What to watch this weekend June 2, 2023: Movie awards contenders

Matthew Jacobs
·3 min read
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Summer movie season has officially begun at multiplexes everywhere, but the start of June also brings four indie titles to digital platforms. Our pick is a quiet drama that reaches beyond the standard mother-daughter dynamics commonly seen onscreen. 

The contender to watch this week: “Monica”

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After breakthrough supporting parts in “Transparent” and “Hustlers,” Trace Lysette finally gets the lead role she has deserved. Lysette is enchanting in “Monica,” playing a transgender massage therapist who reluctantly returns home to care for her estranged mother (Patricia Clarkson). After premiering at last year’s Venice Film Festival and gaining a fair amount of indie cred during its theatrical rollout in May, this is the type of movie that could very well show up on the Independent Spirit Awards’ roster. Rent it on VOD. 

Other contenders:

  • “BlackBerry“: If “Air” and “Tetris” didn’t scratch your itch for juicy corporate heroism, here comes the true story of the geeky tech BFFs (Jay Baruchel and Matt Johnson, the latter of whom directed and co-wrote the film) who created the world’s first smartphone. “BlackBerry” is like “The Social Network” without the Sorkian splendor, though at least its central figures aren’t nearly as rapacious. It’s available on VOD. 

  • “Concerned Citizen”: A gay couple (Shlomi Bertonov and Ariel Wolf) expecting a baby in Tel Aviv find themselves at a nexus of liberal guilt when one of them calls the police because he sees a neighborhood dweller leaning a little too hard on a tree he planted to spruce up the block. An act of brutality follows, and this Israeli dark comedy becomes a biting portrait about progressives who only think they oppose gentrification. “Concerned Citizen” is now on VOD. 

  • “To Leslie”: Are you one of the many people who didn’t see the “small film with a giant heart” that recently earned Andrea Riseborough an extremely controversial Oscar nomination? Now’s your chance. “To Leslie,” in which Riseborough plays a single mother striving to ward off addiction, is newly streaming on Netflix.

  • Plus, a bunch of old Oscar favorites and just plain old good movies: The start of any month brings a fresh batch of streaming titles. On Netflix, you’ll find “Mean Girls” and David Lynch‘s “Dune.” Hulu has “Borat,” “The Good Shepherd,” and “Vice.” Max offers “A Star Is Born,” “Bulworth,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Eastern Promises,” “The Hurt Locker,” “I, Tonya,” “Jackie Brown,” “Moneyball,” and “Moonlight.” And Peacock is dropping “Casino,” “Field of Dreams,” “Lost in Translation,” and “Out of Sight.”

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