Critical Week: Take the call

Once again, I am avoiding the chaos of the Cannes Film Festival and enjoying the much lighter screening schedule in London these days. I know I'll catch up with the best from Cannes over the coming months. And I'm abandoning London myself next week until early June. Back to the movies, we had a lively themed screening of rising-star filmmaker Curry Barker's horror thriller Obsession. It's an unusually engaging scary movie, funny and moving. And hugely unnerving too.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Orphan • Diamonds • Obsession
High Tide • The Christophers
The Wizard of the Kremlin
ALL REVIEWS >

There were also several starrier movies to watch. The comedy-drama Miss You Love You is essentially an extended conversation between Allison Janney and Andrew Rannells. But they are so good that it's riveting, beautifully written and directed by Jim Rash. Sally Field and Lewis Pullman make a terrific duo in Remarkably Bright Creatures, a heartwarming tale about being open to the world around you, centring around an octopus. Scoot McNairy and Emilia Jones are excellent as a father and daughter in the sensitive memoir Fairyland, which skilfully captures the subculture of 1970s-80s San Francisco. And from Hong Kong, We're Nothing at All is an extraordinary blend of personal drama and riveting procedural thriller, circling around a bomb explosion on a bus. I also watched a live performance of Remachine at Sadler's Wells East.

Coming up this next week, I only have one press screening due to the Cannes slump, but it's the first Star Wars movie in seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu. I may see it twice. And of course it's the 70th Eurovision Song Contest live from Vienna on Saturday night. Another reason for so few screening is that I'm flying to California next week to visit family. I'll be sure to report back on my in-flight viewing and whatever else I get up to over there. 

SXSW London: Lose yourself

The first SXSW London festival kicked off on Monday night with the world premiere of the Eminem fan doc Stans, and it runs through the week until Saturday with a rather blinding range of music gigs, panel discussions, talks, events and, yes, films. They've packed rather a lot into these six days, using venues scattered across East London, with Shoreditch as the epicentre. I also attended a panel this week, hosted by the Golden Globes, exploring the global nature of storytelling. Participants came from Britain, Turkey and Ukraine, and there was a strong interaction with the audience in attendance, talking about what kinds of stories resonate beyond cultural barriers. I'll also be attending a TV series premiere this week, and several more movies. Here are three film highlights so far...

Stans 
dir-scr Steven Leckart; with Eminem, Dr Dre 25/US ****
Rather than tracing the artist's career or personal life, this documentary explores the interaction between Eminem and his most earnest fans, noting that the term "stan" was coined from his eponymous 2000 hit. This approach makes the film unusually intimate, highlighting how music connects into deeper issues. And because Eminem's music is so soul-baring, it has an unusual resonance that can silence critics who don't quite get it.

Cactus Pears
dir-scr Rohan Parashuram Kanawade; with Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman 25/Ind ****.

Hushed and observational, this beautifully shot Indian drama focusses on a 30-year-old gay man who has escaped his home culture but is now is forced to make peace with it. Packed with local traditions and interpersonal details, the film is powerfully involving as writer-director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade continually finds unexpected layers of resonance. And in a skilfully low-key way, the film offers a strong sense of hope.

Cielo
dir-scr Alberto Sciamma; with Fernanda Gutierrez Aranda, Fernando Arze Echalar 25/Bol ****

Gorgeously shot in spectacular mountain landscapes populated by lively characters, this Bolivian drama opens with a beautiful but darkly disturbing sequence that opens with a young girl swallowing a fish. With vibrant colours, writer-director Alberto Sciamma infuses this fable with offbeat magical realism, pulling us into an odyssey that is packed with moments that are touching, provocative and wonderfully funny.

Full reviews are coming, and will be linked to Shadows' SXSW LONDON PAGE >

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C R I T I C A L  W E E K

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Life of Chuck 
Dangerous Animals • Mountainhead
ALL REVIEWS >

Alongside the festival, I also watched Ana de Armas in the John Wick spinoff Ballerina. It's slickly well-made and entertaining, but oddly unsurprising. Natalie Portman and John Krasinski make an engaging duo in the comical adventure Fountain of Youth. It's a lot of fun, but there's not much to it. Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells star in the black comedy I Don't Understand You, which is enjoyable but never quite bridges the gap between silliness and nastiness.

This coming week I'll be watching the live-action(ish) remake of How to Train Your Dragon, Kerry Washington in Shadow Force, Jonathan Groff in A Nice Indian Boy, the reimagined pop musical Juliet & Romeo and the drama Franklin. I'll also attend the premiere of the third season of Squid Game and the dance show Inside Giovanni's Room.

Critical Week: Dancing in the aisles

Being awards season, there are quite a few screenings that include a Q&A with the cast and crew - all held virtually this year. I had three of these this past week: Promising Young Woman is a vicious, blackly comical thriller with a terrific Carey Mulligan (pictured above with Bo Burnham). It's sharply pointed and darkly entertaining. The Prom is a glittery musical concoction from Ryan Murphy starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Andrew Rannells and Kerry Washington, among others. It's over-the-top in many ways, but has nicely serious undercurrents. And Pieces of a Woman is a very dark drama starring Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf. It's involving and beautifully put together, but rather grim.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Red, White and Blue
Nomadland • Ammonite
Falling • Black Bear • Host 
PERHAPS AVOID:
Buddy Games
Love, Weddings & Other Disasters 
FULL REVIEWS>

Otherwise it was the usual eclectic bunch. Drew Barrymore has both lead roles in The Stand In, a comedy that's not as silly as it looks, knowingly skewering show business myths. This week's Small Axe movie by Steve McQueen is the breathtaking Red, White and Blue, starring John Boyega as a young cop with a conscience. Viggo Mortensen writes, directs, stars in and composes the score for Falling, a pungent drama about a man dealing with his senile, increasingly bigoted father (a terrific Lance Henricksen). Parallel is a crowd-pleasing sci-fi concoction with a twisty plot and a hint of thematic depth, while Muscle is a gritty British drama that takes an unsettling dive into toxic masculinity. There was also Jack and the Beanstalk, a deliciously hilarious traditional British panto shot in back gardens during the pandemic. And The American Boys is a collection of six sensitive coming-of-age shorts, all very well made.

I have a lot to watch over the coming week, including the final two Small Axe films Alex Wheatle and Education, Riz Ahmed in Sound of Metal, Tessa Thompson in Sylvie's Love, Sienna Miller in Wander Darkly, Laura Dern in Trial by Fire, and acclaimed foreign titles Funny Boy, The Weasel's Tale and Cocoon. I also have an actual physical catch-up screening of the British horror Saint Maud. Yes, cinemas are open again, again.