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Summary for: This week's guide to English-friendly Czech cinema and streaming🇬🇧 This Week's English-Friendly Screenings
Michael Lockshin’s blockbuster adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita brings the literary classic to vivid life full of magical realism, political satire, and dark humor. While the director has publicly condemned Russia's war in Ukraine, wider international distribution for his film remains elusive, but Aerofilms is screening it in Prague and with English subtitles at Kino Světozor and Kino Aero.
The film follows a banned writer, the Master, who struggles to complete a book no one can read under Soviet censorship, while the enchanting Margarita becomes his devoted muse. The Prague Reporter calls it a “lavish, mischievous adaptation of the literary classic,” praising its inventive narrative devices and underlying story.
- Karlovy Vary winner Better Go Mad in the Wild follows inseparable twin brothers in the Šumava forests, with English subtitles at Kino Světozor on Dec. 15.
- Tim Burton's whimsical 2005 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory screens at Kino Aero on Dec. 15.
- The Czech animated short 9 Million Colors premieres in Prague with a live concert by Floex Ensemble at Kino Světozor on Dec. 15.
- King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette await execution in The Flood, screening with English subtitles at Edison Filmhub.
- Ukrainian sci-fi feature U Are the Universe continues to screen with English subtitles at Kino Světozor.
- Woody Allen's classic Annie Hall screens Dec. 16 at Kino Přítomnost, with English-language analysis from film critic Neil Young.
- Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in Czechia from Dec. 17 in English and Czech-dubbed versions; see the original at Kino Lucerna, Kino Aero, Bio Oko, or Kino Přítomnost.
- 1990s classic Clueless screens Dec. 18 at Kino Aero, following Alicia Silverstone as she navigates a Beverly Hills high school. As if!
- Get in the Christmas spirit this week with throwback screenings of the 2003 classic Love, Actually at Kino Lucerna, Kino Přítomnost, and Kino Světozor.
- Hayao Miyazaki’s rich fantasy The Boy and the Heron screens in Japanese with English subtitles on Dec. 19 at Kino Aero.
🇨🇿 Czech Cinema Spotlight
Czech video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance failed to score at the Game Awards this weekend, but you can still appreciate its story in cinematic form. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – Cinematic Cut, a film version cut together from the game's cutscenes and specially crafted for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, is now streaming in an English-friendly version on KVIFF.tv.
The cut translates the game’s rich medieval world into a gripping cinematic experience accessible even to viewers unfamiliar with the RPG. Set in 1403, when the Bohemian Kingdom is in turmoil, the film follows Henry of Skalitz, who seeks revenge for his murdered parents and joins Sir Hans Capon on a dangerous diplomatic mission.
📺 The Streaming Watchlist
- Now streaming on Netflix, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery stars Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc, unraveling a priest’s death in upstate New York.
- One of the best films of the year has finally reached Czech audiences. Friendship, with Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, is now streaming on SkyShowtime.
- If you missed it in cinemas, summer blockbuster F1 is now streaming on Apple TV+. Brad Pitt stars as an aging racer leading underdogs through Grand Prix action.
- Merv follows Zooey Deschanel, Charlie Cox, and an adorable terrier navigating love and canine depression, now streaming on Prime Video.
- Following Man vs Bee, Man vs Baby reunites Rowan Atkinson with chaos as he juggles a mysterious infant in a swanky London penthouse. Now streaming on Netflix.
- Now streaming on Disney+, season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians follows Percy and friends on a high-stakes quest through the Sea of Monsters.
🎞️ The Throwback
Karel Zeman’s A Thousand and One Nights, the legendary Czech animator’s 1974 Sinbad epic, returns to local cinemas this month in a beautiful new restoration that showcases his boundless visual imagination. Composed of seven episodic adventures, the film follows Sinbad the Sailor across fantastical seas and strange lands.
The Prague Reporter calls the newly restored version “a real gem” whose “enchanting original stories hold up more than half a century later.” The film next screens with English subtitles at Kino Atlas on Dec. 20; look out for future screenings, along with a physical media release and streaming availability planned for next year.
