Sombre coming-of-age drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always finally hits Singapore. We interviewed its 17-year-old lead actress, Talia Ryder, for our April issue and came away impressed by her steely approach to youth activism. The film focuses on the story of a small-town high schooler (Sidney Flanigan) who was forced to travel to the big city to get an abortion; her plucky cousin (Ryder) was her only source of company and support throughout the ordeal.

For the unacquainted, Never Rarely Sometimes Always has been hailed as one of the year’s most powerful movies about the realities of modern adolescent life since it debuted at Sundance in January and currently holds a 99 per cent “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Released on August 15

Did you know that you can rent stand-in actors to pose as your family in Japan? If the circumstances and appearances necessitate it, you can rent for example, a father to give you away at a wedding. Werner Herozg, one of Germany’s most influential directors was intrigued by this shadow industry and took to putting his own typically surreal take.

Shot in Japan, the mother of a young girl Mahiro hires an actor to pose as her missing father – who she’s not seen for many years and barely remembers. Even more meta is the fact that the actor is Yuichi Ishii – who is the owner of the Tokyo-based family renting company Family Romance in real life. Get ready for a mind trip in this experimental tragicomedy.

Released on July 15

Rising filmmaker Kim Yong-hoon made quite a splashy debut with his first feature film – the snazzily-titled Beasts Clawing at Straws which scooped up the special jury award at the prestigious International Film Festival Rotterdam.

The beasts in question are a motley crew of ordinary folks who are in desperate need of money. Well, there is a Louis Vuitton bag stuffed full of it – which proves to be the golden nugget drawing in the divergent storylines of these pursuing strangers, to bloody ends.

Released on July 30

This one was always going to be a no-brainer: the much anticipated (spiritual) sequel to the monster hit Train to Busan, Train to Busan: Peninsula takes place four years after the burgeoning zombie pandemic consumed Korea.

Nope, the popular characters from the original won’t be returning. Its director, Yeon Sang-ho, has said that it focuses on a whole new slate of characters as well as a much-expanded scope – hence the name Peninsula. Korean actor Gang Dong-won plays the lead role of a soldier who managed to escape the first wave of infections – though now he leads a team tasked to return to ground zero to retrieve a precious commodity.

Released on July 15

The Projector has organised a showcase of past works from A24, arguably Hollywood’s most exciting indie studio. Even if you don’t know it per se, you’d have caught its award-winning films, which include The Farewell, Midsommar, Lady Bird, and Waves (all re-showing at The Projector).

One that we’re particularly looking forward to watching again is Moonlight, the coming-of-age drama of a young man grappling with the pains (and beauty) of growing up poor, black, and gay in a rough Miami neighborhood. It won the Best Picture at the 2017 Oscars.

Released on July 15