CINEMA: West Side Story (2021)

An adaptation of the 1957 musical, West Side Story explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.

Manhattan, Upper West Side, 1957. Against the backdrop of the decaying tenements in the San Juan Hill neighbourhood and the constant threat of the wrecking ball, two warring gangs–tough Riff’s Jets and swaggering Bernardo’s Puerto Rican Sharks–fight for supremacy. Now, with a once-and-for-all, winner-takes-all rumble on the cards, an unexpected whirlwind romance at the high-school dance between former Jet brawler Tony and Bernardo’s delicate little sister María sets the stage for an all-out turf war. But what’s a gang without its territory? Above all, when the future is uncertain, what’s hope without love?

Featuring the hit songs America, I Feel Pretty and the haunting Somewhere, this remake is up for 7 Oscar nominations at the 2022 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.