BFI Flare: Get the party started

The 39th BFI Flare kicked off last night on the Southbank, with the international premiere of the Sundance hit The Wedding Banquet, with the entire cast and crew on stage for an intro, then back for a hilarious Q&A. I also got a chance to talk to director Andrew Ahn at the party, which was nice. The next 10 days will be a flurry of excellent LGBTQIA+ films from all over the world. Here are comments on three films - full reviews will be posted on the site soon. And Critical Week is below...

The Wedding Banquet
dir Andrew Ahn; with Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone 25US ****
In reimagining of Ang Lee's breakthrough 1993 comedy, director-cowriter Andrew Ahn cleverly updates the topicality while also playing up the plot's farcical entanglements. The resulting film often feels very silly, but it is continually underscored by resonant themes and involving emotions. It's also thoroughly entertaining, with seven complex central characters who are beautifully played by an ensemble cast that's heavily stacked with adept scene-stealers.

Really Happy Someday
dir J Stevens; with Breton Lalama, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah 24/Can ****
Quietly observational, this warm drama follows a young trans man who is struggling to redefine both himself and who he wants to be. Director J Stevens takes an offhanded approach, shooting scenes like a fly-on-the-wall documentary to add a striking sense of authenticity. It's also infused with Broadway songs that contain huge emotionality, allowing us to see into the soul of the lead character, who is played beautifully by cowriter Breton Lalama.

We Are Faheem & Karun
dir Onir; with Tawseef Mir, Akash Unnimenon 25/Ind ****
From India, this is the first Kashmiri film to openly explore sexuality. As with his 2023 drama Pine Cone, filmmaker Onir uses a gently understated tone to focus on the internalised thoughts and feelings the characters are grappling with. The film is strikingly well shot in spectacular locations, while the actors deliver warm, honest performances. So without overstating anything, the film creates a vivid sense of how a culture can sometimes feel like a prison.

Full reviews will be linked on Shadows' BFI Flare page when published.

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
C R I T I C A L  W E E K

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Flow • Layla
When Autumn Falls • Santosh
ALL REVIEWS >

Aside from Flare, this past week featured screenings of two films with Pedro Pascal. The multi-strand adventure Freaky Tales is clever and offbeat, while the comedy-drama The Uninvited is intriguing like an ensemble play. Disney's live-action Snow White was better than expected, although the animated dwarfs are all wrong. Robert De Niro gives two solid performances in The Alto Knights, which is otherwise a bit unremarkable. Alain Guiraudie's superb French drama Misericordia is complex and challenging. And the artificial intelligence doc The Thinking Game is brisk and eye-opening.

This coming week I'll be watching Jack Quaid in Novocaine, Jason Statham in A Working Man, Jason Isaacs in The Salt Path, the wartime drama Irena's Vow, the Andy Kaufman doc Thank You Very Much, and a lot more films at BFI Flare. Plus a few live stage performances.

BFI Flare: Family matters

The 38th BFI Flare powers into its final weekend with even more movies and events, including a big closing night party tomorrow. It's been great to have filmmaker Q&As at every public screening I've attended, while having time between films to catchup with them and with my festival friends here in London. Of course, festivals wear us out (we watch too much then have to find time somewhere to work!), so I'll be glad to have my life back on Monday. But until then, there's miles to go. Here are more highlights, plus a brief Critical Week roundup...

Our Son
dir Bill Oliver; with Luke Evans, Billy Porter 23/US ***
While this drama features a new angle on the usual child custody narrative, its script never achieves the complexity needed to bring the situation to life. Instead, it feels more like a TV melodrama in which each conflict happens simply because the formula says it should. Thankfully, the cast rises above the sometimes simplistic dialog to deliver involving performances that knowingly touch on important issues. So even if it isn't memorable, the film is warm and engaging.

Pine Cone
dir Onir; with Vidur Sethi, Sahib Verma 23/Ind ***.
With a sensitive story that's groundbreaking for Indian cinema, this warm gay romantic drama takes a deep dive into its central character's relationship history through a robust flashback structure. Filmmaker Onir finds earthy honesty in scenes that grapple with connections, while eliciting layered performances from an excellent cast of newcomers. It may look a bit flatly digital (it was largely shot on an iPhone), and the music may feel somewhat insistent for Western audiences, but the film is powerfully involving.

Don't Ever Stop
dir Stuart Pollitt; with Fergie, Andy Buckley 24/UK ****
It's appropriate that a documentary about Tony De Vit, Britain's Godfather of Hard House, would pulsate with the thumping rhythms of a sweaty nightclub. This is a knowing and warmly personal portrait of a man whose influence on the music industry has been enormous, and it expands to explore his legacy by also recounting the story of his protege Fergie, one of the biggest DJs in the world. Filmmakers Stuart Pollitt and Phill Smith have poured a lot of love into this film, which makes it powerfully involving.

Commitment to Life
dir Jeffrey Schwarz; with Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bruce Vilanch 23/US ****
Centred around the queer community in Los Angeles and its response to the Aids epidemic, this knowing and sensitive documentary chronicles how a range of people took high-profile action that changed attitudes around the world. Master documentarian Jeffrey Schwartz assembles this beautifully, with a superb range of personal interviews offering firsthand commentary alongside the extensive archival material.

B E S T    O F    Y E A R
20,000 Species of Bees
dir-scr Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren; with Sofia Otero, Patricia Lopez Arnaiz 23/Sp ***
From the Basque Country, this loose drama circles around an important issue with honesty and emotion. But writer-director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren makes it difficult to engage with the characters. Not only are there too many ill-defined people on-screen, but the meandering structure never offers a way in. That said, the film looks beautiful, skilfully using the setting and culture. And the cast is excellent across the board... FULL REVIEW >

Full reviews will be linked on Shadows' BFI FLARE PAGE >
For festival information, BFI FLARE >

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
C R I T I C A L  W E E K

I've only caught a couple of non-festival movies this week, namely the franchise continuation Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which feels the strain of too many characters and a distracting plot. But there is still some fun to be had. Kristen Stewart is excellent in Love Lies Bleeding (also at Flare as it happens), the anticipated twisted thriller from Rose Glass (St Maud). It's wonderfully original. And from Australia, Limbo is a gorgeously stylish mystery shot in black and white by the gifted filmmaker Ivan Sen. In the diary for next week, I've got Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, plus In the Land of Saints and Sinners, The Beautiful Game, The Origin of Evil, Ama Gloria and Carnal Sins.