maggs's - Rented List

Terrorists are plotting to obtain nuclear materials, putting the lives of hostages and citizens in jeopardy. Only one Elite Force team has the skills, knowledge and firepower to execute Operation Red Sea - a deadly and potentially suicidal mission to rescue the hostages and end the terrorist threat. Inspired by real events.

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Career con man Roy (Ian McKellen) sets his sights on his latest mark, recently widowed Betty (Helen Mirren), who's worth millions. And he means to take it all.

But as the two grow closer, what should have been another simple swindle becomes a high-stakes game of cat and mouse in this suspenseful drama about the secrets people keep and the lies they live.

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Wang Xiaoshuai's deeply moving and intimate drama traces the lives of two interconnected families over three decades of social and political upheaval in China.

The film charts the fortunes of factory workers Liyun (Yong Mei) and Yaojun (Wang Jingchun), a couple reeling from a devastating family tragedy during the tumultuous years between the 1980's and the 21st century. Constricted by the one-child national policy, their lives are gradually transformed under the impact of the country's changing identity, building to a heartbreaking revelation that exposes how political reality affects the fates of the family and the people around them. A cleverly poetic depiction of communist China, 'So Long, My Son' is a sprawling yet personal portrait of human resilience, featuring incredibly tender and award-winning performances from Mei and Jingchun.

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Ricky (Kris Hitchen) and his family have been fighting an uphill struggle against debt since the 2008 financial crash. An opportunity to wrestle back some independence appears with a shiny new van and the chance to run a franchise as a self employed delivery driver.

It's hard work, and his wife's job as a carer is no easier. The family unit is strong but when both are pulled in different directions everything comes to breaking point.

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With his eighth and most personal film, Alfonso Cuaron recreated the early-1970's Mexico City of his childhood, narrating a tumultuous period in the life of a middle-class family through the experiences of Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio, in a revelatory screen debut), the indigenous domestic worker who

keeps the household running. Charged with the care of four small children abandoned by their father, Cleo tends to the family even as her own life is shaken by personal and political upheavals. Written, directed, shot, and coedited by Cuaron, 'Roma' is a labor of love with few parallels in the history of cinema, deploying monumental black-and-white cinematography, an immersive soundtrack, and a mixture of professional and nonprofessional performances to shape its author's memories into a world of enveloping texture, and to pay tribute to the woman who nurtured him.

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Francois Ozon's gripping true-life drama tells the story of three men who come together to dismantle the code of silence around historic abuse cases within the Catholic Church. Alexandre (Melville Poupaud) lives in Lyon with his wife and children.

One day he learns by chance that the priest who abused him when he was in scouts is still working with children. He decides to take action and is soon joined by two other victims of the priest. Francois (Denis Menochet) and Emmanuel (Swann Arlaud). They band together to "lift the burden of silence" surrounding their ordeal. But the repercussions and consequences will leave no one unscathed. Based on events from the 2019 conviction of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon for concealing the conduct of Father Bernard Preynat, 'By the Grace of God ' is an urgent portrait of resistance.

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Recounted in flashback to a group of railway travellers, the story wryly details the romantic perils of Mathieu, a wealthy, middle-aged French sophisticate who falls desperately in love with his 19-year-old former chambermaid Conchita.

Thus begins a surreal game of sexual cat-and-mouse, with Mathieu obsessively attempting to win the girl's affections as she manipulates his carnal desires, each vying to gain absolute control of the other.

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The film paints the relationship between L.S. Lowry (Timothy Spall), one of Britain's most iconic artists, and his mother Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave), with whom he lived until her death. We see Lowry in the beginnings of his career, as he yearns for his work to be appreciated in London.

However, his disdainful mother actively tries to dissuade her bachelor son from pursuing his artistic ambitions. At the same time, the film explores how Elizabeth is the very reason Lowry paints anything at all, as he desperately seeks to create something, anything, which will make her happy. This powerful yet humorous story imagines the impact this obsessive mother and son relationship had on the great artist.

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The Officer's Ward atmospherically creates the world of Adrien Fournier (Eric Caravaca), a handsome young French officer who returns from the front with hideous facial injuries.

After spending the remaining five years of the Great War convalescing in a military hospital, Adrien slowly learns to come to terms with his condition as, with the help of other patients and staff, his sense of identity and self-worth slowly returns.

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A chance accident brings Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) to Sanditon, a seaside resort on the cusp of dramatic change.

Spirited and unconventional, Charlotte is initially keen to experience everything the town has to offer but is then shocked by its scheming and ambitious inhabitants and intrigued by the secrets they share. When Charlotte is tactlessly forthright about the family of enthusiastic entrepreneur Tom Parker (Kris Marshall), she immediately clashes with his handsome but wild younger brother Sidney (Theo James). Amidst the rival suitors and unexpected danger, can Charlotte and Sidney see past each other's flaws and find love?

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Two strangers...and the one photograph that will change their lives forever. 'Photograph' is a charming tale of unlikely romance set against the vibrant backdrop of contemporary Mumbai.

Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is a struggling street photographer who takes tourist portraits at the Gateway of India. When he meets Miloni (Sanya Malhotra), a shy stranger from an affluent family, he convinces her to pose as his fiancee after his overbearing grandmother decides to pay him a visit. From different worlds, the pair make a surprising connection that will transform them both in unexpected ways. Discover this warm, well-observed story from modern India.

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"The Keeper" tells the incredible true story of Bert Trautmann (David Kross), a German soldier and prisoner of war who, against a backdrop of British post-war protest and prejudice, secures the position of Goalkeeper at Manchester City, and in doing so becomes a footballing icon.

Struggling for acceptance by those who dismiss him as the enemy, Bert's love for Margaret (Freya Mavor), an Englishwoman, carries him through and he wins over even his harshest opponents by winning the 1956 FA Cup Final, playing on with a broken neck to secure victory. But fate will soon twist the knife for Bert and Margaret, when their love and loyalty to each other is put to the ultimate test.

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When a small town is occupied by the Nazis at the height of World War Two, the local school teacher finds himself caught up in events that he could never have imagined.

He suddenly finds his students, family and his very way of life is under threat and he must make a decision to either adapt to this new evil regime or risk his life fighting it. 'Occupied' is a powerful film that shows how far ordinary people will go to protect the ones they love.

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In what is already being heralded as one of her greatest performances, Marion Cotillard plays Sandra, whose employment is threatened when, behind her back, upper management offer the workforce a significant bonus if they vote for Sandra to lose her job.

With only a single weekend to spare she must confront each of her co-workers and persuade them to change their decision so she can maintain her livelihood. Join Sandra on her precarious, humbling and inspirational journey...

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Locked in a frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness since infancy, 7-year-old Helen Keller (Patty Duke) has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft), a 20-year-old teacher from Boston arrives.

Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch - the only tool they have in common - and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.