THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1948) Stream on the Criterion Channel; rent on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and YouTube. This film noir by Orson Welles includes just about everything one might expect: stylized black and white photography, an alluring but destructive femme fatale figure, and a plot rife with misdirection and sudden bursts of revelation. Welles stars as Michael, a sailor conscripted into a yacht trip from New York to San Francisco by Arthur, a wealthy lawyer, and his wife, Elsa (Rita Hayworth). Michael hopes to win Elsa’s affection, and is drawn into a scheme to help fake the death of Arthur’s partner George. But the deal Michael makes is not what it initially appears. In the hands of Welles, a master filmmaker, these conventional elements are used to explore identity, truth and desire.

THE RETURN (2003) Stream on Acorn TV. Julie Walters plays Lizzie, a recovering alcoholic who is released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence for killing her husband in a drunken haze. As she readjusts to life on the outside, Lizzie’s memory of that event begins to return and she realizes that she may not have been her partner’s murderer. There’s an investigation, plot twists and salacious details aplenty but this film focuses on its imperfect main character’s struggle to reconcile herself with a past that she largely wasn’t really present for.