The Apprentice (2024)

I understand why people may be less inclined to check out this film right now. All of the warnings have been there for decades, and we've had even more time to watch Donald Trump showcase his incompetence, pettiness, and inhumanity over the past few years, but The Apprentice is a surprisingly fantastic watch, not just because it reminds us all of the fact that nothing the snake-oil salesman who bagged himself a return trip to the White House says or does nowadays is new. He's just repeating from a playbook that he's been using for most of the past half century, and that playbook was written for him by Roy Cohn.

While we all know the Donald Trump of today as a convicted felon, a bully who has been found guilty of sexual abuse, and someone who has allegedly been recruited as a Russian asset way back in the 1980s (according to a couple of different sources), he was once just a pathetic young man who wanted to impress his parents and be one of the rich people that others become desperate to spend time with. He already had his narcissism in place, and a weak nature that would see him beg for help from people until he could get enough leverage to keep his own place at the big table, but he wasn't yet the great monster that he is today. Enter Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). Cohn meets Donald Trump (played here by Sebastian Stan) in the 1970s, and they form a friendship and business relationship that basically shows Donald how to keep getting his way throughout his entire life. Attack, deny everything, and claim any loss as a victory. This is a Frankenstein tale, but there are many Victor Frankensteins here, and just as many monsters, each working to reconstruct the other in different ways. 

Although this is the second feature film written by Gabriel Sherman, I have decided not to hold the awfulness of Independence Day: Resurgence against him. This is so good that I absolutely forgive him, and look forward to whatever he's got lined up for future projects. It helps that director Ali Abbasi is at the helm, someone who has spent the past decade making features that range from very good to absolutely superb (I encourage everyone to also check out Border and Holy Spider). Abbasi knows how to handle material that dances between light and extreme darkness, and he puts that skill to very good use here. He also owes a huge thank you to those who helped to cast the film.

Stan is absolutely brilliant in a role that could have easily been mishandled. He somehow avoids being a clown who becomes a complete villain, although his performance is shaded with both. Nothing is shown here to excuse the behaviour of Donald, but there's a fascinating look at how some of his attitudes were shaped and how he would so often look up to, and put on a pedestal, people who many of us would view as absolute scumbags. Strong has an absolute blast playing one of the biggest scumbags, someone so monstrous that he initially makes little Donnie look like a pussycat, but it's interesting that this year saw both Strong and Kieran Culkin receive a lot of praise for film performances that weren't really too far removed from the personalities they had nurtured throughout five seasons of the superb Succession. Martin Donovan and Catherine McNally are the elder Trumps, Charlie Carrick is the lost brother, and Maria Bakalova adds to her impressive body of work with a captivating portrayal of Ivana.

Although we have much more recent history to learn from, people should really watch this to be reminded of just how much time Donald Trump has spent being an inexorably unpleasant and greedy narcissist who will do anything for a bit of power to wield against others. I doubt this will reach the right people, anyone choosing to watch it will probably not be a member of the bizarre cult he has developed in the past decade, but if there's a chance that even one of those people he managed to confound with his tired razzle dazzle routine can have their blinkers removed, or at least slightly damaged, then that would be a huge bonus. Mind you, the fact that it is out in the world, and making the small-minded bully angry and unable to do anything about it, is just as much of a bonus.

8/10

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Alice, Darling (2022)

Anna Kendrick stars as Alice, a young woman who heads off for a girls-only break with her best friends, Tess (Kaniehtiio Horn) and Sophie (Wunmi Mosaku). If that sounds like the start of many other Anna Kendrick movies you could watch then let me try to convince you otherwise. Alice, Darling soon starts to reveal more and more about the central character, and specifically starts to peel away at the layers of her relationship with Simon (Charlie Carrick).

The feature directorial debut from Mary "yes, daughter of Bill" Nighy, Alice, Darling is one of those films that just gets everything right in a way that allows it to become quietly impressive, leaving a strong impression in your mind long after the end credits have rolled. This is partly to do with the script by Alanna Francis, which starts from a very recognisable place before moving towards darker and scarier territory, although the dark and scary parts will still be recognisable to a number of viewers, and it's partly to do with the excellent performances.

Kendrick initially seems to be doing the kind of thing that Kendrick does so well, but she gets to show a lot more range as the film unfurls like some kind of pretty, poisonous, flower. Perfection and happiness are on the surface, but the cracks are visible, and there are deep fault lines running underneath them. Horn and Mosaku are both very good in their roles, dealing with their friend in different ways, but always coming from a place of good intentions. Mosaku is calm and mature, whereas Horn seems to be much more confrontational and seemingly irresponsible. Then there's Carrick, playing a man who is ever-present even when he's not onscreen. He's at the end of a text message or phone call, he's the elephant in the room for a huge chunk of the film. Carrick may overdo things slightly, but his performance is there to highlight the central theme of the film, showing what many people will tolerate while they consider themselves in a loving and strong relationship.

Alice, Darling covers a lot of ground, especially when you think of how slight the main premise is, and both Nighy and Francis should be commended for that. There are moments when this could almost be a full-on horror movie, but there are also moments that just show the pain and anxiety of a woman who has allowed herself to be changed so much that she is unsure of whether or not she can recapture the essence of who she once was. Red flags, boundaries, controlling behaviour, confrontational behaviour, self-care, and self-belief are all examined, and the whole movie serves as a reminder of just how little you often really know about someone’s life and someone’s relationships. You may not come away from this with a big grin on your face, but you will have plenty of food for thought. And perhaps a new-found appreciation for Kendrick.

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: The Power (2021)

Written and directed by Corinna Faith, The Power is a horror movie that perfectly mixes some strong scares and real emotional depth. It's not the first feature from Faith, who has a filmography stretching back about fifteen years or so, but it's certainly a film that should help mark her out for great things ahead, and one that has pushed me towards eventually checking out her past works.

Rose Williams plays Val, a young nurse who is thankful to be hired at a hospital in the area she grew up in (although she has no family in the area). The Matron (Diveen Henry) is a tough woman, so Val finds herself unable to refuse when asked to continue her shift through the night. That would be fine in a modern, bright, hospital. This is the 1970s, and a time when the miners strikes meant that power was switched off throughout Britain through the night. There's something in the darkness of the hospital, or maybe Val just has an over-active imagination. Maybe the biggest threat comes from the colleague who used to bully her in her childhood years. Or maybe there's a lot more hidden away inside the walls of this labyrinthine building.

I really liked The Power from the very beginning, with Williams giving a very sweet and awkward central performance. But I knew generally where it was heading. This isn't a film that will blindside many genre movie fans with the ending. The real pleasure, however, comes from the journey. There are some moments here that are astonishingly impressive, utilising superb work from Faith, fantastically creep sound design, and a physical performance from Williams that should also see her earmarked for more great work in the near future.

There's also the fact that, from the very beginning, we know that The Power refers to a number of different interpretations. A presence that may be in the hospital, the power between employer and employees, the power between people when one of them knows something about the other person that they want to keep in their past, and the urge to feel power that fuels abusers. The first half of this film may have the expected creaking doors and eerie moments, but it gets more tense and dread-filled in scenes showing Val having to work with Babs (Emma Rigby), a young woman who knows that she didn't treat Val that well when they were children. Bringing Neville (Theo Barklem-Biggs) into the mix, the man who has all the keys and does maintenance throughout the building, adds even more tension.

As well as everyone already mentioned, Nuala McGowan and Gbemisola Ikumelo both do great work as two other nurses working on the nightshift, Charlie Carrick is Doctor Franklyn, a friendly face who inadvertently gets Val into some trouble, and Shakira Rahman is a young patient named Saba, scared of something that she doesn't communicate directly to others, but finding some comfort in the company of Val.

There are some problems with the pacing, and the more obvious and predictable moments that feel as if they've been ripped straight from almost any glossy, supernatural-tinged, thriller from the start of the 2000s, but the journey you get to go on with the lead character makes everything more than worthwhile, and the very last scene shows how the nightmarish darkness can also be a dreamy escape. Many will roll their eyes at some of the plotting, but I highly recommend it nonetheless.

8/10

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