LOS ANGELES, July 30 — Going up against the Fast and Furious franchise's first spin-off, summer blockbuster Hobbs & Shaw are four thrillers: High school heart-pumper Luce, the new film from the director of cult hit The Badabook, brutal revenge tale The Nightingale, unsettling professional road trip The Mountain, and snake-handling religious sect tightrope Them That Follow.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (PG-13)
Select release dates: Philippines — July 31; Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Singapore, UK — August 1; India, Japan, USA, Vietnam — August 2; France — August 7; South Korea — August 15; China — August 23
Story: Special agent Luke Hobbs and reformed criminal Deckard Shaw team up again when Shaw's sister, a British MI6 agent, takes on terrorist mastermind Brixton Lore.
Starring Dwayne Johnson (Fast & Furious movies 5-8, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), Jason Statham (Fast & Furious movies 6-8, The Expendables franchise), Idris Elba (Thor trilogy, Avengers: Infinity War, Beasts of No Nation), Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible — Fallout, The Crown), and directed by David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2).
Luce (R)
Select release dates: USA — August 2; Canada — August 9; UK — November 8
Story: Model student Luce Edwards, a star athelete and scholar runs into trouble when one of his high school teachers suspects something terrible lurks beneath his role-model reputation.
Starring Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures, Ma), Kelvin Harrison Jr (Assassination Nation, It Comes at Night), Tim Roth (Planet of the Apes, The Hateful Eight), and directed by Julius Onah (The Cloverfield Paradox).
The Nightingale (R)
US release date: August 2
Story: A harrowing, brutal tale of revenge set in 1820s Tasmania, then a penal colony, as convict Claire recruits Aboriginal tracker Billy to locate the officer and soldiers that murdered her husband and child.
Starring Aisling Franciosi (Game of Thrones), Sam Clafin (The Hunger Games movies), Baykali Ganambarr (debut), and directed by Jennifer Kent (The Babadook.)
The Mountain (Not Rated)
US release date: July 26
Story: Dealing with the loss of his mother, Andy agrees to join lobotomist Dr. Wallace Fiennes on a working road trip to documenting the surgeon's practice.
Starring Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One, Deadpool 2), Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Thor: Ragnarok) and directed by Rick Alverson.
Them That Follow (R)
USA and Canada — August 2
Story: A pastor's daughter whose congregation believes that handling poisonous snakes proves holiness, Dilly must go through the dangerous ritual herself when a similarly destructive secret is uncovered.
Starring Alice Englert (Beautiful Creatures), Walton Goggins (Ant-Man and the Wasp, Justified), Olivia Colman (The Favourite), and directed by Britt Poulton and Dan Savage (feature debuts). — AFP-Relaxnews
