Prime Time: The Green Knight (2021)

A green knight confidently strides into the court of a king. He puts forth a challenge. Someone needs to face him in combat. But whatever injuries they cause will be returned to them in exactly one year. Step forward Gawain (Dev Patel). The fight is over when Gawain beheads the green knight. No need to wait a year for a return injury if your opponent is dead, obviously. Except there is no death here. Reattaching his head, the green knight reminds his opponent of the terms of their duel, and leaves. The clock is ticking.

Written and directed by David Lowery, taking inspiration from a 14th-century poem entitled “Sir Gawain And The Green Knight”, The Green Knight is a fantastical drama that benefits from sterling central performances and gorgeous cinematography throughout (from Andrew Droz Palermo, who collaborated with Lowry on A Ghost Story). It is loaded and layered with intriguing imagery, in line with both the tone of the film and the main themes, but manages to be both dense and accessible.

Also, and I feel this is important to note here, The Green Knight is cinematic and entertaining for the entire runtime. I say that because I wasn’t sure if it would be, which is why I didn’t get to it sooner. I expected/hoped to enjoy this, but I assumed it would be a film that I would need to then spend more time digging into and contextualising. While there is a bit of “further reading” you can seek out, Lowery puts everything in the film that you need, with every well-considered detail available to piece together into a number of fascinating character studies.

Patel is brilliant in the lead role, happy to show his character in a poor light as he wrestles with situations that allow him to either realise his full potential or find an easier, less courageous, way out. Alicia Vikander plays two roles here, both equally important in different ways, and she is just as good as Patel. And disguised as The Green Knight himself is Ralph Ineson, putting his memorable timbre to great use. There are also enjoyable supporting turns from Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan, Joel Edgerton, and Sarita Choudhury, all playing a crucial part in Gawain’s journey. There’s also a gorgeous bit of VFX work that allows Patel to share the screen with a helpful fox for a number of scenes.

Alternating between moments that are intimate and moments that are epic, this is a film that has clearly been made with a great deal of love and care, and it shows. It could have ended up in any number of final incarnations, but I am glad we got this version. Cinematic, thoughtful, and one that will reward rewatches as much as it rewards patience. Having taken inspiration from a poem, it translates the material into cinematic poetry, to hopefully be appreciated and enthusiastically examined by film fans for many years to come.

9/10

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

Matriarch (2022)

If people know me at all, either from my reviews or from conversations we have had, then they will know that I have always pushed back against the dangerous mottos that push family ahead of everything else. Blood may be thicker than water, but both substances can be so toxic that they cause you physical harm. “You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family” is just complete nonsense. You can decide who you want to keep close to you, and you can make a family unit from good friends. Arguably worse than all of this stuff, and arguably even more harmful, are all of the little sayings, and Disneyfied brainwashings, that place every mother on a pedestal. Whether it is “mother knows best” or “others can come and go, but your mum is always your mum”, I heartily disagree. Being the son of an abusive alcoholic will colour your views on these things.

Matriarch is a dark, but not entirely unfunny, horror movie from writer-director Ben Steiner, making his feature debut, and it asks viewers to accept an increasingly ridiculous premise that actually works really well in showing how people will put up with a lot of abuse and (micro)aggression over the years just because they have been acclimatized to it by a family unit that has decided upon the overall environment for their upbringing.

Jemima Rooper plays Laura, a young woman hurtling off the rails so quickly, and so seriously, that she ends up heading to the last place she ever thought she would return to. Her family home. Reuniting with her mother, Celia (Kate Dickie), Laura soon starts to suspect that she has made a big mistake. Old wounds are still very easily re-opened, things feel very much like as if they haven’t changed much, and her mother looks a LOT younger than they should. What is going on? Is there something strange happening, or has Laura misremembered major portions of her childhood, perhaps replacing imagery in her drink/drug-addled brain that she is now struggling to correct?

A film that would make a very interesting companion piece to Men, I keep joking that this could have easily been titled #notallmums, Matriarch is a challenging and bravura piece of work. Partly a cold psychological horror, partly a Cronenbergian journey through a womb of darkness, Stein crafts everything nicely in service to a final act that brings everything together beautifully, but will also be far too “out there” for some viewers. He also gets a bonus point for giving the lead character one of the best last lines I can think of from the past decade or two.

Rooper and Dickie are both superb in their roles, although they are playing their characters in a way that amplifies their strain and strangeness, like the fish having a mad turn in an aquarium without considering the humans watching it, spectators who are unable to comprehend whatever is motivating the temporary madness. Sarah Paul and Franc Ashman also do well, and there are other supporting cast members do very good work, but the heart of the film is, obviously, the mother-daughter relationship (lack of relationship?). Rooper and Dickie not only do well in their individual scenes, but excel in scenes that show them “locking horns” and easily finding the weak spots to attack every time tempers start to rise.

Not a film to recommend to people who like their horror to be safer, and to feel more comfortingly familiar, Matriarch is a dark and fantastical way to look at a very real, sadly all-too-common, problem for many. I encourage people to give it a go, but it will certainly prove divisive. If you like it then you can try explaining it to others. If you dislike it then, well, mum’s the word.

8/10

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

Mubi Monday: Prevenge (2016)

Sickeningly talented Alice Lowe serves as writer, director, and star in this violent horror comedy that's about pregnancy, responsibility, and revenge. But mainly pregnancy. 

Lowe is Ruth, a heavily pregnant woman who has recently lost her partner. The details of her partner's death are unclear, although it's implied that there was an incident involving a number of other people on some climbing trip. And those other people must die. Because baby says so. Which means, in between dealing with a midwife she cannot be bothered making small talk with (played by Jo Hartley), Ruth heads out and about to kill the people seen as responsible for her widowed state. Some of them don't seem like bad people (e.g. an instructor named Tom, played by Kayvan Novak). Some of them do (e.g. the horrible DJ Dan, played by Tom Davis). But should any of them be blamed for what could have been a tragic accident? 

Lowe is on great form here, and she never really disappoints. Deciding to make your feature directorial debut is one thing, doing it while heavily pregnant is another. Somehow managing to maintain the energy levels required for a very (impressively) quick film shoot, she takes all of the various emotions that can accompany any pregnancy and layers them with both horror and comedy trimmings. This isn't a pregnant woman who smiles as she is complemented on her glow, it's a woman gritting her teeth as she builds up a cloud of rage on her way to committing murder, while also trying not to wet herself or spontaneously lactate.

The simple shooting style might be in line with what you'd expect from a quick, and relatively cheap, little black comedy, but there's a lot here that marks Lowe out as equally talented behind the camera. The sharp script seems almost a given, but her shot choices and editing (with cinematography by Ryan Eddleston and editing by Matteo Bini) show someone not willing to remain confined in what we might consider the standard "Brit-flick" look. There's also a very enjoyable score accompanying the visuals.

The actors already mentioned do great work, but there are also fantastic turns from Kate Dickie, Mike Wozniak, Tom Meeten, and Gemma Whelan, although nobody given any screentime lets the side down. It's Lowe who is the star though, and with good reason. Not only does she deliver every wonderful line of dialogue so well, she really conveys the mental state of a woman who knows her mental state is broken, but is constantly trying to decide if she wants to fix it or just go with the flow. If Prevenge is basically a slasher movie (and it is . . . the template is used well, especially with the tragedy that motivates our killer) then Lowe allows Ruth to become one of the few slashers that you end up rooting for, most of the time.

With a great mix of laughs and nastiness, an intriguing central concept and execution reminiscent of early Cronenberg, and perfect performances from all involved, this proves to be well worth all of the hard labour involved. 

Yes, I ended with THAT pun.

8/10

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

Prime Time: Get Duked! (2019)

Get Duked! enjoyed a good festival run last year, if my memory serves me right, but I didn't catch it. It was then titled Boyz In The Wood (which I think is a better title) and I just didn't fit it into my schedule when it was a potential viewing choice back then. I'm glad I finally got to it now though.

Rian Gordon, Lewis Gribben, and Viraj Juneja are, respectively, Dean, Duncan, and legend-in-his-own-lunchtime DJ Beatroot. They're all in a bit of trouble, which leads to them being signed up to the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. They'll be dropped into an area of Scottish countryside and left to make their own way to a pre-determined point, with a number of factors being rated during their experience. One of those factors is teamwork, which looks a lot less likely when they're joined by Ian (Samuel Bottomley), an eager young man who actually volunteered for the scheme. In fact, getting to their destination at all starts to look very unlikely when the teens start to be hunted by a gun-toting "duke" (Eddie Izzard) and his wife (Georgie Glen).

Written and directed by Ninian Doff, Get Duked! is a fantastic feature debut from someone I'll now be eager to see more from. Doff has built up a decent selection of music videos in his filmography, having worked with the likes of The Chemical Brothers, Kasabian, Miike Snow, and Run The Jewels, and he delivers a film that crackles with energy, genuinely great humour, a smattering of hip-hop, and class warfare.

Funnily enough, as light and disposable as the film may seem, in some ways, it's that last element that separates this from many other riffs on The Most Dangerous Game. The people doing the hunting here are the ones we have seen in the news more and more lately, usually for all the wrong reasons. People that have everything they want, take whatever else they fancy, and don't think the rules apply to them. They're not breaking the law. They're helping to maintain a natural order.

The script is sharp and witty (there's a monologue here from a scene-stealing Alice Lowe, talking about a bread thief, that is one of the funniest things I have enjoyed in years), the soundtrack is very enjoyable, and the very end scenes bring everything together in a way that is both ridiculous and yet also absolutely satisfying, and bound to make you smile.

It also helps that every single cast member is doing top work. The young leads are about as perfect as you could want them to be. Gordon and Gribben are very standard . . . idiots (certainly in how quick they are to just try whatever idea first comes into their heads), Juneja keeps having an opinion of himself that doesn't seem in line with his rapping abilities, until he discovers an unlikely fan base, and Bottomley is the kind of young man you just know has a favourite Thermos flask. Izzard and Glen are suitably menacing as they stalk their prey, more so in the way they really don't seem to try and hide their homicidal intent, and Jonathan Aris is the teacher responsible for dropping the teens off and leaving them to their own devices. You also get some Highland police officers (the two main ones played by Kate Dickie and Kevin Guthrie), their quest for the aforementioned bread thief nicely juxtaposed with a more dangerous potential threat, and a farmer (James Cosmo) who ends up being gifted a DJ Beatroot CD. Cosmo has given many great performances over the years, but the sight/sound of him driving his tractor while singing along to some juvenile penis-centric lines of rap should be high on any list of favourite Cosmo moments.

This would double-bill nicely with Attack The Block if you want to see both urban and rural adventures of youths being hunted by dangerous predators. I'd argue that the enemy here is much more dangerous than any alien entity. And I'd also argue that this is the better of the two films, but there's not much in it, and let's revel in the fact that the past decade gave us both.

9/10

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 

Outcast (2010)

Note: This review is here after being written originally for placement on Flickfeast.co.uk.

The perfect film to point people toward if they’re claiming that the 21st century horror movie has no originality any more. Yes, there are plenty of great influences and references here (from Night Of The Demon and The Devil Rides Out to An American Werewolf In London) but this UK horror blends them all together with a style and intelligence amidst some material not often utilised within the genre, at least in the movie world.

Fergal (Niall Bruton) and his mother (Kate Dickie) are being hunted (for reasons that we learn about as the movie unfolds) and so, when they have settled down in their latest residence in an Edinburgh housing estate, they begin to prepare for the final stand that is inevitably coming. Well, Fergal’s mother prepares while the lad himself struggles to cope with the normal social awkwardness of the late teens amplified by his travelling lifestyle. James Nesbitt (in a fantastic performance that makes me think he really should do more work showing off his darker side) is the one doing the hunting, accompanied by someone trying to keep him within the rules and limits ordained by the elder, wise ones. To complicate matters further, Fergal finds himself attracted to the girl next door, Petronella (a wonderful turn from Hannah Stanbridge), despite warnings from his mother hinting at a bad outcome for all involved. And did I mention the monster attacking people at night?

The best thing about Outcast, for me, is how it takes things that really could have been mishandled and made into something laughable and depicts them as powerful, traditional methods used by people who believe in what they’re doing absolutely. I don’t know how much shown onscreen is based in fact and researched lore but it certainly feels authentic and while you’re watching people use magic here (e.g. at one point the hunter tries to locate his prey by calling a bird and slicing it open with a knife to read the entrails) you never start thinking that everyone should just bugger off to Hogwarts and leave the screen free to be full of standard, knife-wielding “muggles”.

The cast is a good mix of the youthful and the elderly and experienced (basically mirroring their characters) and this is another bonus for the film: solid acting from people portraying characters you invest in. Kate Dickie (who I recognise most from her being brilliant in Red Road, see it if you can) may not have your sympathies at the beginning of the movie, and doesn’t always keep you onside throughout, but her character reveals details that explain her actions and gain your support, to a degree. Alongside those mentioned we also get small turns from the great James Cosmo and even a small amount of screentime for Karen Gillan (best known to fans of Dr. Who as one of his many assistants).

Effects throughout, achieved through both practical make up and some decent camera trickery, are of a very high standard and the design of the creature I mentioned is excellent, especially considering the relatively low budget.

Speaking of money, does it all seem a bit cheap? Not at all. Yes, there are moments set in the city centre that are a little hastily cut and closely cropped but the majority of the movie manages to excel despite its limitations. Director Colm McCarthy and his brother Tom, who helped craft the screenplay, deserve some high praise indeed because putting aside some minor editing and synching awkwardness, this is an object lesson in how a smart, cool, intelligent indie horror should be made.

6/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews