authentic in all the best ways, and I’m looking forward to seeing Jessica Barden in what appears to be a breakout role.
‘Holler’ opens in select theaters and is available on digital Digital and VOD Platforms on Friday, June 11th.
Sweat (MUBI)
Movies about social media and the anxieties that it produces only continue to feel more real and relatable as they are made. Sweat looks to examine the role of influencer culture through three days in the life of a fitness instructor (Magdalena Kolesnik), whose enormous platform that fuels her social media celebrity status also brings the anxieties of danger from one of her threatening followers. Sweat appears to tap into the same anxieties that Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade brought but with a more potent element of suspense. With MUBI behind its release, you know that Sweat is one worth checking out. (Check out our capsule review of the film, which we saw this year at Chicago International Film Festival, here.)
‘Sweat’ opens in select theaters on Friday, June 18th and will start streaming on MUBI on Wednesday, July 23rd.
The Sparks Brothers (Focus Features)
If you’re a fan of director Edgar Wright, then you already know that his extensive knowledge of obscure pop-culture music makes for some of the best needle-drop soundtrack moments in his films. In his documentary feature debut, Wright shines his spotlight on the band Sparks (who, if you’re like me, may not have heard of before this documentary, but is very likely “your favorite band’s favorite band”). As Wright shares with fan-boy energy and passion, Sparks’s (made up by brothers Ron and Russell Mael) career spans over five decades in which the pair made 25 studio albums and 500 songs, but never saw the breakthrough recognition. which Wright attempts to course-correct here. I saw The Sparks Brothers when it premiered at Sundance earlier this year (read our full review here), and immediately after watching it dove into their vast back catalogue and started recommending my new discoveries to friends–which is what you’ll be doing too in this summer of Sparks.
‘The Sparks Brothers’ opens in domestic theaters on Friday, June 18th.
I Carry You With Me (Sony Pictures Classics)
After premiering at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, writer and director Heidi Ewing’s I Carry You With Me won the Audience Award for the festival’s Best of NEXT selection as well as the NEXT Innovator Award. The story of forbidden love between two young Mexican men (Armando Espitia, Christian Vazquez), the film looks emotionally warm and intimate. The film’s handheld shooting and expressive color make this look stirring and artful, and appears to follow in the the steps of Brokeback Mountain and Call Me By Your Name. Heidi Ewing’s visionary film looks like one to get swept away and a new lens on how love transcends cultural constraints.
‘I Carry You With Me’ opens in select theaters in Los Angeles and New York on Friday, June 25th.
Zola (A24)
Of all of the films listed, Zola might be the film I’m most excited to see getting its release, as I saw the film premiere at Sundance Film Festival two years ago. A24’s decision to hold the film until the start of this summer season feels right, as the freedom that we’re collectively feeling is exactly the atmosphere that this wild story should be experienced in. Based on a true story of a stripper’s Tweet-storm, in which she chronicled an insane road trip filled with sex, drugs and everything in between, gets a bigscreen adaptation. Director Janicza Bravo (Lemon) puts her comedic twist on the story, which trades Hangover-style insanity for a deadpan stillness that counters the extremity of the situations to its own comedic effect. Riley Keough, Coleman Domingo and Cousin Greg–I mean Nicolas Braun–star in the film, and Taylour Page as Zola in the titular role is who audiences will be thrilled to discover.
‘Zola’ opens in select theaters on Wednesday, June 30th.
