Netflix And Chill: Eileen (2023)

The sophomore directorial feature from William Oldroyd (who helmed the fantastic Lady Macbeth almost a decade ago),  Eileen certainly has some comparison points that show what Oldroyd seems to be drawn. There's a very strong-willed woman at the centre of things, there's a sense of some justice being served, albeit not necessarily in the right way, and there's a lot of manipulation. It's an interesting film, but I'm not sure that it's entirely successful.

Thomasin McKenzie plays Eileen Dunlop, a young woman who works at a correctional facility for teenage boys. She's quiet and withdrawn, often placing herself in little fantasies while she kills time during visting hours. Her home life isn't too great either, due to the fact that her father (Shea Whigham) is an alcoholic who keeps getting increasingly paranoid and dangerous. Things take a slight turn for the better when her workplace takes on a new psychologist, Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), and Eileen is soon pleasantly surprised to find herself becoming fast friends with her. Friends can take you on some very unexpected journeys though.

Based on a novel of the same name by Ottessa Moshfegh, who also adapted the tale into screenplay form with her husband, what is here is a dark and intriguing tale of loneliness and pain being exploited by someone who knows how far they can push the limits of someone far younger and weaker than themselves. Everything leads up to a third act that turns truly dark and uncomfortable, but things don't ever settle into a cohesive whole. It's a character study, and it's a look at relative morality, but it falls just short of being great.

Oldroyd directs well enough, and he's comfortable once again with placing his characters in sparse environments that reflect the restrictions and drudgery of their own lives, but he doesn't do anything to help underline any of the main points being made. It would be fair to say that this is a film designed to make viewers ask some hard questions, but it would be equally fair to say that it doesn't even come close to providing any satisfying answers, or even just something that feels like a proper and natural end point for the story and the characters.

It doesn't help that McKenzie (who I have LOVED in other films) is a weak link here. The accent doesn't feel right, which does a lot to unbalance her performance, and she's hampered by the fact that her character spends most of her time reacting to things around her, as opposed to being pro-active in ways that could change her life for the better. Hathaway is a lot of fun in her role, although she often feels as if she's in a different movie from McKenzie. Then you have Whigham, doing fine work, but feeling as if he is in a different movie from both Hathaway and McKenzie. Marin Ireland absolutely kills it in the third act, enabled by material that allows her to give the best performance in the film, and I'm always happy to see Siobhan Fallon Hogan get more substantial roles, even if she is once again only here as a supporting player.

From a purely technical standpoint, there's very little wrong with this. There's just also nothing great about it, which is disappointing. Considering the talent here, on both sides of the camera, I thought this would make a stronger impression. The third act helps it to rise above average, and it certainly tries to be something a bit different, but I doubt anyone will remember it in a year or two. 

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing, and ALL of the links you need are here - https://linktr.ee/raidersofthepodcast
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share 

Old (2021)

Here's the plot of Old. A few different groups of people end up on a lovely beach and discover that time works different there. Although I cannot remember the exact correlation, it's something like half an hour on the beach being the equivalent to one year (this fluctuates though, by my reckoning, so let's not view that measurement as set in stone). While worried by that turn of events, things get even worse for the people on the beach when they realise that they are unable to leave.

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan (although it's based on a graphic novel, 'Sandcastle', by Pierre-Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters, Old is one of the most staggeringly awful mainstream movies I have seen in some time. Frustratingly, it has a good idea at the heart of it, and there's an explanation at the end of the movie that at least explains some character motivation, but it is never handled well. Much like the characters onscreen, viewers will feel themselves ageing prematurely as this drags itself from one ridiculous moment to the next.

Here are some of the people featured in the cast though, a selection of names that may tempt you into watching the film. Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, and Aaron Pierre. If you're anything like me then you will appreciate at least a couple of those actors. Don't let their involvement here fool you. Shyamalan has left everyone out to dry, giving them a horribly weak script and directing them to act in a way that is so far removed from their best work that you won't believe that the Vicky Krieps here, for example, is the same woman who did such amazing work in Phantom Thread. Nobody comes out of this well.

Although different from the more overt format of what many used to (and some may still) view as his biggest mis-step, Lady In The Water, Shyamalan has once again tip-toed his way right back to the cause of his previous "fall from grace", a plot that revolves people figuring out they are simply characters in a plot being crafted by someone else. There's one big difference this time around, the author of the narrative being someone who deliberately causes harm, even if it is for the greater good, but it certainly feels like Shyamalan has gone for another swim in the turbulent waters of hubris.

There's nothing else here that feels as if it is worth mentioning. I wasn't a big fan of the score, the special effects were sometimes good and sometimes not so good, and no one aspect can make up for that killer combination of the poor script and poor performances. I even think the cinematography, editing, shot choices, etc. seemed to be hampered by Shyamalan dedicating himself to creating a vision that he never really got a proper grip on.

My advice is to stay as far away from this as possible. And, funnily enough, I don't think time will be kind to it.

2/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Last Night In Soho (2021)

Edgar Wright is such a good film-maker that it sometimes makes me sad that he doesn't get more recognition. Oh, he has plenty of fans, and most people love at least one of "the Cornetto trilogy" movies, but he has noticeably grown over the past decade or so into someone who can do more than cram a film full of jokes and references. Not that there is anything wrong with his films that are crammed full of jokes and references (indeed, both Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz will remain very near the top of any list I make of my favourite films for a long time to come). Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World was a move away from what he had done before, although it was equally overstuffed with details and gags in every scenes. Baby Driver was a fantastic surprise, a melding of visuals with soundtrack choices that also made time for some superb car stunt work. And you should all really check out his wonderful documentary on Sparks. But Last Night In Soho . . . well, it may just be in contention for his best work yet.

Thomasin McKenzie plays Eloise, a country girl who moves to London for the chance to study fashion design. Having been in love with the London that so many people picture from the "swinging '60s", Eloise soon discovers that the modern city is a different entity from what it once was. Thankfully, she also discovers a nocturnal window into the London of the past, a world in which she connects to the confident and lovely Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), a wannabe singer who seems absolutely certain that she will one day be a star. As things start to take a dark turn for Sandie, Eloise finds her nerves becoming increasingly frayed. Considering that Eloise still occasionally has visions of her deceased mother, who committed suicide when she was a little girl, having her nerves frayed is not good for her, or for those around her.

Co-written by Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, Last Night In Soho is, in a lot of ways, a case of style over substance, but a) it's hard to complain when the style is so gorgeous, and b) the substance that IS here is well worth your time. People have tried to say this is Wright emulating a giallo film, but his touchstones here seem to be the likes of Vertigo, The Tenant, the films of Hammer and Pete Walker (to name a few main influences), and a pinch of Lucio Fulci. And it's worth noting that the horror develops throughout the runtime. This isn't a film to watch for jump scares and gory deaths, it's one to watch and enjoy for ratcheting tension and insanity.

Visually stunning, mirrors are used often, and used brilliantly, an era of London is recreated here that draws viewers in as easily as it draws in Eloise. It's all bright lights, groovy fashions, cool people, and ear-tickling music. The editing is flawless, complementing the two central performances as the leads reflect one another, and grow more in sync, and the whole film is an immersive, at times dizzying, experience.

Wright and co. arguably saved themselves a lot of trouble by casting so cannily though. I cannot say enough good things about McKenzie and Taylor-Joy, the former all awkward shyness and wide-eyed innocence while the latter acts as a white rabbit leading everyone to a wonderland that soon starts to crack and fall apart. Matt Smith is also very good, playing a man named Jack who soon reveals his true colours while acting as if he can do great things for Sandie. Then you have Diana Rigg, excelling in a final film role, a landlady named Ms Collins, that uses her brilliantly and allows her to do much more than just play someone available to reminisce about "the good old days". Michael Ajao, playing a nice young lad named John, and Synnove Karlsen, playing a not-so-nice fellow student named Jocasta, are both good, but the added pleasure comes from the supporting turns from Terence Stamp, still able to exude cool, menace, and a general swagger that reminds you of everything he has done before, and Rita Tushingham, an actress strongly associated with '60s British cinema (and who starred in a strangely similar cinematic fairytale-gone-awry entitled Straight On Till Morning). It's also good to see Pauline McLynn, who will forever be Mrs. Doyle to me, in any film role, however small, and she just adds to the quality of the performances on display here with her turn as a pub landlady named Carol.

So many people will take so many different things from this, and I have seen complaints about the writing and the third act developments, but all I can do is give it the highest recommendation possible. It feels, to me, like a long way of exploring that classic "you can never go home again" idea, albeit for a character attached to somewhere that was never her home in the first place. It also seems to underline a point so many people seem to miss nowadays, about accepting a time/place/source of art while being able to acknowledge that there were massive problems. You can wear rose-tinted glasses if you want to, but it's impossible to constantly ignore the problematic elements, to put it mildly, that have accompanied so many main chapters in our history, but being aware of them doesn't mean we have to then throw things we love into a social dustbin.

The more I watch this, the more I love it. That happens with most Edgar Wright movies I watch, to be fair, but this one has something that gives it a slight edge over a lot of his other work. It has a bit more going on below the surface, despite that perhaps being harder to notice with the overdose of style throughout. I hope others end up enjoying it almost as much as I did. 

10/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Based on a novel by Christine Leunens, Jojo Rabbit is another film written and directed by Taika Waititi, and another great mix of humour and emotion. It may not be his best film, and it's easy to initially view it as his weakest, but I suspect that it will grow on most people, over time.

Roman Griffin Davis is Jojo, a young boy living in Germany towards the end of WWII. Every child has an imaginary friend at some stage, Jojo has Hitler (Waititi). He also has a real friend in the shape of Yorki (Archie Yates), a loving mother (Rosie, played by Scarlett Johansson), and lessons in the best way to serve Germany from the likes of Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell) and Fraulein Rahm (Rebel Wilson). Jojo's worldview is challenged when he discovers that his mother has been hiding a young Jewish girl (Elsa, played by Thomasin McKenzie) in their home.

I've seen some criticisms of Jojo Rabbit that seem to want to boil it down to "be nice to Nazis, because not all Nazis are bad" and I've seen comments being critical of opinions on the film that seem simplistic and naive. Both of these things are true, to some extent, and that stems from the way in which Waititi has wrangled his message of hope and optimism into a fun satire that is itself wrapped up in a layer of wide-eyed childish innocence and absorption. It may not be as simple as it seems, at first glance, but none of the more complex thoughts undo the central ideas of always maintaining the capability of love destroying hate.

Davis is superb in the main role, which will come as no surprise to anyone used to Waititi's knack for picking absolutely wonderful child stars for his project. Although not in it as much as I would have liked him to be, Yates is quite hilarious as the friend who isn't going to strain himself by thinking of the world events unfolding around him. Johansson is a solid anchor, and a pivot around which everything, and everyone, revolves. McKenzie is easily on par with Davis in her role, and the comedic turns from Rockwell and Wilson help, even underlining a couple of very serious moments in the third act. Alfie Allen does well in a small role, Stephen Merchant is very funny in his one main scene, and Waititi plays his sprung-from-the-mind-of-a-child version of Hitler very much like a version of him sprung from the mind of a child.

With the mix of quirky characters, the shot composition, and specific soundtrack choices, fans of Wes Anderson may occasionally forget that this is a Waititi film. It's been given a layer of artificiality that helps to create just enough distance between what we know of the atrocities committed by the Nazis and what we're being shown onscreen. The whole thing is a tightrope-walk, of course, but Waititi is up to the task. I can even see his reasoning behind some of the decisions made that I don't entirely agree with.

Imperfect and odd, Jojo Rabbit manages to do what it sets out to do. It makes you laugh, it provides some immensely powerful moments, and it sends you onward with a sense that there is always hope for humanity while individuals continue to hold on to their natural ability to, against some major odds, do the right thing.

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share