BookMyShow Stream has partnered with Mubi, a subscription-based film streaming service and distributor, to widen its catalogue with award-winning movies tailored towards cinephiles. The collaboration promises to bring over 40 acclaimed titles to the platform, starting with Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave, Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, and Léa Mysius’ The Five Devils. The first two are now available to rent or purchase on BMS Stream, while the latter is marked for pre-rent and pre-buy, with prices set at Rs. 69 and Rs. 199 respectively. All rented movies will be accessible for 30 days, but upon starting the stream, you’ll have two days to finish watching it. There are no limitations on movies you buy, though; you can watch as much and as often as you want.
“Our partnership with Mubi is another step in the direction of developing this impactful slate of content, constantly bringing the best of the globe to India and catering to this massive demand,” Ashish Saksena, COO, Cinemas, BookMyShow said in a press release. “This partnership opens up Mubi’s catalogue to the discerning ‘Pay-Per-View’ audience and is a testament to the unwavering interest and preference of consumers for the TVOD format’s potential in India, and together, we are poised to revolutionize the content consumption experience.” While not explicitly mentioned, the normal Mubi platform/ app will continue running normally, while this team-up is simply a way to introduce these films to a new audience.
A Mubi subscription in India costs Rs. 299 per month, promising ad-free streaming alongside an extra seven-day free trial. There’s also Mubi Go — Rs. 499 monthly — which grants you a cinema ticket every week to redeem at a local theatre. The memberships can also be bought on a yearly basis at Rs. 1,999, though this new partnership with BookMyShow Stream lets you watch select titles, without having to pay for the full subscription. It might add up over time, but that’d differ based on how much content you consume, of course. New movies will be added every Friday, with the content slate bringing a slew of international films in multiple languages including English, French, German, Korean, Catalan, Danish, Arabic, Norwegian, Polish, and more.
As mentioned before, one of the key debut entries is Park Chan-wook’s latest film Decision to Leave, which starts out as a normal detective story based around a man who plummets to his death from a mountaintop. As Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) begins his investigation, he feels a heavy attraction to the deceased’s unsettlingly suspicious wife Seo-rae (Tang Wei), turning the film into a twisted romance thriller of deception and desire, where the pair convey their feelings for each other in the most absurd ways. The filmmaker won the award for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival 2022, while the movie was oddly not selected to compete in the Oscars for Best International Feature. Decision to Leave is now available to rent and buy on BMS Stream.
Aftersun largely follows an 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio), as she spends time with her father Calum (Paul Mescal) at a vacation resort in the late 1990s, forming a powerful bond. Twenty years later, a grown-up version of Sophie relives those memories through a camera, trying to piece together clues of what caused the heartbreaking end to their relationship. Mescal earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in the film, with debutant filmmaker Charlotte Wells winning numerous accolades for her breakthrough. Aftersun is now available to rent and buy on BMS Stream.
Vicky Soler (Sally Dramé) has a magical gift of being able to smell and reproduce any scent and save them in labelled jars, including those of her own mother Joanne (Adèle Exarchopoulos). When the latter’s estranged aunt Julia (Swala Emati) suddenly returns to town — following a prison sentence — Vicky reproduces her scent as well, transporting her down to dark memories that lead to some revealing secrets of the aunt’s village and her family. The Five Devils is directed by Léa Mysius (Ava) and is currently available to pre-rent and pre-purchase on BMS Stream.
In the coming weeks, BookMyShow Stream will add other acclaimed movies and TV series from Mubi, including Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom, the Belgian drama Close, Benedetta by Paul Verhoeven, Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman, Julia Ducouranau’s Titane, Crimes of the Future from David Cronenberg, Rachel Sennott-led Shiva Baby, and The Worst Person in the World, apart from many more coming in the next few weeks.
Currently, there is no schedule for which film drops next Friday onwards on BMS Stream. It is also worth mentioning that Mubi is available as a paid add-on channel on Amazon Prime Video as well.
