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Summary for: This week's guide to English-friendly Czech cinema and streaming🇬🇧 This Week's English-Friendly Screenings
The life, work, and continued relevance of 1984 author George Orwell is explored in Orwell: 2+2=5, a new documentary from filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro). Come see the film alongside the Expats.cz editorial staff at Edison Filmhub on Monday, Dec. 1 and stay afterwards for a Q&A focused on the documentary’s themes.
The Prague Reporter calls Orwell: 2+2=5 a "meticulously crafted portrait of George Orwell’s life and work, grounded in rich archival material and empathetic narration" that "excels in illuminating Orwell’s personal journey, his moral reckoning, and the development of his worldview."
- Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice, one of the best films of the year, is screening with English subtitles at Kino Světozor, Kino Aero, and Bio Oko.
- Reflection in a Dead Diamond, a "note-perfect pastiche of sleazy 1960s Eurospy thrillers," is playing with English subtitles at Edison Filmhub.
- The MittelCinemaFest of contemporary Italian cinema runs at Kino Lucerna through Dec. 3.
- It's the season! Get in the Christmas spirit with a screening of the classic Love, Actually and a hot wine at Kino Přítomnost on Dec. 3.
- The FilmAsia festival turns 20 with screenings of new and classic films from Southeast Asia, Dec. 4-12 at Bio Oko.
- Ukrainian sci-fi feature U Are the Universe screens with English subtitles at Kino Světozor from Dec. 4.
- Virtual Girlfriends, now screening with English subtitles at Kino Světozor, follows three Czech OnlyFans creators over the course of a year.
- The Czech-Danish doc Mr. Nobody Against Putin follows a Russian teacher exposing state-driven militarization, now screening with English subtitles at Kino Světozor.
🍿 New wide releases
- Zootopia 2 ★★★½ (read review)
- Eternity ★★★ (read review)
🇨🇿 Czech Cinema Spotlight
The directors behind I, Olga Hepnarová return with Nobody Likes Me (Nikdo mě nemá rád), a Czech drama exploring societal pressure, alienation, and the struggles of being different. The film follows Sára (Rebeka Poláková), an attractive army assistant in Prague, as she navigates love, family expectations, and the challenges of breaking social norms.
Shot on 16mm film and co-starring Barbora Bobuľová, Mantas Zemleckas, and Hana Vagnerová, the movie combines intimate performances with a visually rich style. Nobody Likes Me is now streaming with English subtitles on HBO Max in the Czech Republic after debuting in local cinemas earlier this year.
📺 The Streaming Watchlist
- Stranger Things has debuted the first four intense episodes of season 5 on Netflix, featuring Upside Down terror, high-stakes battles, and emotional drama.
- A mother and two daughters relocate to Taipei in Left Handed Girl, an intimate coming-of-age story co-written by Anora's Sean Baker. Now streaming on Netflix.
- Fully restored and expanded with a new ninth episode, The Beatles Anthology revisits the band’s ’90s reunion, streaming now on Disney Plus.
- The Stringer: The Man Who Took The Photo follows journalists probing a 52-year-old secret behind an iconic Vietnam War image, now on Netflix.
- Prehistoric Planet returns for season 3 on Apple TV+, taking viewers on a cinematic Ice Age journey narrated by Tom Hiddleston and scored by Hans Zimmer.
- Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells team up for a festive caper in Jingle Bell Heist, a holiday comedy streaming on Netflix.
🎞️ The Throwback
Czech-born playwright Tom Stoppard, born in Zlín as Tomáš Straussler in 1937, passed away this weekend at the age of 88. Famed for plays like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Arcadia, Stoppard also worked as a screenwriter, and collaborated with Steven Spielberg on the scripts for Empire of the Sun and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Stoppard won an Oscar for his screenplay for Shakespeare in Love, which beat out Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan at the 1998 Academy Awards. In Czechia, you can rent or buy Shakespeare in Love through Apple TV or Rakuten TV.
