Together (2025)

This debut feature of writer-director Michael Shanks is a decent concept that unfortunately doesn't go in any of the really interesting directions it could. It benefits from real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie in the lead roles, but the 102-minute runtime should have allowed for something more focused and interesting.

Tim (Franco) and Millie (Brie) seem to be in a bit of a stale place in their relationship, which means things get a bit strained when they move to the country. Millie has a teaching job lined up, but Tim has no such vocation. He tries to make music, but gigging with friends will be a bit trickier when he needs to rely on Millie for a lift to the train station. After a wander in the countryside around their home, Tim and Millie end up drinking some water from a pool that starts bringing about a strange transformation in them. They cannot be separate from one another for too long, and their bodies want to intertwine and fuse together.

Things start well here, presenting us with a couple of people who are denying the fact that they seem to have moved far away from the closeness they may once have had. There are also moments that impress when it comes to the body horror of the central concept. Ironically, Shanks doesn't weave the elements together well enough, especially when it comes to a finale that is as neutered as it is unsatisfying. There was so much more that could have been done here, even adding a third party to the central problem would have massively improved things, but it seems that I am in the minority for considering this a bit of a disappointment.

It's not actually bad, and both Brie and Franco deserve kudos for committing to the idea and the physicality of their performances, but it's simply not great, despite going to some places you wouldn't expect for something with these leads. It's not just a two-hander though, no pun intended, and Damon Herriman is very good in his supporting role. Mia Morrissey also appears for a couple of scenes, although the most impressive secondary characters are hidden away under some very impressive makeup.

Shanks does fine with his direction. It's unfortunate that the film feels stuck in some kind of limbo, for the most part. Interesting insights are hinted at, but then nothing is pursued. There isn't enough real horror, but the effects and shocks are effective when they happen. I've seen high praise for it from many other film fans though, which makes me think that it's been pitched just right to open it up to a wider audience than it otherwise would have reached. I wish there'd been a bit more depth to it, and I doubt I'll ever be in a mood to rewatch it, so I'll be interested to see how it's viewed when a bit more time has passed.

6/10

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Better Man (2024)

I was as bemused as everyone else when I heard that we were getting a Robbie Williams biopic, doubly so when it was revealed that Robbie himself would be presented in the form of a monkey. It’s no surprise to see how poorly this performed outside the UK, certainly not now I am aware of how relatively unknown the central figure is outwith the UK, but it is a pleasant surprise to find out that a) this is really good, and b) the whole gimmick really works in service of how the story is told.

The film has input from Robbie Williams himself, but also boasts a fine vocal performance from Jonno Davies (who, for the most part, gives us a singing monkey perfectly in line with how Robbie sounded in his heyday). We see most of his life, from his early days living with his gran (Alison Steadman) and being taught a dangerous lesson about the “gift” of celebrity by his father (Steve Pemberton) to his time in Take That, a time when he achieved huge fame at a very young age, to that difficult journey of re-establishing himself as a solo performer. And all through this rollercoaster, Robbie finds himself coping with a mix of excessive alcohol and numbing drug use. 

Directed by Michael Gracey (helmer of the very successful The Greatest Showman), who also co-wrote the screenplay with Oliver Cole and Simon Gleeson, based on the tale as told by Williams, this is an enjoyably wild and turbulent ride through the funhouse that is celebrity life. Viewers get to see the poisoned chalice handed to Williams, arguably tainted by his own father shaping his need for constant attention and validation, and the many familiar moments, for those who have followed even some of Williams’ career, are balanced with scenes of depth and darkness that were hidden away from the public eye while the singer was seriously spiraling. He has since been very open and honest about his lowest lows, but it is still shocking to see them displayed onscreen, even (especially?) with the main character being depicted in simian form.

The effects department do fantastic work, and that “casting” makes it easier for moments in which our lead glimpses various past incarnations of himself, but it’s still worth praising both Williams and Davies for their vocal turns. Steadman and Pemberton are also deserving of equal praise, playing the people who end up casting huge shadows over the life of Robbie. Where the film stumbles is in some of the other casting. I somehow didn’t mind the casting of Take That, or manager Nigel Martin Smith, perhaps because I could more easily accept them as one organic mass, but I was taken out of the movie slightly when a few scenes featured the likes of Nicole Appleton and the Gallagher brothers (the latter portrayed by actors who seem to be doing poor impressions rather than proper portrayals, although that is probably just down to the Gallagher brothers being just as constantly laughable as they have always appeared to me).

What really disappoints is the lack of impressive musical numbers though. Some of the expected Robbie hits do make an appearance, and they are suitably rearranged to match the visuals they are accompanying, but there are only one or two sequences that come close to fully realising the potential of the material. Rock DJ ends up being a highlight that is never matched, but there are some unexpectedly beautiful and moving moments soundtracked by ballads that could have easily been eye-rollingly cheesy. 

I would risk saying that, whether you are familiar with the main character or not, this is worth a watch. Fans, both past and present, will get a bit more out of it, but it does enough cinematically to make it interesting enough for those who might even just assume it is pure fiction. It’s kind of like those dark (and forgotten?) David Essex movies from the 1970s. But with a monkey.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: The Nightingale (2018)

While it's not a hill that I am willing to die on, or even willing to risk any minor injury on, it's worth noting that I wasn't as big a fan of The Babadook as so many other people. I also wasn't really taken with Jennifer Kent's episode in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities series. So, despite hearing some good things about this a few years ago, I was in no rush to watch The Nightingale, a 136-minute grim tale of abuse and revenge. I'm glad I got around to it at last though, it's easily the best thing that Kent has done so far (although you may find that I am the only person to hold that opinion just now).

Aisling Franciosi plays Clare Carroll, an Irish convict who is working as a servant for some British forces serving in Tasmania in the early part of the nineteenth century. With the promise of freedom being held over their heads, Clare and her husband, Aidan, are kept in check by soldiers who think they can pretty much do what they want without any fear of repercussions. They go too far though, way too far, but think it won't matter when they are just about to set off on a lengthy journey through the dangerous Tasmanian wilderness. That leads to Clare enlisting an Aboriginal tracker, Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), to help her find the soldiers she is determined to make pay for their horrific crimes.

With Kent once again assuming both the directing and writing duties, this is another film that allows her to accept all of the praise or criticism headed her way. It's praise from me, although I can imagine a few people being put off by some of the content here, and I'm so impressed by this film that I'll now be quicker to check out whatever she does next. There were a few moments here that had me slack-jawed with astonishment, but even the many scenes without any shocks or bloodshed were livened up by a look at class divides, colonialism, and the mistreatment and mislabelling of people simply due to the colour of their skin.

Franciosi has been doing very good work for some time now, even if there's nothing yet to declare as a breakout role, and this is one of her best performances. She's very believable and sympathetic, whether being emotionally devastated by the actions of men overpowering her or trying to dig deep within herself to find the conviction to exact her revenge when faced with the reality of what that entails. Ganambarr is also great, portraying someone who sees in Clare a strength and rage that he knows should be shared by himself, and many others like him. He helps to carry Clare along when she stumbles, but she in turn helps to strengthen his own resolve when he considers some extreme action. Sam Claflin may be a bit hammy in the main villain role, but he's entertainingly loathsome and someone you want to see get their comeuppance in the most protractedly painful way possible, and the same goes for Damon Herriman and Harry Greenwood.

The cinematography from Radek Ladczuk helps beautify some real ugliness, there's a fantastic selection of music from Jed Kurzel (who seems to enjoy working with Kent as much as he enjoys working with his brother, Justin, in between his other jobs), and the tone is balanced in a way that allows viewers to endure both the misery and the sense of jubilation that the main characters experience on their journey through some very dark territory. It could have been a bit shorter, agreed, and there could have been a different way to portray the villains without them being so ready to twirl their moustaches, figuratively speaking, and leer in an over the top style, but neither of those things made me dislike the film. I almost rated it even higher, but the fact that I would be hesitant to rush to a rewatch made me consider dialling my enthusiasm down just a bit.

8/10

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