The week between Christmas and New Year’s is the most awkward one of the year. Why? Well, personally, I don’t know what to do with myself. All the Christmas festivities are over, but it’s too early to start those resolutions. (And no, I’m not going to start my annual New Year’s diet early. Someone has to eat those leftovers.)
The best way to spend time right now is to catch up on things you missed doing in the last 12 months. For me, that’s watching movies I heard about and somehow missed watching like Red Rooms or The Order. Along those lines, the following list contains three worthwhile movies streaming on Netflix that are worth your time and attention on the final weekend of the year.
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Between the Temples (2024)
Getting over the end of a relationship is hard. Getting over one that ended because your partner died is even harder. That’s what Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman) is dealing with when we first meet him in Between the Temples, a wonderful 2024 comedy that highlights the absurdity and tragedy in everyday life. After his wife’s sudden death, Ben, a professional cantor, moves back home to figure out what he should do next.
Enter Carla Kessler (Carol Kane), Ben’s former music teacher, who needs his help. She’s never had her bat mitzvah and wants Ben to preside over the ceremony. What follows is a bittersweet journey for both Ben and Carla that’s paved with unexpected trials and well-meaning relatives who are too nosey for their own good. Ben’s loving, but overbearing moms want him to find another woman, while Ben just wants to take some time to mourn and help Carla out.
Between the Temples is a gentle comedy, one built on the belief that laughter through tears can get you through anything. Schwartzman and Kane make for an odd, yet enduring duo, and the comedy’s look into modern Jewish life is fascinating to watch.
Between the Temples is streaming on Netflix.
Kneecap (2024)
When you think of famous rap groups, chances are that you don’t think of Ireland. The Emerald Isle is home to Bono and Sinead O’ Connor, but rap? Notas much. Well, Kneecap aims to change that. The film takes its name from a real-life Irish rap trio, who star as themselves, and who rap their lyrics in the Irish language. Lending unexpected support is Michael Fassbender, who plays the revolutionary father of one of the band’s members.
At first glance, Liam, Naoise, and JJ don’t look like they’d form much of anything, let alone a rap group. But when JJ finds Naoise and Liam’s lyrics, he’s impressed that they are in the native Irish language, and thinks rap is a great way to preserve and disseminate their native tongue, which has fallen out of favor with the younger generation.
Turns out, he’s right, and Kneecap becomes a hit group in clubs around Ireland. Their rapid rise comes with problems, of course, as the group encounters resistance from outside groups, as well as personal trials in the form of broken relationships with friends, families, and romantic partners. What makes Kneecap so captivating to watch is to see these three musicians find their voice and showcase all the beauties of a language that not many people know about. More importantly, Kneecap is just fun to watch, with all three leads living a real-life Rocky journey from obscurity to global fame that’s a joy to see.
Kneecap is streaming on Netflix.
I Used to Be Funny (2024)
Sam Cowell’s dream is to be a comedian. Dreams take time to come true, so to pay the rent, she takes a job as a part-time nanny to 12-year-old Brooke. Brooke’s mother is in the hospital, and her father, Cameron, needs all the help he can get in raising his daughter. Sam seems like the solution, and the money from the job will help pay her bills so she can focus on making her dreams come true. Flash-forward to the present-day: 14-year-old Brooke is missing, and Sam has suffered something so traumatic that she is no longer performing comedy.
That’s the setup for I Used to Be Funny, which is not a comedy, but rather a dramatic thriller about these two women whose bond has been broken by an event that they will never forget. If that sounds vague, that’s because the pleasure of watching the movie is to not know what happens next. The movie is surprising, and while it’s heartbreaking, there’s also some black comedy that will wrestle a laugh or two from you.
As Sam, Rachel Sennott reveals a side she’s never shown in previous films like Bottoms and Saturday Night. She’s exceptional here, and has a bright future as an actress who can handle both comedy and drama with ease.
I Used to Be Funny is streaming on Netflix.