Critical Week: In your face

After a very long five-month lockdown, cinemas are once again open in the UK, and distributors are flooding screens with both new films and several that have been previously released online but really should get some big screen love. I'm hoping to revisit some titles over the coming weeks. New films I watched this week include Mainstream, which stars Andrew Garfield as an influencer who takes social media by storm. It's a bold, overreaching film that demands attention. On the big screen with an awesome sound system, I watched John Krasinski's sequel A Quiet Place Part II, once again starring Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe as a family trying to keep silent around terrifying monsters. It's a nail-biter, packed with thrillingly scary set-pieces.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Hating Peter Tatchell • Nomadland
Ammonite • Minari • Undergods
PERHAPS AVOID:
Those Who Wish Me Dead
Rare Beasts
ALL REVIEWS >

Less effective was the thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead, with Angelina Jolie as a tough guy smokejumper. The plot was even more contrived than that, but the filmmaking is solid. A Hitchcock homage, The Woman in the Window is gloriously well-made, with a terrific cast led by Amy Adams and a plot that barely holds water. Finn Whitehead stars in the loose, relaxed drama Port Authority, as a homeless teen who falls for a trans dancer. Another British-based animated drama from Studio Ghibli, Earwig and the Witch is visually innovative but narratively awkward. From Austria, Why Not You is an involving, very dark drama about a young man struggling in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. And from Australia, Hating Peter Tatchell is a riveting, expertly assembled doc about the groundbreaking London-based activist.

Oddly, press screenings seem to be re-opening very slowly, and I only have one in the diary for this coming week, namely the dark drama Zebra Girl. But I suspect more will come along soon. In the mean time, there are screener links to watch for Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead, Emma Stone in Cruella, the Hollywood romcom Introducing Jodea and the documentary A Space in Time. I also have some theatre and dance performances to attend, so watch for those reviews here.

Flare 4: Walk on the wild side

The British Film Institute's 32nd Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival continues on the Southbank, and my main tasks over the past few days has been to watch films and interview filmmakers and actors. So I missed the special screening of Maurice, which reunited Hugh Grant and James Wilby on-stage. There are still a few parties to go, so I'm looking forward to seeing friends and getting to know some more of the guests who are in town. Here are some highlights...

The Happy Prince
dir-scr Rupert Everett; with Rupert Everett, Colin Firth 18/UK ****
With lush, deep-coloured production design, this film traces the last three troubled years in Oscar Wilde's life. It's a swirlingly artful approach, shifting around in time to paint a vivid, emotionally charged portrait of a shattered man trying to stoke the embers of his once-grand life. And he's beautifully played by Rupert Everett, who also makes a notable debut as a writer-director.

Becks
dir Elizabeth Rohrbaugh, Daniel Powell; with Lena Hall, Christine Lahti 17/US ***.
Skilfully shot and acted, this warm drama is grounded in an earthy sense of authenticity as it follows a young woman trying to rebuild what's left of her dreams. Even though the plot gives in to structural demands, filmmakers Elizabeth Rohrbaugh and Daniel Powell tell the story in an engaging way, quietly bringing out important themes without pushing them...
FULL REVIEW >

Mario
dir Marcel Gisler; with Max Hubacher, Aaron Altaras18/Swi ***.
Gently observant, this Swiss drama uses a gripping, personal story to confront a much bigger issue: the prejudice against homosexuality in football. Thankfully, director-cowriter keeps the approach personal, creating a character-based romance that's genuinely involving even when the politics threaten to take over. So although it feels rather overlong, it's packed with powerful moments.

Pulse
dir Stevie Cruz-Martin; with Daniel Monks, Caroline Brazier 17/Aus ***.
There's an earthy authenticity to this very slightly fantastical Australian drama that catches the attention right from the start. Shot in an urgent, realist style, it never seems like the actors are performing, and some scenes are so raw that audience members feel almost invasive watching them. As it continues, the story becomes formulaic, but the characters remain solidly grounded.

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C R I T I C A L    W E E K

Outside of Flare, I've seen two very nice surprises, genre films that more than live up to expectations, namely the properly hilarious comedy Blockers and the genuinely terrifying A Quiet Place. There was also the somewhat dense financial scandal doc The Outsider, and a fabulous screening of GW Pabst's 1929 silent classic Pandora's Box, starring the incandescent Louise Brooks.

And the only non-festival screening in the diary for next week is the rescheduled one for The Hurricane Heist. But there are a few things I need to catch up with.