December At MUBI Will Be ‘Murderous And Naughty’
There’s been a murder! Next month over at the niche streaming service MUBI things. Things in December might get psychotic, dreamy but whodunnit? Be careful you might also end up on the ‘naughty list’!
Christmas might be getting closer, it’s a month you can take a day or two off your shopping. Or simply relax and unwind with some great films that include A Tiger in Paradise, Alternative Christmas Classics and great shorts with big names.
MUBI EXCLUSIVES: A TIGER IN PARADISE
Acclaimed musician José González has experienced several psychotic episodes in his life – a state in which he could not separate fantasy from reality. Having recently become a father, he is determined never to return to those depths again. But, while composing the lyrics for his new album, he keeps coming back to one central theme: what is actually real, and what is created in our minds?
From the production company behind Triangle of Sadness (2022) and The Square (2017), comes A Tiger in Paradise (2023) – a surreal and darkly humorous journey into the uniquely creative mind behind the music. Arrives exclusively on MUBI this December.
A Tiger in Paradise (Mikel Cee Karlsson, 2023) – 8th December
THE NAUGHTY LIST: ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS CLASSICS
Challenge your festive expectations this December with our maverick Christmas film collection The Naughty List: Alternative Christmas Classics, a subversive unwrapping of the most joyous time of the year. Álex de la Iglesia’s punk-rock The Day of the Beast (1995) follows the nocturnal odyssey of a sinning priest, a satanic metalhead, and an occult TV host trying to stop the Antichrist from being born during Christmas Eve across a wintry Madrid, whilst Jalmari Helander’s modern take on yuletide folklore Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) tracks the fallout of a Finnish archaeological discovery: a not-so-jolly Santa out for blood. Each film in The Naughty List undertakes a sinister vision of the Christmas film iconography we’ve come to love.
The Day of the Beast (Álex de la Iglesia, 1995) – 15th December
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Jalmari Helander, 2010) – 15th December
Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985) – Now Streaming
American Psycho (Mary Harron, 2000) – Now Streaming
GUESS WHO?: MURDER MYSTERIES
Delve into the anatomy of murder this December with the Guess Who?: Murder Mysteries collection, a programme tapped into the pulse of our morbid intrigue into foul play, mystery, and conspiracy. David Fincher’s twisted Gone Girl (2014) sees Nick (Ben Affleck) grapple with an accusatory media circus after the disappearance of his enigmatic wife Amy (Rosamund Pike), throwing the audience into a spiral of layered and unforeseeable twists. Meanwhile, Robert Altman’s caustic class comedy Gosford Park (2001) lumps a group of the glamorous upper-classes into the mansion of the moneyed Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) for a weekend, only for him to turn up dead, presumably at the hands of a conspiring social climber. Every film in this focus is an ode to the murder mystery’s ability to rivet us to our seats and keep us guessing whodunit until the very last second.
Gone Girl (David Fincher, 2014) – 9th December
Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001) – 9th December
Rotting in the Sun (Sebastián Silva, 2023) – Now Streaming
Charade (Stanley Donen, 1963) – Now Streaming
Medusa Deluxe (Thomas Hardiman, 2022) – Now Streaming
MUBI EXCLUSIVES: CHAMELEON STREET
Detroit con man William Douglas Street Jr. sets about reinventing himself—again and again. He successfully impersonates his way up the socioeconomic ladder by posing as a vast succession of professions: a journalist, an Ivy League student, a lawyer, an athlete, and even a surgeon in the process.
Wendell B. Harris Jr.’s recently restored Chameleon Street (1989), is a lost masterpiece of Black American cinema. Based on the true story of real-life con man William Douglas Street Jr., its mischievous and inventive nature creates a sharp examination of systemic racism in the US.
Chameleon Street (Wendell B. Harris Jr., 1989) – 1st December
MUBI EXCLUSIVES: DAYDREAMING SO VIVIDLY ABOUT OUR SPANISH HOLIDAYS
Sun-starved teenagers take on a dreamy trip to the Balearic Islands in the pursuit of light and warmth. They must absorb it and store it in their bodies to take it back to their cloud-covered kingdom.
Inspired by speculative mythology on the source of the UK’s obsession with the sun, Christian Avliés crafts a surrealist short merging satire with a fairytale quality in the lighthearted Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays (2022).
Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays (Christian Avilés, 2022) – 22nd December
SHORT FILMS BIG NAMES
Thomas is a young artist, broke and unattached. Laetitia is an intelligent actress, lost and a little unhinged. Unable to be alone, they spend a night together after meeting at a party—until a violent event marks their encounter with a strange complicity.
From Palme d’Or winner Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall), Two Ships (2012) is an endearing double portrait punctuated by a sharp balance of drama and comedy. The first short fiction film from Triet and an early example of her distinctive in-the-moment energy.
Two Ships (Justine Triet, 2012) – 1st December
MUBI UK & IRELAND DECEMBER 2023
1/12/2023 | Chameleon Street | Wendell B. Harris Jr. | Rediscovered
1/12/2023 | Two Ships | Justine Triet | Short Films Big Names
1/12/2023 | Snowpiercer | Bong Joon Ho
8/12/2023 | A Tiger in Paradise | Mikel Cee Karlsson | MUBI Releases
8/12/2023 | Gone Girl | David Fincher | Guess Who?: Murder Mysteries
8/12/2023 | Gosford Park | Robert Altman | Guess Who?: Murder Mysteries
13/12/2023 | Natural Born Killers | Oliver Stone
15/12/2023 | The Day of the Beast | Álex de la Iglesia | The Naughty List: Alternative Christmas Classics
15/12/2023 | Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale | Jalmari Helander | The Naughty List: Alternative Christmas Classics
15/12/2023 | In Bed with Victoria | Justine Triet
22/12/2023 | Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays | Christian Avilés | Brief Encounters
22/12/2023 | The Party | Sally Potter
29/12/2023 | Uncle Yanco | Agnès Varda
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