Must-See Movies Hitting Theaters September 16: Resident Evil, Les Contrebandiers & More!

The Smugglers by Padraic McKinley

Starring Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones…

What’s it about? Oregon, 1933. After his wife’s death, Samuel Murphy is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal labor camp. When a ruthless overseer offers him freedom in exchange for a dangerous gold smuggling mission, Murphy grabs his only chance to return home.

Did you know? The project was a longtime dream of director Padraic McKinley. Eager to pay tribute to the raw adventure cinema of the 1970s, he drew inspiration from visceral classics like Sorcerer, Deliverance, and Jeremiah Johnson. He shares: “This kind of courage. This kind of sweat. This kind of poetry. I hope that with this film, we have added our small stone to the legacy of Friedkin, Boorman, Pollack, and Weir.“

Think Well by Géraldine Nakache

Starring Monia Chokri, Niels Schneider, Clémentine Célarié…

What’s it about? When Gil meets Jacques, their love is undeniable. But the intensity of the early days gives way to a relationship where she feels increasingly trapped, losing her bearings…

Did you know? After comedies such as All That Glitters, We York, and I’ll Go Where You Go, Géraldine Nakache tackles a new genre with Think Well, focusing on domestic violence: “I wanted to shed light on the insidious, hidden, and silent violence within a couple, manifesting daily in the intimate sphere. This type of violence, operating stealthily in the shadows of domestic spaces, represents a societal blind spot, a very real but underrepresented issue.”

The Invitation by Olivia Wilde

Starring Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz…

What’s it about? Angela and Joe invite their mysterious new upstairs neighbors to dinner. The evening quickly shatters all their certainties.

Did you know? The Invitation is the American adaptation of Sentimental (2021), a successful Spanish film directed by Cesc Gay, itself adapted from his own play Los Vecinos de Arriba (2016). While the original work had already been adapted in France, Italy, and Korea, screenwriters Will McCormack and Rashida Jones were particularly keen to translate this closed-door story through the lens of American culture.

Resident Evil by Zach Cregger

Starring Austin Abrams, Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry…

What’s it about? Bryan, a medical courier, embarks on a frantic race to survive as the world around him plunges into total chaos.

Did you know? Austin Abrams had previously worked with Zach Cregger in Vanished, where he played a young addict facing witchcraft by Gladys.

Night Stories by Léa Mysius

Starring Hafsia Herzi, Benoît Magimel, Bastien Bouillon…

What’s it about? Nora, Thomas, and their daughter Ida live on an isolated farm. As everyone prepares for Nora’s surprise birthday party, three men lurk around the house and crash the event, unveiling long-hidden secrets…

Did you know? Léa Mysius discovered the eponymous book by Laurent Mauvignier through a series of coincidences. As a friend recommended the book she had just purchased, her producer Jean-Louis Livi suggested acquiring the rights during a lunch, unaware that she had started reading it. Mysius devoured the 600-page novel in just two days before immediately agreeing to adapt it for the big screen.

Sham by Takashi Miike

Starring Kô Shibasaki, Kôji Ohkura, Fumino Kimura…

What’s it about? Seiichi Yabushita, a respected teacher, is accused by a mother of harassing and humiliating her son. Soon, the media, rumors, and public opinion take over, each imposing their narrative. Yabushita finds himself caught in a spiral where the truth is just one version among others.

Blue Dog and Other Beautiful Stories from L’école des Loisirs by Dominique Pochat, Jean-Christophe Ribot, Benoît Laborde

What’s it about? Once upon a time, there was a little goose searching for a green sock, a bear who had found a hat, a strange blue-haired dog, two feuding rabbit neighbors… and a dormouse who dreamed of snow rather than hibernating.

The Blue Line by Marie Dumora

What’s it about? Up at eight hundred meters altitude, in the Bruche valley at Natzwiller, men and women lived off weaving, growing barley and rye, until the Nazis came to build the Struthof concentration camp there.

Maoussi by Charlotte Schiøler

Starring Moustapha Mbengue, Charlotte Schiøler, Elsa Wolliaston…

What’s it about? When Babette coincidentally ends up sharing her Paris apartment with Edo, a Congolese refugee, Maoussi, a fleeing mouse, also shows up and disrupts their daily life. She wedges between the two strangers like an adopted child, forcing them to confront their diverging expectations of love.

Did you know? Several familiar actors and actresses make brief appearances in Maoussi: Olivier Rabourdin is seen as a veterinarian, Paul Hamy and Idir Chender as policemen, Anne Suarez as a lawyer, and Alain Figlarz (whose partner, Michelle Figlarz, had previously worked with Charlotte Schiøler in Niqab Ni Soumise before directing her in the short film Absinthe) as a taxi driver.