While it was a pretty stellar year for movies, many of the best never saw a nationwide theatrical release (as is usually the case). But if you missed out on some of 2014’s lower-profile-but-really-should-be-bigger-profile releases, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art has you covered. This weekend alone, you can see a likely Oscar-winning documentary, the year’s best-reviewed horror film, and arguably the best damn foreign-language film released in quite some time. Here’s a breakdown of what you could — and should — see on the big screen this weekend:
Citizenfour
Director: Laura Poitras
5:30 p.m., 8 p.m. Friday; 5:30 p.m. Saturday–Sunday
In the brilliant 1976 Best Picture nominee All the President’s Men, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman portrayed Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, two journalists who exposed the Nixon administration’s infamous Watergate scandal in the early ’70s. Citizenfour is a lot like that, if only you were watching Woodward and Bernstein’s real-life meetings with Deep Throat in that dimly lit parking garage as they were actually happening. Director Laura Poitras, who also helmed hot-button documentaries Flag Wars and The Oath, was one of a select few, along with Guardian journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewan MacAskill, who were in that hotel room with Edward Snowden as he leaked the crucial — and terrifying — information about the NSA’s questionable information-gathering techniques. And she captures it all with a brilliantly dystopian paranoia. As a film, Citizenfour is revelatory in many ways. As a historical document, it’s essential.
The Babadook
Director: Jennifer Kent
8 p.m. Friday–Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday
With the advent and subsequent rise of the slasher film, so many horror flicks became reliant on safe, made-you-jump scare tactics, but there is nary a jolt in The Babadook. Australian director Jennifer Kent’s feature-length debut is instead the best type of horror: the kind that gets into your head. Essie Davis is a marvel as the mother of a troubled — and incredibly annoying — child, as the two cope with the absence of their late husband/father. After discovering a mysterious children’s book, the family is terrorized by a sinister, unwavering presence, and the mother and child are driven to the brink of insanity. It’s one of the more distinctive genre-films of the last few years, and it’s without a doubt one of the most unnerving.
Ida
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
3 p.m. Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Even without its strikingly elegant photography, Ida would still be special. Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski’s black-and-white, Academy-ratio masterwork follows a young nun, forsaken by her family as an infant, on a journey for familial — and spiritual — truth, and the way in which its subtly poignant story unfolds has captivated critics and award-voters alike. Up for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography at the upcoming 87th Academy Awards, Ida is one of the most uniquely shot works in recent memory, with an uncommon yet breathtaking use of framing within the picture. Between its eloquent pacing, compelling performances (especially that of newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska), and yes, one-of-a-kind cinematography, Ida is one of the most profound moviegoing experiences you’re likely to have — this year or otherwise.
