Mubi Monday: Sorry, Baby (2025)

If you're going to tackle the kind of subject matter tackled in Sorry, Baby then you need to be confident in your abilities. There's a delicate touch required to create something that ends up being smart, a bit funny, and often tinged with deep sadness. Writer-director-star Eva Victor has that delicate touch, leading to Sorry, Baby being one of the most well-crafted and brilliant feature debuts I have seen in years.

Victor plays Agnes, a young woman who seems to be most content when able to spend time with her friend, Lydie (Naomi Ackie). It soon becomes clear that something happened in the recent past to strengthen their bond even further, but what exactly that is won't be revealed until later in the movie. Lydie is in new and scary territory, in love with someone and pregnant via a sperm donor, but Agnes has now been made fearful of environments that she has been familiar with for years. And it's not fucking fair, not in the slightest.

Given how great her performance is here, and her mannerisms, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Victor is actually the result of some mad scientist's attempt to clone Julianne Moore. That's a bit flippant, I know, but I mean it as a major compliment. Victor has that same ability to move between serious and more light-hearted moments with equal ease, and a relatively calm exterior that has the potential to crack and explode any minute. She's helped here by co-starring with the brilliant Ackie, and there are superb supporting turns from Kelly McCormack (being hilariously paranoid and always comparing herself to others), Lucas Hedges (a neighbour who may also be a potential partner), Louis Cancelmi, E. R. Fightmaster, and John Carroll Lynch.

You might already know what Sorry, Baby is really about, but I'm not going into any more detail here. The construction of the screenplay sandwiches the main event between scenes that show how Agnes struggles to deal with her new way of viewing the world, and whether or not she wants to spend much time outside of her own home. One scene in particular, showing Agnes almost processing part of her pain and thinking out loud when questioned during consideration for jury duty, is a masterful distillation of the trauma, scars, and repercussions stemming from one crime that has her still, somehow, giving equal consideration to how it will affect others around her.

Sometimes it's important to dive into more aspects of a film, especially when trying to convey to others just how good it is. Sometimes it's important to recognise that the film itself is just part of an ongoing conversation that needs to keep happening until our society undergoes a seismic shift in attitudes and morality. And there are times during that conversation when you should shut up and listen. Watching Sorry, Baby feels like a time for many to shut up and listen. And I would be doing it a disservice if I spent any more time here waffling on about my own reaction to it. 

Seek it out immediately. You'll be glad that you 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
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share 

Netflix And Chill: The Thursday Murder Club (2025)

Okay, let me state this very clearly from the beginning, books and movies are very different things. You have to accept that they just cannot deliver the same experience. Liberties need to be taken when it comes to adapting something from the page to the screen. Having said that, I believe I made a mistake in rushing to read The Thursday Murder Club, a very successful murder mystery novel that started the lucrative fiction writer phase of Richard Osman's long and healthy career in the world of media and entertainment.

Let's get to the film anyway, and what it gets right. The Thursday Murder Club is set in a fairly luxurious retirement home, in which a few residents work together to see if they can find solutions to various cold cases. The club used to include an ex-PC named Penny (Susan Kirkby), but she is currently barely hanging on to life in the hospice wing. The main members are now Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), Ron (Pierce Brosnan), Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley), and, relative newcomer, Joyce (Celia Imrie). Each brings their own set of skills to the group, but Elizabeth appears to be the one with a past that has her most prepared for anything that can be thrown at them. And what ends up thrown at them is a new murder, a lot of suspects who seem very bleeding obvious, and ties between the past and present that recontextualize friendships and relationships. Oh, and then there's another murder.

Turned into screenplay form by Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote, The Thursday Murder Club would seem to be a hard film to get wrong. Chris Columbus is in the director's chair. The cast includes the four leads just mentioned, as well as Naomi Ackie and Daniel Mays as a couple of investigating officers, Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Tom Ellis as younger men who find themselves entangled in the creeping spiderwebs that the murder creates, and Jonathan Pryce, David Tennant, Geoff Bell, Paul Freeman, Ruth Sheen, and Richard E. Grant. It's a real pick 'n' mix of delightful performances.

So why does it feel like such a slog?

The dialogue generally works well, helped by the fact that it's being delivered by people who feel almost perfect in their roles (let's just not mention the accent that Brosnan uses), but the mystery feels half-baked and hard to care about. Having said this, I wonder if I feel that way because I just read the book. While I still stand by my opening statement, there are choices here that feel very odd, including a detail revealed in the very opening scenes that is actually held back in the book until a finale that shows all of the pieces finally falling into place. I can understand some things being omitted, one other plot strand would have required the runtime to have at least 5-10 minutes add on to what already pushes up close to the 2-hour mark, but that just makes it a bizarre experience for those who know the material well enough to know that certain characters and moments are only being hinted at while never being given the time and attention that they deserve.

Both the direction and writing feel trapped by a prison of their own design. They're either too beholden to the book, or they make strange decisions to veer away from elements that could have made the film a much more rewarding experience, for both readers and non-readers alike. And, as much as I complain about it as a new standard, would anyone be bothered if the runtime had been just over, instead of just under, two hours? Those ten extra minutes could have given us a very brief overview of two whole other lives, and those whole other lives feed into the main themes of aging, regret, and the repercussions of different choices made at crucial junctures.

Still, it's easy enough to forget the many mistakes and mis-steps made here when any scene revolves around Imrie having a twinkle in her eye and Mirren having a glint in hers. The cosy and easygoing feel of the whole thing will certainly appeal to those after something that feels like the movie equivalent of a comfortable pair of slippers. I just wish we'd been given nicer slippers. Slippers that stay warm and comfortable for the duration. Not the cheap kind that fall apart after one month of regular use. 

5/10

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 

Prime Time: Lady Macbeth (2016)

Okay, first thing's first, in the interest of clarity and transparency, I rewatched another film last night that I was going to review today for the standard Prime Time slot. And then I found that I had already written a full review for it. I thought it was one I was due to rewatch, but that turned out not to be the case. So I had to regroup. This morning. Now. Lady Macbeth is available as a free choice on Prime IF you are able to grab a 7-day free trial for the BFI Player. I wouldn't usually make it an option for this particular review slot, but desperate times require desperate measures. Normal service should resume shortly.

Everyone knows that Florence Pugh is a star nowadays, and many people will have realised that from quite early on in her career, but I remember the first time I was impressed by her versatility and presence. I had seen three films in the spaces of a few weeks, all featuring her in a main role, and I could have easily been watching three different actresses. Those films were Midsommar, Fighting With My Family, and this one, Lady Macbeth.

Pugh plays Katherine Lester here, a woman who we see trapped in a loveless marriage. There's a decent estate, but that's all. Things look due to improve slightly, however, when Katherine's husband (Alexander, played by Paul Hilton) and her father-in-law (Boris, played by Christopher Fairbank) head off for a while. That allows Katherine to enjoy some freedom, which also allows her to enjoy some carnal pleasure with one of the workers, Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis). Secret trysts don't always stay secret for long though, and the stage is set for some treachery, murder, and some souls to be forever stained with blood.

Based on a book by Nikolai Leskov, adapted into feature film form by Alice Birch, who made a hell of a debut here and has then gone from strength to strength throughout the last decade, Lady Macbeth is also the first feature from director William Oldroyd. It seems to have been a perfect convergence of emerging talent, allowing the central trio of director, writer, and star to create something phenomenal without any weight of expectation. It's a slow and quiet film, with many shots composed to create visuals that wouldn't look out of place in a portrait gallery, but it's also constantly enthralling as it builds intensity on the way to what everyone expects to be a dark and downbeat final act.

Pugh is perfect in her role, moving deftly from oppressed to oppressor with grace and a mounting strength. It would be easy for her performance to overshadow the others, but praise is also due to Jarvis, Hilton, Fairbank, Naomi Ackie (playing another staff member, Anna), Golda Rosheuvel, and Anton Palmer for working so well with the material that they still feel as if they matter, even when it becomes clear that those around our leading lady are there to be manipulated and dealt with by our leading lady.

While there are few susprises in the material, it's certainly laid out for you in the title of the film, the treats come from how it is all presented. There's a nice balance of dirt and polish, helped by Ari Wegner's cinematography, as well as the entire team behind the camera. The wonderfully ominous music from Dan Jones also helps, underpinning what basically feels like a fresh spin on a very familiar tale with a darkness that resonates through even the very occasional moments of light and fresh air.

Those who may have been put off by the title, perhaps thinking it would be something too beholden to the language of Shakespeare, should shrug off that wariness. This is a stunning modern classic that is well worth your time.

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 

Blink Twice (2024)

Some may roll their eyes at Blink Twice starting with a pretty serious trigger warning, but I don't have a problem with it. The subject matter here is something that needs to be carefully navigated, and if any film warrants a trigger warning at the start of it then it's this one.

Naomi Ackie plays Frida, a young woman who cannot believe her luck when she and a friend (Jess, played by Alia Shawkat) end up blagging themselves into the exclusive company of super-rich Slater (Channing Tatum) and his friends. When I say super-rich, I mean that he has the kind of money that allows him to have his own private island, and that is where everyone goes. It's a remote paradise, with everyone enjoying plenty of food, drink, and a variety of illicit substances. But Frida starts to worry when she realises that she has lost track of time, and she has no idea when, or how, she will get home.

This is an impressively bold feature directorial debut from Zoë Kravitz, who also co-wrote the film with E. T. Feigenbaum, but I have already had conversations with people who really disliked what she ended up delivering. I think, personally, that there's an important balance here between things we know to align very closely to real people and events and things that work as a bit of cinematic wish-fulfilment. If you've been reading some of the dark and depressing news headlines of the past decade then you will know who is being (not so) loosely represented onscreen, and the whole film serves as a reminder that justice still needs to be served, as well as being a conversation-starter about the behaviour, entitlement, and different perceptions of abusers and victims.

Although it feels best to start with the female cast members here, for obvious reasons, I am going to praise Tatum for his willingness to take on a role that paints him in such a bad light. He's still charming enough for most of the runtime, which helps a lot in showing the women being seduced by the combination of the setting and the company. Alongside Tatum, making up his inner circle, are Christian Slater, Haley Joel Osment, Simon Rex, and Levon Hawke, and they all do well as fellow party-goers who spend a lot of their time making sure that everyone else remains smiling and blissfully ignorant of any dark undercurrent. Geena Davis also deserves to be highlighted, with her character easily as important as either of our leads, in terms of her part in the proceedings and how she creates another big part of the post-film conversation. Ackie is the real star though, and a great lead to stick close to. She's absolutely brilliant, and the script allows her to enjoy herself for a long time before cracks start to show in the idyllic environment around her, but it helps that she's supported by Shawkat, as great as usual with her portrayal of the ride or die bestie that every woman wants in her life. Adria Arjona also does great work, and actually gets some of the best development of any of the characters, and both Liz Caribel and Trew Mullen do well to avoid getting lost in the busy mix as the party slides towards a close. 

The more carefree moments are soundtracked by the kind of tracks that go with that cool party vibe, but there's also a superb score from Chanda Dancy running throughout the whole thing, and Adam Newport-Berra keeps the visuals light and vibrant until that glow of contentment starts to disappear. I thought this worked on a couple of different levels, and Kravitz has surrounded herself with people who are able to help her walk a very tricky tightrope (including editor Kathryn J. Schubert, and all of those responsible for the whole look and feel of the luxurious playground where we spend most of our time). I know that others disagree, but that disagreement is almost as valuable as agreement with something like this. It's all about the conversation, and keeping that conversation going is one way to stop people from forgetting how these horrors keep being perpetuated.

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, 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