About love and war. 7 fresh adaptations of world bestsellers

7. "Waiting for Bojangles" / En attendant Bojangles

• 2021
• France, Belgium
• Drama, melodrama
• Director: Régis Roinsard
• Starring: Romain Duris, Virginie Efira, Gregory Gadebois, Solan Machado Graner, Morgan Lombard
• IMDb Rating: 6.6

Camille (Virginie Efira) and Georges (Romain Duris) meet by chance and quickly develop into a stormy romance and a strong marriage. Passion, happiness and epathetic antics of the couple is not like the others, which causes admiration and envy of others at the same time. Even the birth of their son Gary (Solan Machado Graner) does not change anything in their happy life. But after a few years it turns out that Camille is mentally unhealthy and confuses reality and fantasy. So the paradise of the lovers begins to gradually collapse.

"Waiting for Bojangles" is an adaptation of the French bestselling novel by Olivier Bourdeaut, in the original book is called "En attendant Bojangles". In the novel, the narrative is told on behalf of the protagonists' son, while in the movie the memories are relayed by the husband.

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6. "Close to the Horizon" / Dem Horizont so nah

• 2019
• Germany, France
• Drama, melodrama
• Director: Tim Trachte
• Starring: Luna Wedler, Jannik Schümann, Luise Befort, Victoria Meyer, Stefan Kampwirth
• IMDb Rating: 6.6

18-year-old Jessica (Luna Wedler) meets a mysterious handsome man named Danny (Jannik Schümann) and falls in love with him. Their feelings are mutual, the relationship develops passionately and rapidly. However, suddenly the happiness of the couple gives a crack. The girl learns about Danny's difficult childhood. Traumatic memories of the guy interfere with their future together, but Jessica is not going to give up.

The movie is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by writer Jessica Koch, which is considered one of the most successful novels of recent years. In just ten weeks after the presentation, almost 100 thousand copies were sold. For months, the book has regularly topped popular novels on Amazon.

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5. "Redeeming Love"

• 2022
• USA
• Drama, melodrama
• Director: D. J. Caruso
• Starring: Abigail F. Cowan, Tom Lewis, Eric Dane, Famke Janssen, Logan Marshall-Green
• IMDb Rating: 6.7

California, 1850s. After Angel's mother (Abigail F. Cowan) died, she was sold into sex slavery. She spent many years in a brothel and managed to become the most popular brothel girl during that time. One day she meets a young farmer, Michael (Tom Lewis), who unexpectedly asks her to marry him. Angel is in love with the guy, but walking away from her past life is not so easy.

This is an adaptation of Francine Rivers' novel of the same name, which is still on the fiction bestseller lists, even though it's been 15 years since the book was published. Over 3 million copies have been sold in that time. They have been published in more than 30 languages around the world.

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4. "Where the Crawdads Sing"

• 2022
• USA
• Thriller, drama, melodrama, detective
• Director: Olivia Newman
• Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, David Strathairn, Michael Hyatt
• IMDb Rating: 7.2

1950-1960-е. Kia (Daisy Edgar-Jones) grew up in the picturesque swampy woods of North Carolina. Her homeland was both frightening and appealing to the locals, who nicknamed the girl "swamp girl". When the body of the county's main handsome man, Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson), is found on the riverbank, everyone begins to believe Kia is responsible for his death. In addition, the girl was in a relationship with him.

The movie is based on the most sensational novel of recent years by Delia Owens. In four years, he entered the top five book bestsellers.

"I am rarely satisfied with the movie adaptation, but here everything is done just magically! A beautiful story of love and life", — Efir_boy.

"It's been a long time since they've released a movie like this. It was interesting to watch everything: the play of actors, pictures of nature, the plot) More would be such movies, I'm tired of superheroes' passers-by", —  A_lanister P.

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3. "Ready Player One" 

• 2018
• USA, India
• Fantasy, action, adventure
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T.J. Miller, Mark Rylance
• IMDb Rating: 7.4

the year 2045. Teenager Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), from a low-income slum, escapes from his problems into the world of virtual reality and plays the hyper-realistic computer game OASIS. Gamers are shocked by the news: the creator of this game James Halliday (Mark Rylance) after his death promised a fortune to the first player who finds hidden golden Easter egg in the game. Wade and four other friends decide to try their luck and challenge the head of a huge corporation, Nolan Sorento (Ben Mendelsohn), who has hired gamers to play the game.

The movie is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Ernest Cline. The picture became one of the top movie hits of 2018, earning more than $582 million dollars at the box office.

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2. "All Quiet on the Western Front" / Im Westen nichts Neues

• 2022
• Germany, USA, UK
• Drama, Action, History, Military
• Director: Edward Berger
• Starring: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Moritz Klaus, Adrian Grünewald
• IMDb Rating: 7.8

1917, Northern Germany. World War I is in full swing. The line of the Western Front stretches almost hundreds of kilometers in length and has not changed dramatically since the first days of bloody fighting. The front needs young fighters who still keep the spirit of patriotism and believe the beautiful speeches of officials. So 19-year-old Paul Boymer (Felix Kammerer) finds himself in one of the trenches. Charged at first with the will to win, the boy meets only horror, pain and death in the war.

This is an adaptation of the famous anti-war novel by German writer Erich Maria Remarque, which came out in 1929. He wrote the brutal truth about the First World War, which took millions of lives, which made no sense. Several movies have already been released based on the author's novel, but it was the 2022 film that was the first film in German and with German actors.

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1. "Wonder"  

• 2017
• USA, Canada
• Drama, family
• Director: Stephen Chbosky
• Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Owen Wilson, Izabela Vidovic, Julia Roberts, Noah Jupe
• IMDb Rating: 7.9

August Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) was born without a face due to a rare genetic condition, and doctors needed to perform 27 surgeries on him so he could breathe, eat, hear and speak. Until the age of 11, August was home-schooled with his mom (Julia Roberts) until his parents decided that the boy needed to push the boundaries of his own world and go to a regular school.

The movie is based on the bestselling novel by R.J. Palacio, which was published in 2012. At the Saturn Awards, the picture was honored with the award for Best Independent Film. And at the Oscars and BAFTA, the film was nominated in the category Best makeup and hairstyles. At the box office, "Wonder" earned $306 million.

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