Critical Week: Eavesdropping

During our second short work week in a row, there were once again fewer press screenings than usual. But I still kept busy, and caught several things. Most notable perhaps is last year's acclaimed Belgian drama Julie Keeps Quiet, a powerfully well-observed film about a teen girl (Tessa Van den Broeck, above) navigating a very tricky situation. On a much larger scale, Ben Affleck is back with the action sequel The Accountant 2, which features more sparky sibling banter between the autistic finance/battle savant and his live-wire brother (Jon Bernthal). It's a lot of fun, even more engaging this time around, and still preposterous.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Treading Water • Julie Keeps Quiet
Wind, Tide & Oar
ALL REVIEWS >

Lily Collias is excellent in Good One, a relaxed drama about a teen girl on a hiking trip with her dad (James Le Gros). It's a stunner of a film from first-time feature writer-director India Donaldson. David Mamet is back with the talky but intriguing drama, Henry Johnson, starring Evan Jonigkeit as a young lawyer who has a series of very pointed conversations with various men as his life goes off the rails. Christopher Abbott has lots of internal angst in the moody, mopey drama Swimming Home, beautifully filmed in Greek locations. Sandra Huller has fun in the engaging but overlong German caper comedy-drama Two to One, based on a true story set in newly post-communist East Berlin. I also attended a big-screen preview of Apple's new adventure/conservationist series The Wild Ones, and am now looking forward to further episodes in the summer. And I saw the stage shows Snow White: The Sacrifice at Sadler's Wells and Neil LaBute's How to Fight Loneliness at the Park.

This coming week, I'll be watching Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan in Thunderbolts, Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in Another Simple Favour, Nicolas Cage in The Surfer, Jack Lowden in Tornado, Charlie Tahan in Things Like This, Karim Ainouz's Motel Destino and Paolo Sorrentino's Parthenope.

Stage: Dancing with death

How to Fight Loneliness
by Neil LaBute
director Lisa Swirling
with Justina Kehinde, Archie Backhouse, Morgan Watkins
set and costumes Mona Camille • lighting Chuma Emembolu
Park Theatre, London • 16.Apr-24.May.25 ★★

Neil LaBute takes on another thorny topic with this 2017 play, which is making its UK premiere at the Park Theatre. Because the issue is so intense, there is a level of engagement here that feels undeniable, even as the play itself seems to drift within its own monologues, never quite cracking the surface. It perhaps doesn't help that it takes more than half an hour for the subject matter to emerge, deep into a scene that is essentially an extended red herring. This somewhat undermines the characters themselves, leaving them oddly unlikeable even as we want to identify with them.

In a living room that is designed to look like a desert, with a dirt floor, stone furnishings, dried-out foliage and a sun-like lamp suspended in front of a sky-like backlit wall, a loved-up young white-collar couple is laying out snacks and drinks for a guest. Brad (Archie Backhouse) invited this stranger over against his better judgement, while Jodie (Justina Kehinde) feels like she needs him. Eventually, the working-class Tate (Morgan Watkins) arrives, and it turns out that he went to school with Jodie. It also emerges that, due to rumours about his past, Brad and Jodie think he would be perfect to help Jodie end her suffering as she comes to the end of the road regarding treatment for a fatal brain tumour.

A fundamental flaw in the premise never stops niggling: Jodie says she has tried suicide multiple times but simply can't do it, but she is also unwilling to relocate to a state like Oregon, where euthanasia is legal. By contrast, Brad wants her to fight for her life, even though it's clear that she has been doing so for many years, including a period of remission. His yearning is about what he is losing, both Jodie and the children he hoped to have with her. Both of them state and restate these feelings over the course of the play's two-plus hours. Opposite them, Tate's quirky and eerily dispassionate responses feel like the voice of reason and compassion. But they contain their own flaws, because he is compromised by his own feelings.

This situation develops through circuitous conversations, as each of person opens up about their internal feelings while never quite moving forward. Kehinde is the soul of the play, adding resonant emotions at every point, largely because this is Jodie's story and hers are the only feelings that matter. Her physicality also conveys a wonderful sense of dignity and resolve that drives the narrative forward. Watkins' brings intrigue to the enigmatic Tate, overcoming the caricature of the stereotype with engaging internalised nuances. Comparatively, Brad is written as much more one-note, which doesn't give Backhouse much to work with, so he has to strain to earn the audience's sympathy.

While the sets and costumes add interest and texture, as does a lively injection of humour into the dialog, much of this is essentially random (such as Tate's amusing insistence that he's not a vegetarian even though he doesn't eat meat). And there's a certain nervous energy that flows throughout each scene, as these people try to explore bigger ideas in their twisting, spinning conversations. So there are fascinating questions along the way about perspective and empathy, expectations and extrapolations. But there are also no real insights, aside from a point that there is ultimately no trick to getting through this messy thing called life.

For details, PARK THEATRE >

photos by Mark Douet • 22.Apr.25

Dance: A good heart

balletLORENT

Snow White: The Sacrifice
director & choreographer Liv Lorent
writer Carol Ann Duffy
performers Virginia Scudeletti, Caroline Reece, John Kendall, Aisha Naamani, Geoff Hopson, Toby Fitzgibbons, Berta Admetlla, Montaine Ponceau, Cameron Woolnough, Cato Kendall Muniesa, Tassia Sissins
narrator Sarah Parish
costumes Libby El-Alfy, Nasir Mazhar
set Phil Eddolls • lighting Malcolm Rippeth
Sadler's Wells East, Stratford • 18.Apr.25 ★★★★

A family friendly version the Snow White fairy tale ran all week at Sadler's Wells East, but on Friday night it became The Sacrifice, a darkly grown-up take that doubles down on a woman's psychological battle against ageing and invisibility. This is a bold and eye-catchingly inventive staging of the familiar story, performed with skill and flair by the balletLORENT company, accompanied by 10 children from a local dance workshop. And its central themes come through with wit and strong emotion.

As the iconic story unfolds, it's clear that this isn't going to be your usual child-friendly version of the Brothers Grimm classic. Indeed, it harks back to the 1812 original version, with the widowed Queen (Caroline Reece) unable to cope when she discovers that a possible suitor is more interested in her teen daughter Snow White (Virginia Scudeletti) than in her. And then her magic mirror (Aisha Naamani in a gorgeous performance of dance and movement in a silver bodysuit) confirms that Snow White is kinder and fairer, prompting the Queen to plot murder. 

All of this plays out on a clever set designed like a giant vanity topped by the shimmering mirror. Music and lighting add fantastic effects, along with Sarah Parish's insinuating voiceover narration. As the set rotates to transform into the woodlands, we follow the Huntsman (John Kendall) as he is ordered to kill Snow White, grappling with his conscience in an astonishing nighttime dance joined by a stage full of creatures. Then Snow White runs into seven miners, and has further adventures in their home, including two more attempts on her life by the jealous Queen. Suffice it to say that there are several surprises in the storyline.

Through all of this, the show never flinches from violence or lustiness, rendered through expressive choreography and creative costumes, props and lighting. And there's comedy and romance too, from the lively bubble bath with the miners to a swooning death dance. The talented dancers perform the tricky choreo beautifully, creating vivid characters and situations that pull us into the story. This helps convey unusual resonance through the big feelings that are on display, as well as the larger parallels with self-image issues like social media and the quest for eternal youth. 

When things aren't too scary or sexy, the children return to the stage, integrated fully with the other dancers in impressive group numbers. This provides a series of dazzling sequences that swirl around the stage in a flurry of activity. A gorgeous combination of theatre, dance and storytelling, this is a first-rate production that will hopefully to return for run after run. It's well worth catching this adult-oriented take on the story if you get the chance.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Luke Waddington and The Twins • 18.Apr.25

Critical Week: Fractured fairy tale

It's the first of two short weeks in the UK, separated by the four-day Easter weekend, so of course they've been screening horror movies for critics. From Norway, The Ugly Stepsister is an inventive body-horror version of Cinderella that's witty and enjoyably ghastly. And then there's Sinners, Ryan Coogler's wonderfully bonkers new thriller with Michael B Jordan as twin gangsters in Jim Crow Mississippi facing racism and vampires. It's an astonishing must-see for fans of nuanced, layered, full-on nastiness.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Wedding Banquet • Warfare
Sinners • Freaky Tales
The Penguin Lessons
Dreamin' Wild • Grand Tour
ALL REVIEWS >

Switching gears, the British drama Treading Water is beautifully made, following an obsessive-compulsive guy (the superb Joe Gill) trying to get his life back on track. It's involving and moving. Lavender Men is adapted from a queer stage play, and retains the theatre setting and dense dialog. It's also provocative and meaningful as it explores our connection to history. From Mexico, Dying Briefly is a low-key and sexy dark romance set in a dance company. And the lovely British documentary Wind, Tide & Oar uses gloriously grainy 16mm film to profile impassioned people who sail without engines. I also saw the live performance Skatepark at Sadler's Wells East.

This coming week, I'll be watching Ben Affleck in The Accountant 2, Sandra Huller in Two to One, the childhood-home doc Where Dragons Live, a big-screen preview of the doc series The Wild Ones, and the stage shows Snow White: The Sacrifice and How to Fight Loneliness.

Dance: A party on wheels

Skatepark
concept/choreography Mette Ingvartsen
performers Damien Delsaux, Manuel Faust, Aline Boas, Mary Pop Wheels, Sam Gelis, Fouad Nafili, Júlia Rúbies Subirós, Thomas Bîrzan, Indreas Kifleyesus, Mathias Thiers, Bob Aertsen, Bo Huyghebaert
music Felix Kubin, Mord Records, Why the eye, sonaBLAST! Records, Rrose, The Fanny Pads, Restive Plaggona
sound Anne van de Star, Peter Lenaerts
lighting Minna Tiikkainen • costumes Jennifer Defays
Sadler's Wells East, Stratford • 10-12.Apr.25 ★★★★

Inspired by the speed, precision, fluidity and persistence of skateboarders, Danish choreographer and dancer Mette Ingvartsen developed this piece to reflect a subculture rooted in rebellious behaviour that embraces the tension between art and commercialism. The show is cleverly designed to look like young people randomly at play, embracing the sport's imperfections in falls and collisions, which add an improvisational element to the choreography. And as it traces a day and night, it also becomes a celebration of both anarchy and community.

The large stage at Sadler's Wells East is set up like a typical skate park, with ramps, rails, platforms, jumps and fences. Before the show, local children and teens have a go on it in their own style. Then at the designated time, the eclectic cast of Skatepark takes over with a more coordinated attack. A mix of male and female skateboarders, roller skaters and acrobats spirals around the space, enthusiastically performing tricks while playfully interacting with each other. They also join in performing the music, with guitars, percussion and vocals throughout the show.

As the piece continues over about 90 minutes, small vignettes appear here and there with shapes and movement, plus some competitive segments in which gymnasts challenge each other to do handstands and skateboarders attempt to jump over increasingly high obstacles. From pre-teens to young adults, these are seriously adept performers, mixing choreographic synchronicity with personal style and impressive skills. And because the show is continually shifting, the repetition never gets boring. Indeed, it's increasingly gripping because we never know where it's going next.

Later on, the stage fades to black and there's an extended sequence with isolated lights and masks that mixes dance, music and performance art. The visual effect is stunning, and it also extends the sense of youthful optimism and defiance that emerges from these talented performers. It's as if they are announcing their independence from what is considered to be civilised society, happily joining with friends while working hard to perfect something they love. So the lingering question is what will they do when they grow up? Or are they already there?

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Pierre Gondard • 10.Apr.25

Critical Week: Executive action

This has been a quiet week for press screenings, so I've enjoyed having some time to catch up on other things that have been pressing. It also helps that the weather has been sunny and nice, our first proper London spring in three years. The biggest film I watched this week was a bit of wishful thinking. In the action thriller G20, Viola Davis plays a no-nonsense US president fighting some nasty baddies. Essentially a revamped Die Hard, the movie is familiar and very silly, but also a solid guilty pleasure.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Holy Cow • Warfare
ALL REVIEWS >

Other films this week included two offbeat music documentaries: Kevin Macdonald's One to One: John & Yoko follows a couple of pivotal years for the artists in protest-filled New York, adding a skilfully kaleidoscopic context to the music. And The Extraordinary Miss Flower is a beautifully swirling concoction exploring how Icelandic singer Emiliana Torrini was inspired by a letters that revealed another woman's passion-filled past.

There were also a few things outside the regular release schedule. I attended a terrific screening and Q&A for the new Black Mirror episode Hotel Reverie, with Charlie Brooker, Emma Corrin and others. It's a gorgeously surreal love letter to classic movie romance. I finally caught up with Pedro Almodovar's involving, beautifully made Western short Strange Way of Life, starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke as cowboys who can't admit they love each other. And I attended two stage shows: lockdown drama Jab at the Park and the raucous Jane Austen adaptation Plied & Prejudice at the Vaults.

This coming week, the films I'll be watching include Michael B Jordan in Sinners, the tennis drama Julie Keeps Quiet, Norwegian horror movie The Ugly Stepsister and the sailing documentary Wind, Tide & Oar.

Stage: Stumbling on something witty

Plied and Prejudice
by Matthew Semple
director Dash Kruck
with Emma Andreatta, Brigitte Freeme, Andrew Macmillan, Monique Sallé, Tim Walker
hosts Alexia Brinsley, Zak Enayat
musicians Olivia Warren, Antonia Richards
set/costumes Penny Challen • movement Dan Venz
sound Aidan Jones • lighting Joe Willcox
The Vaults, London • 13.Mar-18.Jul.25 ★★★

After a hit run in Australia, this raucous adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel lands in London, taking up residency in The Vaults theatre space under Waterloo station to celebrate 250th anniversary of the author's birth. As the title suggests, this version is loose and irreverent, and it playfully incorporates elements from both the iconic 1995 BBC adaptation (including Colin Firth's wet t-shirt moment) and Bridgerton. Meanwhile, the venue brings its own opportunities and challenges.

Using a traverse stage, as actors charge up and down a catwalk between two halves of the audience, this is a hugely physical show with five Australian performers playing more than 20 roles that require energetic costume and personality changes. And audience members stand in for a few more. These gifted circus-style performers gleefully exaggerate each character's specific traits, having a lot of fun with outrageous slapstick moments and improvisational gags that keep the audience laughing while also cracking up their fellow cast members. And since there is constant encouragement to order drinks, the atmosphere resembles a chaotic hen night.

The show opens in the bar with a prologue that's fairly incomprehensible, simply because it's so difficult to hear what's being said into the muffled sound system. This problem continues into the much larger performance space, where we can only hear the hilariously witty dialog if it's spoken nearby. So it's frustrating to hear the other end of the room erupt in laughter at a line we couldn't hear. Even so, the buoyant performances carry us through Austen's familiar story, punching each moment with a flurry of sharply pointed gags, goofy asides and inventive mayhem. Along the way, the plot of Pride and Prejudice plays out with a fresh sense of mischief that gives the underlying themes and emotions a whole new spin.

Amid the flurry of outrageous characterisations, standouts include Andrew Macmillan's astonishingly slimy Mr Collins and Emma Andreatta's amusingly imperious Lady Catherine. Meanwhile, Brigitte Freeme and Tim Walker play out Elizabeth and Darcy's romantic-comedy storyline with charm and snap, with the added challenge that Walker must constantly run off to play Elizabeth's three younger sisters, all at the same time. And Monique Sallé adds an enjoyable blast of sarcasm to her scenes. She and Freeme also have the most trouble keeping a straight face.

The Vaults have been lavishly decorated for this show's four-month run, with murals covering the walls in multiple spaces, matching the colourfully hand-painted style of the costumes. And with a generous dose of ribald humour, this cast is having so much fun that we can't help but enjoy ourselves, even as we strain to hear the jokes and grapple with a series of confusing QR codes to order another drink. Afterwards, the show moves back to the bar for a proper rave afterwards, and we're definitely in the mood for that.

For info, PLIED AND PREJUDICE >

photos by Guy Bell • 4.Apr.25

Stage: Lockdown diaries

Jab
by James McDermott
dir Scott Le Crass
with Kacey Ainsworth, Liam Tobin
lighting Jodie Underwood • music & sound Adam Langston
Park Theatre, London • 2-26.Apr.25 ★★★

Inspired by true events, James McDermott's drama feels like a period piece, set very specifically during the pandemic. And while it nostalgically journeys through the key events and issues of those years, the focus is on a marriage that was already in trouble before lockdown pushed it over the edge. The two actors are excellent, playing the short, sharp scenes with punchy interplay that is often wordless. But the story never feels layered enough to resonate meaningfully.

It opens as NHS worker Anne (Kacey Ainsworth) starts working from home during the covid outbreak. Her well-paying job has supported raising two sons with her husband of 29 years, Don (Liam Tobin), who runs a vintage shop that doesn't bring in much. And now that it is forced to close, his only earnings are from government grants. Anne never lets Don forget that she's the breadwinner and he's a slacker. And he never shows any respect for her at all, beliveing it's her role to cook, clean and take care of his sexual needs. So it's not surprising that being stuck at home together brings larger tensions to the boil.

Much of this is very ugly, even if there are glimpses of affection and camaraderie between Anne and Don, plus some warm nostalgia when they're drinking. But there is also verbal and physical abuse. So neither is very likeable, striking low blows that cut deep as they increasingly separate from each other across the four armchairs lined up on the stark living room set. As the title suggests, vaccines play into the story, as Don refuses to get the jab, even as Anne is working in vaccination and testing centres. He resents her insisting that he should be vaccinated, when his beloved Daily Mail shouts nonstop about fake side-effects. And she tells him she'll resent him when he dies.

No prizes for guessing where this goes. Director Scott Le Crass stages this cleanly in the small studio space, as events unfold in sometimes very tiny fragments over many months. Both Ainsworth and Tobin are gifted actors who are able to provide some subtext to their roles. This makes the characters intriguing, even if they're only rarely engaging. But the main problem is that this is a pointed play about the strain covid put on relationships, and it never finds much to say to us five years after the fact.

For info, PARK THEATRE >

photos by Steve Gregson • 3.Apr.25

Critical Week: Battle scarred

There were three big film screenings this week. The filmmakers and much of the cast turned up for the European premiere of Warfare, at which I had chats with Kit Connor (pictured), Will Poulter, Michael Gandolfini and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai. Depicting an intensely gripping battle during the Iraq War, this is easily the best film I've seen so far this year. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Four Mothers • Freaky Tales
The Most Precious of Cargoes
ALL REVIEWS >

I also attended the UK premiere of The Amateur, attended by the filmmakers and Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne and Caitriona Balfe. It's an engaging original thriller, but a little underpowered. And while the stars were at the premiere on the other side of Leicester Square, I was at a lively press screening of the enjoyably dopey A Minecraft Movie.

In addition, I caught up with Miguel Gomes' stunningly lyrical road movie Grand Tour and the entertaining, gripping and very offbeat British bad-neighbour thriller Restless. The 39th BFI Flare also wrapped up over the weekend with a number of films and a big party.

This coming week I have very few screenings in the diary for some reason. But I'll be watching Viola Davis in G20, the documentary One to One: John & Yoko and there are sure to be others.