What are the best new releases in cinemas?
Looking at the latest films through an impact lens
Scrappy Charm: the Cheeky New Film about Grief that’s Winning Audiences Over
A story about an orphaned girl navigating her Mum’s death alone may sound heavy - but British indie ‘Scrapper’ harnesses an imagination and wit that will charm your socks off, innit.
Un-Bio-lievable! Why ‘Biosphere’ is the Most Wildly Unconventional Climate Movie Ever
You might think that two guys stuck inside a dome for a whole movie would get pretty old, pretty quick. But you’d be wrong.
Siren Song: How ‘Past Lives’ Gloriously Redefines the Romantic Drama
Forget your typical Hollywood romance. With her debut feature, Korean-Canadian auteur Celine Song crafts an unrequited love story with a texture and tenderness all of its own.
Dead and Berried: How Ego and Ambition Blew Up the World’s First Smartphone
It was the device every high-flyer HAD to have. Meet the outrageous man who drove the BlackBerry to insane heights - until the iPhone killed it virtually overnight.
Gamer to Pro Sportscar Racer: is ‘Gran Turismo’ the Most Meaningful Racing Movie You’ll See?
He’s the Black gamer who swapped his controller for a 300km/h sportscar… without ever having raced on a real track. Sound far fetched? It’s a real story.
Talk to the Hand: the Aussie Horror Hit Unpacking Grief and Loss
Chilling on the surface, deeply emotional underneath - is Talk To Me the freakiest horror fantasy since Get Out?
Destroyer of Worlds: a Legacy Put Under the Lens in Oppenheimer
It’s the three hour IMAX drama about a physicist that’s somehow making bank.
Life in Plastic: How the Barbie Movie Punctures the Patriarchy
It’s the satire of the millennium that’s broken the internet. Why is everyone so excited about Barbie?
An Impossible Mission: Does ‘Dead Reckoning’ Live Up to the Hype?
Sequels usually start running out of ideas… especially by the seventh instalment. But Cruise and his crew don’t like to obey the law of diminishing returns.
Crazy Risque Asians: is ‘Joy Ride’ the Most Riotous Minority Comedy Ever?
Thought ‘Girls Trip’ pushed the envelope? Strap in for a taboo-shattering fempower joyride with something real to say about cultural identity.
Things Are About to Get Real: the FBI Whistleblower Movie that’s Ripped from the Headlines
This isn’t the espionage movie your Dad goes to see. Based on true events, “Reality” is a lean tension-ticker… where every word of dialogue is taken directly from an FBI interrogation transcript.
Hard and Fast: is No Hard Feelings the Modern Millennial Comedy We’ve Been Waiting For?
Too old for TikTok, too young to buy property: Millennial angst is real, and they’ve found their Queen. Jennifer Lawrence hits the bullseye, and learns some hard truths about Gen Z, letting go, and how far she’d go for a free Buick Regal.
Healing is Hidden in the Past: the Stolen Generations Story Every Australian Should See
The pain experienced by families impacted by the Stolen Generation is tough to imagine. Wiradjuri woman Brenda Matthews allows us into her healing journey, telling us in her own words how she was torn away from two families - one Black, one White.
The Spirit of Survival: the New Australian Documentary Asking Humanity, Are We the Endangered Generation?
After being personally impacted by natural disasters, filmmaker Celeste Geer hit an astonishing moment of truth: something, perhaps everything, must change. Meet the scientists, activists and artists tackling new approaches to climate change - and crafting a future to embrace, rather than brace for.
Sweet & Sour: How ‘Sweet As’ Explores Indigenous Coming-of-Age Through a New Lens
There’s nothing like a road trip to discover your country… and yourself. Indigenous writer-director Jub Clerc mines her own filmmaking origin story for Sweet As: a photo safari through the stunning Pilbara, with four teens in need of a lifeline.
Part of Your World: Does Disney’s Culturally Diverse Reboot of The Little Mermaid Get Racial Inclusivity Right?
Woke virtue-signalling, or cultural gamechanger? If you haven’t caught the tsunami of online “controversy” over Disney’s new Black mermaid, you must’ve been living under the sea. Let’s dive beneath the surface of The Little Mermaid reboot to see if it's all just a storm in a clam-shell bikini.
At a Standstill: How Aussie Mystery “Limbo” Uses a Mining Town to Explore Grief, Connection and Justice
In a unique town where half the population live and work underground, secrets are buried among the gems. Captured in stunning monochromatic widescreen, welcome to Limbo: a stark yet intimate journey into a cold case buried by an unjust system.
If We Leave, They Win: How The Inspection Uses Defiance and Pride to Tell a New LGBTQIA+ Story
We’ve experienced cinematic boot camp before, but rarely have we felt it like this. In his first feature, American photographer Elegance Bratton tells his own redemption story: going from a homeless gay teen to a decorated Black marine.
Don’t Be Afraid… Joaquin Phoenix Goes Extreme to Bring an Anxiety Dream to the Screen
Writer-Director Ari Aster’s hotly anticipated 3rd feature might be his weirdest yet. Part absurdist nightmare, part black comedy, and all cinema, we dive into the three-hour odyssey of anxiety - and giant private parts - that is Beau is Afraid.
The Gentle Giant… is Bob Brown the most revolutionary Aussie politician we’ve ever had?
Doctor. Leader. Proud gay man. And an environmental icon. With a calmness that rivals Lake Saint Clair and more grit than a Tassie hiking trail, former Greens leader Bob Brown changed our awareness of nature forever. And he’s not done yet.
I Wanna Be Like Mike… is AIR the Greatest Sports Story You’ve Never Heard?
It’s the “movie about a shoe” that’s about so much more at its sole (soz not soz). AIR loads up the 80s VHS tape and rewinds us to the dawn of a sporting legend, to share a message about bulletproof belief, bet-it-all risk, and knowing your worth.
Going for Broke
The complexity of adoption is poignantly examined in the Korean-language Broker, where a road trip to sell a baby to the highest bidder transforms into a story of an unlikely family.
Coming of Age
In Of An Age, writer-director Goran Stolevski uses a road trip, and a key moment in history, to tell a story of identity & awakening that will sear itself into your memory.
Get Busy Living
Tick, tock… what do you do if your time’s running out? In his Oscar-nominated role, Bill Nighy shows us in the subtlest of ways that there’s a lot more to life than paperwork and proper suits in Oliver Hermanus’ touching drama 'Living'.
How Art Fought Greed… and Won
Laura Poitras’ Golden Lion winning documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed sinks us into the tumultuous opioid addiction of internationally renowned photographer Nan Goldin - and how she used her profile to fight one of the pharmaceutical industry’s wealthiest villains.
Let There Be Light
British Oscar-winner Sam Mendes winds back the clock, transporting us to a sleepy seaside cinema at the turn of the 1980s to delicately examine mental health and racism in the achingly beautiful Empire of Light.
Here Comes the Sun
Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells captures a tender and poignant father-daughter relationship that feels like a warm, hazy memory in Aftersun.
Talking Points
Writer-Director Sarah Polley brings a complex powderkeg of emotions to the screen in Women Talking - a film that any great debater is bound to admire.
What's on this month?
The best social impact movies and TV shows every month
Killers and Champions: the Best of October at good.film
They say oil and water don’t mix. We say - try them on the big screen. Here’s the drum on all of October’s best releases, including a masterful tale of injustice in the oilfields, and a stunning story of courage in the open ocean.
September is About Survival at good.film
From an AI future war to biospheres and blue zones, there’s a distinct survival theme to September’s best impact cinema and streaming. Come with us if you want to live, as we explore all that’s coming up in our September preview.
Asteroids and Past Lives... August at good.film
The king of quirk is back! Wes Anderson takes us to the desert (and outer space) in his new opus, Asteroid City. Pastels and centre-framing aren’t your speed? Dip into Past Lives, the latest masterwork from Oscar winners A24. Explore all that’s coming up in our August preview.
Your Mission (if you choose to accept it)... July at good.film
It's blockbuster season, and we're at the head of the queue. July is set to explode across cinema and streaming... unless Ethan Hunt and Oppenheimer can learn to stop worrying and love the bomb? Explore what's coming up (and how Barbie keeps her feet so curvy) in our July preview.
The good.film Goodies: June Edition
Movies can take us anywhere. A beautiful, photo-finding journey through the Pilbara… or maybe a nostalgic trip with a famous archaeologist in 1969, the same year as the Moon landing? Grab your camera (or your whip and fedora) - here’s our preview of the best on-screen goodies in June, and more.
The good.film Goodies: May Edition
Have we jumped in a DeLorean?! Because it’s feeling very 80’s in May across trailers, cinemas & streaming! From Indiana Jones’ long awaited return, to a revamped Little Mermaid with ‘controversy’ attached, and a new insight into Parkinson’s with the beloved Michael J. Fox - May is all here for you.
The good.film Goodies: April Edition
Change of season? Nahhh. That freshness you’re feeling is the chill vibes heading to cinemas this month, thanks to two very different icons. First up, Ben Affleck’s AIR: the Michael Jordan movie that DOESN’T show Michael Jordan. Huh?
The good.film Goodies: March Edition
Flip your calendars to March and - surprise, surprise! - you’ll find us marching off to the cineplex to catch the latest and greatest in impact entertainment for another stellar month.
The good.film Goodies: February Edition
Welcome to February! While we at good.film reckon there’s no bad time of year to go to the movies, this time of year has got to be one of the most enthralling.
The good.film Goodies: January Edition
Happy 2023, movie lovers and streaming die-hards… and welcome to a brand spankin’ new year! Numbers may not be our strong suit, but by our count that’s another 52 weeks of glowing entertainment heading to our screens.
The good.film Goodies - December Edition
At any given time, one in four Aussies are experiencing loneliness… and during the holiday season, this number increases to one in three. Yes, one in three! That’s something good.film wants to help change this Christmas season.
The Good.film Goodies - November Edition
There might be sleigh bells in the distance, but we’re too focused on the sweet sounds of cinema and the newest TV releases reaching our ear-holes this month!
The Good.film Goodies - October Edition
Oh hai October! Just like that: spring sprung, the Emmys happened, and Halloween costumes are being prepped as we type this (ooh, idea for a new List: Best Ever Halloween Flicks!). There’s a bevy of glossy content dropping to cinemas and streaming this month, and at Good.film we’re all about it.
The Good.film Goodies - September Edition
It’s been a busy month in movieland - just the way we like it! Top Gun: Maverick’s now collected a billion dollars and counting, our very own Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis became the second-highest grossing musical biopic of all time.
What is social impact entertainment?
How movies, TV and other forms of entertainment make real impact on our world
Take Another Look: How Dirty Dancing Took the Conversation around Safe Abortion Out of the Corner
It was the 80s romance that became a guilty pleasure for millions – searing that iconic dance move into our minds forever. But it was also groundbreaking in the way it portrayed abortion in a radical, compassionate light.
Dig Deeper: Here’s Our Impact Picks at the 2023 Sydney Underground Film Festival
Now in its 17th year, the Sydney Underground Film Festival is an integral part of Sydney’s film industry, nurturing an alternative film culture with independent and experimental films. Rock on! Here’s our picks for the best of what’s screening at this year’s SUFF from a social impact perspective.
Best of the Fest: Our Impact Picks at the 2023 Sydney Film Festival
Now in its 70th year, the Sydney Film Festival is surely a cinephile’s heaven. With over 200 films to choose from, here’s our picks for the best of what’s screening from a social impact perspective.
The Impact of Your Ticket: Causes Supported by Good Tix
Your Good Tix purchase supports these charities and their efforts to create real and lasting change. Your ticket goes beyond the movie screen - reaching communities and individuals who need support, contributing to vital research and advocacy, and helping to shape a better future.
Shattering the Silence: the Female-Led Investigation that Brought an Infamous Predator to Justice
For a dam wall to burst, it takes someone to create the first cracks. Meet Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor: the two journalists whose dogged reporting led to an outpouring of #MeToo stories - and a global reckoning.
Community Centred - 5 Great Movies that Prove Home is Where the Heart is
There's stories that take place in houses, and then there are stories about HOME. Far more than bricks & mortar, they’re the beating heart of a family, and they build that invisible bond: a community. Here’s 5 films that explore “being home” in myriad ways, and the connection that feeling can bring.
Popcorn Planet: Five Movies that Changed the World For Good
From a nervous first date to whiling away a rainy afternoon, the human race fell in love with cinema over a century ago. We examine the films that have reached past pure entertainment - challenging and awakening us in ways that led to irrevocable change.
Cause and Effect: How ‘Goods’ is Changing the Game of Giving
If you’re giving by nature - and a movie maestro or TV tragic - girl, have you come to the right place. Introducing Goods: the platform that connects the stories you love with causes you care about.
Sudden Impact: How Stories Are Changing Our World For Good.
You may have never heard of the term ‘Social Impact Entertainment’ - but we guarantee you’ve seen some. We break down what it means, and examine the power that social impact entertainment can wield.
How do I manage loneliness?
The experts’ guide to why, and what you can do about it
Take Yourself to the Movies - Great Ideas for a Self Love Dayte
It might be the month of love… but we’re freshening things up for 2023. Out with daggy old Valentine’s Day, and in with a day that heroes being in love with that special someone: you.
Because You’re Worth It - Great Movies that Celebrate Self-Worth
Naturally, at good.film our idea of the perfect #SelfLoveDayte (see what we did there?) is to curl up with some memorable flicks that harness the core concept of Self Love Day: self-worth. So we’ve curated a list of Great Movies that Celebrate Self Worth to share with you.
I Can Buy Myself Flowers - Why Self-Love is the New Focus this February
Love comes in many forms, but all Valentine’s seems to do is celebrate the love of a couple. Thankfully, there’s a much more suitable day that’s inclusive of everyone. We haven’t made this up: it’s International Self-Love Day.
What is Loneliness, Really? …and Why Christmas is the Toughest Time for Many
For many, a break at the end of a challenging year doesn’t guarantee those festive feels. We take a look at yuletide loneliness - who’s likely to feel it and why, and the ways you can foster a Christmas connection. #NoSilentNight
Looking at Loneliness… Together. 5 Movies With a Unique Take on Loneliness
We’ve curated this list of films that explore how loneliness can impact us in four unique ways and settings and a bonus one you can watch with your kids, nieces or nephews.
The Invisible Risk: How to Tell if Someone You Care About is Lonely
The simple fact is that during the Aussie holiday season, a resounding one-in-three of us will experience some form of loneliness. So how do we address it?
Together, We’re Not Alone - Tools to Help You or a Loved One with Loneliness
In the fourth & final article in our series, we ask experts for their best resources to help in times of loneliness, and chat to filmmakers who tap into their very personal relationship with loneliness as they create their art.
How does cinema hero the environment?
A fresh look at movies that inspire us to care for the earth
Like Father, Like Son: Retracing the Oar Strokes of the Greatest Aussie Enviro Protest Ever
Tasmania's Hydro Commission wanted to dam the Franklin in the 1980s - and thousands of protestors mobilised to stop it. Oliver Cassidy’s Dad, Mike, was arrested on the river a week before Oliver was born. Now, he recreates his late father’s rafting journey in a search for deeper understanding.
Enviro-Rewind: 5 Great Environment Movies That Are Worth Your Time
We all know the “go-to” environment movies by now: Don’t Look Up. An Inconvenient Truth. Wall-E. But what about those undiscovered climate flicks? We’ve rustled up five enviro gems with five very different heroes.
Clearer Waters - Did Waterworld Wake Us Up to Climate Change?
It’s the infamous “flop” that was the butt of every late-night host’s soggy jokes in 1995. But a generation later, is Waterworld having the last laugh? We take a fresh look at the enviro-blockbuster that tried to enlighten us about our climate crisis.
Let Us Prey - How Nature and Culture Reinvigorated a Popcorn Franchise
Nobody saw this coming: a new chapter in the macho, muscle-bound 80’s monster franchise with a First Nations female as the hero. We take a deeper look at Prey, the movie that proves an ancient cultural connection to the environment is more powerful than any pair of biceps.
The Tonic of Wildness - Five Movies where Nature is the Star
The natural world is often in the headlines for all the wrong reasons - so switch off the news and dive into these stunning films instead. Not your typical “environmental” flicks, these stories all take the viewer deep into nature, capturing that megastar Mother Nature at her glamorous best.
Natural Selection - How Studio Ghibli Heroes our Environment
From Ponyo to Princess Mononoke, Ghibli’s picturesque landscapes and love of our natural world urge us to nurture - and defend - the world around us.
What can cinema teach us about mental health?
A guide to movies that explore mental health in unique ways
Bravo Pedro! The Spanish Filmmaker Who ‘Gets’ Mental Health
He’s been hailed as the most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel - but there’s one area where he truly excels. Over a five-decade career, writer-director Pedro Almodóvar has probed the inner workings of our minds… and splashed them in vivid colour across the silver screen.
Head Strong - 4 Classic Movies That Were Surprisingly On Point About Mental Health
With a sensitive topic like mental health, it’s easier to miss the mark than hit the bullseye. Mental health on screen has gotten way stronger recently, and respectful depictions of mental health are a top priority for today’s studios. But what about the movies that got it right, way back when?
Happy Mind, Happy Life - Three mental health movies that are way more entertaining than you might think
Films with a mental health focus might not be the first ones you reach for on a lazy night in - but as these three modern classics prove, stories with impactful themes like grief, isolation and trauma can make for spectacular surprise viewing.
Who Run the World? 3 Zeitgeisty Female-Led Flicks with a Fresh Take on Mental Health
With mental health finally taking a front seat in modern-day discourse, we’re seeing impact unfolding on the silver screen in real time. And 2022 has blessed us with fresh female-led tales with mental health at the fore.
Who are the most effective charities?
Our picks of the best charities in Australia for every cause you care about
Newfound Homes - The 3 Top Charities in Australia Tackling Adoption and Foster Care
‘There’s no place like home’ - a simple phrase with much deeper significance for adopted or fostered children. We’ve taken a closer look at Aussie adoption and foster care - and three of Australia’s top charities doing the very best work for this wonderfully worthy cause.
Drink Up: 3 Aussie Charities Tackling the Water Crisis
Water is life, but close to a billion people around the world struggle to access clean water on a daily basis. We’ve taken a closer look - and filtered out the best charities in Australia working to solve the problem.
The Superhuman Responders of Natural and Unnatural Disasters
The Best Aussie Charities Helping Out in Times of Crisis
All Hands on Deck: The Best Charities in Marine Conservation
A study by PLOS ONE found that up to 99% of Australia’s shellfish reefs have disappeared, making them our most threatened ocean ecosystem.
Nature Isn’t Healing, But We Know People That Can Help
The Top Environmental Charities Healing Australia and the World.
School’s Not Over Yet: The Charities Fixing Our Education Problem
The quality of education in Australia is at a 20-year low, according to the most recent report from OECD Program for International Student Assessment.
Newsflash! Australian Journalism Is In Crisis
As the public’s trust in news media continues to decline worldwide, there are a lot of Australian charities working to restore faith in the institution.
It’s A Jungle Out There - Let’s Keep It That Way
Wildlife populations have dropped more than 68% since 1970, with over a million species of animal and plant life facing extinction as they die off 1,000 times more frequently today than before we humans existed.
After the Smoke Clears: The Best Australian Bushfire Charities
Australia is the most fire-prone country on Earth, making bushfires a tragic reality of our beautiful country. We explore the three best Aussie charities helping our people, our flora and our fauna with bushfire preparedness and recovery.
A Senior Moment: The Best Aussie Charities for Seniors and Aged Care
Australia’s ageing demographic is placing increased pressure on areas like housing, aged care and social services. We look at the best-placed charities in the space - poised to make a real difference to our elderly.
Game, Set, Match: The Best Charities Changing Lives Through Sport
Gracefully proclaiming our place as the Great Sporting Nation, we should consider not only what we’ve done for sport, but what sport has done - and continues to do - for us.
Keep Your Head Up, Mate—We Found the Best Australian Charities Tackling Our Mental Health Crisis
Can you guess the most widespread chronic condition in Australia? Mental and behaviour conditions (let’s make things easier and call it mental health) affect 1 in 2 Australian adults at some point in their lives.
Welcome Home! Three Inspirational Charities for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Australia
For many, leaving their home country isn’t really a choice. The war in Ukraine is a sobering example of this; according to the UN, more than 13 million people have fled the country since Russia invaded - that’s a lot of people having to essentially start over.
Sweet Medicine: The Australian Health Charities that are Actually Doing Something About Our Health Crisis
We’re in a new age of awareness, with plenty of goodwill - but with such urgent needs, how can we get help to those who do the most good?
Pushing Back the Shadows: The Aussie Charities Working to Bring Down Suicide
It can feel impossible to discuss, but the devastation of suicide is something we can all help prevent. Yes, really. We explore the charities doing the most for the cause - and the one simple way you can help them all.
Donation Frustration? We Hear You - And We Fixed It.
Struggling to choose an Australian charity that will actually do good stuff with your coin? We’ve got you. Introducing the Goods Charity Stress Test: where only the best can win.
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