Adventures Of A Private Eye (1977)

The second film in the trilogy of "Adventures" movies, Adventures Of A Private Eye is less overtly cringe-inducing than the film before it, yet also feels less entertaining at the same time.

Christopher Neil takes the lead this time, playing Bob West, a young man who works for a private detective (Judd Blake, played by Jon Pertwee). When his boss goes on holiday, Bob decides to pretend he is the main man, taking on a case involving a beautiful woman named Laura (Suzy Kendall), an inheritance, some blackmail, and even murder.

Once again directed by Stanley A. Long, with a script this time from Michael Armstrong, Adventures Of A Private Eye is what you might call perfunctory, at best. Although following the template of the previous film, in a way (the main narrative is interspersed with a number of comedic "sketch" moments), this feels altogether more fragmented and messier. The film is better than the one preceding it, in some ways, and yet worse, because of it just being surprisingly dull.

You do get, as expected, some nudity and random sexual encounters, but the focus here is more on Bob trying, and often failing, to make himself appear like a skilled and smart detective. Which would all be well and good if the case at the heart of things was in any way interesting. Look, I'm not daft (well . . . not all the time). I know what the film is aiming for. But when the plot ends up being built around a mystery element then that element should be strong enough to make up for the times when those seeking titillation and giggles are not getting either of those things.

Neil isn't too bad in the main role, he tries hard to be charming enough to everyone around him while also hoping to cover up his incompetence. Kendall is as lovely as ever, although her performance is quite flat for most of the runtime, and it would have been interesting to make her a more intriguing character with the potential to be a lot less innocent than she appears. The rest of the cast is a great mix of familiar faces from this time, from the charismatic Pertwee to Harry H. Corbett, from Adrienne Posta (returning to the series in a completely different role) and Angela Scoular (same as Posta) to Anna Quayle, Irene Handl, Liz Fraser, and the wonderful Willie Rushton (who gets far too little time onscreen).

After weighing up the good and the bad, I have ended up rating this just below Adventures Of A Taxi Driver. Although it may seem unlikely, this feels more clumsy in how it is plotted and put together. It will kill an hour and a half, it's another film of interest to anyone who enjoys digging in to explore the variety of British cinema releases over the year, but it's an oddly childish tale without any truly satisfying set-pieces.

3/10

Prime Time: Adventures Of A Taxi Driver (1976)

You know what it's like, don't cha. You want to have a great life, get a bit of cash in your pocket, get a nice little bird to have some fun with every now and again, and generally live a bleedin' charmed life without any worries. But you are living at your mum's gaff, you have an on-off girlfriend who wants something serious, while you're just keeping her as an option in between pursuing others, and most of your taxi fares end with you owing money because you got your head turned by some nice piece of skirt.

No, I've not regressed. The paragraph above sums up the outlook of the main character in Adventures Of A Taxi Driver, a very successful British sex comedy from the 1970s that came along after the popular "Confessions Of..." series and the much more enjoyable Eskimo Nell (if you ever explore these movies then that is one I recommend you make a top priority).

Barry Evans plays the main character, you won't be surprised to learn that he is a taxi driver, Joe, in a film that also has room for Robert Lindsay, Judy Geeson, Diana Dors, and one or two special cameo appearances. The opening minutes, with an amusingly sarcastic litany of praise for the good ol' British cabbie, bodes well for what you might get from the rest of the film, but things quickly go from bad to worse as viewers are left in the care of a cheeky chappie supposedly able to charm the ladies. He seems more like either a predator or a spoiled child for most of the runtime, and everything becomes even more tiresome when you get a final act that puts the main character in the middle of a robbery that allows him to be the best of a bad bunch (I suppose).

Very much a product of its time, this doesn't hold up well at all. Director Stanley A. Long, who also came up with the idea that was turned into a screenplay by Suzanne Mercer, a frequent collaborator, puts everything together like a late-night comedy sketch show with licence to show some gratuitous nudity. You get the married woman who is interrupted by her oblivious husband while she tries to enjoy the company of the cabbie, you get one young woman who seems suicidal until she starts responding to the warmth of Joe (yes, it is as horribly uncomfortable as it sounds), and you get the obviously hilarious moment in which Joe doesn't realise his latest passenger is a female impersonator. There's nudity and a nun, a happy-go-lucky hooker who likes to treat her clients while being driven around in the cab, and more.

Evans is at least okay in the main role. It's not easy to make his character any more appealing, considering the script working against him, but he tries his best. Geeson is as lovely as ever, Lindsay is there to often be a sounding board, and Adrienne Posta is horribly mistreated as Carol, the woman who Joe thinks is getting far too clingy. On the plus side, she at least gets to sing the main title song (even if it's not a very good one).

I used to hate this. I remember rating it even lower the last time I saw it, and I have no idea why, or how, I watched it before. But now I can't help view it with a little more affection. The attitude on display is still horrendous, the comedy doesn't really work, but it's just as fascinating a a number of other British movies from this time, many of them trying to make a splash at the box office by translating saucy postcard humour into something a bit more daring for adults to enjoy at their local cinemas.

4/10

The print currently available on Amazon Prime (UK, not sure about other territories) is actually very good.

Assassination Nation (2018)

Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike the Scissor Sisters? It's not really them that I dislike, they had a couple of hits that were fun and annoyingly catchy, but the way they seemed to be viewed as the pinnacle of naughtiness and wit by middle-aged, middle-class people who viewed leaving their socks on during an unplanned quickie as the ultimate in sexual kinkiness. I know that's an unfair generalisation to make. I also know that I've met far too many people who would seem to be in that category.

I mention that now because Assassination Nation is a film I view as similarly mistaken for cool and edgy, when it is often just desperate and juvenile. It wants to be shocking, clearly, but it's a film that feels tame and out of date already.

Odessa Young is Lily Colson, a young woman living in Salem. She has a boyfriend (Bill Skarsgård), and is also having a lot of fun, to put it one way, with a married man she calls "daddy". Lily starts off as a relieved bystander when a hacker starts to reveal sensitive private information belonging to town residents, but it's not long until she, and most of her friends, becomes a target. Everyone has their secrets, some have more than others. And all of this dirty laundry being washed in public eventually leads to emboldened and angered men becoming abusive, and assholes thinking they should make everything right by punishing those they see as being most immoral and/or causing the situation.

The second feature to be both written and directed by Sam Levinson, Assassination Nation has a few good individual moments. It's just a shame that they are drowned out in the hyperactive mess that makes up the rest of the film. And one of those better moments basically plays out over the end credits. Levinson obviously wants to comment on our modern habits (all of that data that can be out there for every one of us, be it text messages or emails or photos, jumping to the wrong conclusion about something and not listening to reason if it doesn't suit our argument), but he undercuts everything by appearing to run through a checklist of trigger warnings that are provided at the very start of the film. You get a great sequence, for example, of a man trying to explain why pictures of his young daughter in the bath don't make him a pedophile, all while a large crowd is baying for his blood, but you also get a plot point about Lily being fed up with her boyfriend's refusal to go down on her. There's a guy secretly hooking up with someone who is transgender (in scenes that reminded me of Cruel Intentions), the constant threat of being targeted by seemingly-brilliant hackers (see a LOT of movies and TV shows from the past decade, not least of them being Mr. Robot), and an escalation of heated emotions as more and more secrets come out (in scenes that reminded me, oddly enough, of the third act of Needful Things). Assassination Nation is far from original. It's also just a bit silly, certainly by the time it is pushing things even further for the big finale.

Hey, I mistrust the general public, when being coerced into one mass sway of opinion, as much as the next person, but even I couldn't buy into just how quickly things went from 0 to 100 here. The film may be a heightened experience, with everything deliberately ramped up to dangerously excessive levels, but that doesn't make it work any better. I probably would have enjoyed this more as a live piece of theatre, something that really COULD have felt more intense and daring, depending on how uncomfortable the audience was made to feel. As a film, however, it starts to fall apart during the opening scenes.

Young is fine in the role of Colson, and she makes more of an impression than any of her co-stars (with the exception of Hari Nef, and kudos to Levinson for having an actual transgender actress playing someone transgender). Skarsgård adds another toxic male role to his list of them (he does them so well), Colman Domingo is superb in his role as the school principal, and Joel McHale tries, and fails, to overcome the silliness of the script with his performance.

It's made well enough, and the good amongst the bad makes it just about worth your time, but Assassination Nation totally drops the ball. I get what Levinson was aiming for, and there's an argument to be made for the style matching the content, but the most important points are too easily drowned out by the cacophony of irritating excess.

4/10

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Mubi Monday: Ema (2019)

Pablo Larraín is a director well worth seeking out, especially if you're only familiar with him because of the movie Jackie (which is good, but actually not up there with his best work). He has a habit of being able to take dark material and display it in a way that doesn't skirt around any central issues, but also manages to avoid seeming like a wallow in complete misery.

Ema is about a couple (Ema, played by Mariana Di Girolamo, and Gastón, played by Gael García Bernal) who find their relationship crumbling after they make the difficult decision to return the child that they adopted. They have to deal with the way other people now view them, as well as how their opinions of one another may have changed. Because, let's face it, what kind of person gives up and returns an adopted child?

As things start to develop, Ema and Gastón are shown to be struggling in figuring out their best way of moving forward. The former ends up leaning hard into a lifestyle of sexual freedom, encouraging Gastón to take a new partner, and you get the feeling that she processes the judgement of others by deciding not to care about what they think, eventually. There is, however, a point to her sexual journey, and it eventually becomes clear that Ema is trying to make things better, albeit in an odd way that is clear only to herself.

Larraín does a superb job, working from the script by Guillermo Calderón (who has worked with him before, over the past few years) and Alejandro Moreno, and he once again knows how to mix in some wonderful visuals, flawless central performances, and hints to the bigger picture without everything being revealed until the very last scenes.

Whether engaging in some energetic sex, some energetic dancing, or just looking disdainfully at others who are trying to make her feel ashamed, Di Girolamo is brilliant, and very watchable, in her role. She is the focus of almost every scene, and lifts the film with her presence. Bernal is as strong as ever in his main supporting role, especially in the scenes that show him releasing his barely-suppressed resentment.

Although it looks at the connection between adopted child and adopted parents, rather than biological family members, Ema feels as discomforting as We Need To Talk About Kevin in the way it explores a lack of automatic affection. It almost seems taboo, yet deserves the time and treatment given to it here. Despite the way in which things are worked out, the message of finding a way to reach a child, finding a way to bring people together and heal some fresh wounds, there's a surprisingly positive core buried beneath the anger, frustration, and lust.

8/10

Netflix And Chill: Fighting With My Family (2019)

I first saw Fighting With My Family in the same few weeks that I also saw both Lady Macbeth and Midsommar, and the first thing to note about the film is that Florence Pugh is a chameleonic star. Watch all of the movies mentioned here, as well as the excellent Little Women, and you could easily be convinced that her roles are being portrayed by multiple different actresses.

There are spoilers ahead, I guess, although this is all stuff that will probably already be known to someone familiar with the main character.

Tweaked and made into something more obviously entertaining and enjoyable, Fighting With My Family is, essentially, the tale of how a young girl with a wrestling family turned herself into Paige, a WWE superstar who made her way through the NXT development program and became the youngest champion when she won the Divas Championship at 21.

Written and directed by Stephen Merchant, this is your typical tale of an underdog making good, someone who has trained hard all their life, but not been trained in the way to make themselves into a more sellable product when the big chance comes along. It's about family, as the title suggests, it's about not losing sight of the end goal as you chase your dream, and it's a reminder that, for all of the acting and showmanship on display, wrestling is a tough gig that takes a massive toll on mind and body as people aim to make the most of their peak years in the business. Merchant does an excellent job, even if he's not taking any risks with the way executes the material, and he clearly conveys what he responded to in the documentary that gave inspired this fictionalised depiction of an inspiring and heart-warming life story. You're not here for big surprises, you're here to smile and enjoy the journey on the way to a familiar and comfortable final destination.

Mixing athleticism, insulting face offs not entirely unlike rap battles, and some glitz and glamour, Paige is shown to be unprepared for everything else that goes along with the wrestling. She wrestles, that's what her main strength is, but she needs support to turn herself into the whole package. That comes from her trainer (played by Vince Vaughn), her brother (Jack Lowden), and the other women who are on the same journey through the NXT program.

Pugh is excellent in the lead role, just as believable and appealing as she has been in every other role I have seen her take on. And it would be easy to make a mis-step here, either get the attitude wrong or just not seem physically capable in the role, but you never doubt her strength and character, helped by the way the script is constructed, and the supporting cast around her. Vaughn has more fun in his role than he has had in a number of years, reminding you of what you like about him when he's given roles that suit his style. Lowden is equally great as the older brother with all of the heart and not enough of the star quality that the WWE was looking for. Nick Frost and Lena Headey are consistently hilarious as parents prone to blurt out the most inappropriate statements, in between selfish attempts to make the most of their daughter's success, and it's worth mentioning Ellie Gonsalves, Aqueela Zoll, and Kim Matula, playing three women who come into wrestling from the world of modelling and cheerleading. And you get some limited, but quality, screentime for Dwayne Johnson. Of course.

You may think you will hate this, especially if you have no interest in wrestling, but it's a perfectly enjoyable feelgood sports film, hitting a lot of familiar beats in a tale that is ultimately worth telling, especially for anyone chasing a dream they are told again and again is unattainable.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

Shudder Saturday: The Siren (2019)

The good thing about being connected with so many film fans online nowadays, and especially being connected to so many HORROR film fans, is that you can often find out about more movies you hadn't previously heard of, all thanks to one or two conversations that mention things within varying degrees of separation. The other good thing is meeting those film fans in the actual real world, and these two things came together to encourage me to view The Siren, after I enjoyed A Ghost Waits at a horror film festival, and then hearing from so many people who had already enjoyed MacLeod Andrews in this film, and the previous feature from writer-director Perry Blackshear, They Look Like People (which I will also need to check out).

BUT the first thing to mention about The Siren is that it isn't your standard horror movie. I feel like I say this a lot lately, especially with the selection that Shudder seem to pick for their streaming service, but it's always worth noting, to ensure people don't go into a good film with preconceptions that will spoil the experience for them. You need to go elsewhere if you're looking to fill the gap in between Hatchet movies (and I'm not denigrating those, I am just emphasising the big difference).

Evan Dumouchel is Tom, a man giving himself a break at a fairly isolated lakehouse. Tom is mute, and also doesn't like swimming. This is all explained when he meets a wandering neighbour, Al (Andrews). Al is a nice guy, but he's driven by a lot of pain and anger, convinced that his deceased husband was killed by a creature living in the lake, one that has caused a number of drownings over the years. That creature appears in the form of a lovely humanoid, named Nina (Margaret Ying Drake), and she finds a connection with Tom that seems to keep her more dangerous urges stifled.

Clocking in at about 80 minutes, The Siren is still a film that will test the patience of some viewers who want something with more action (although it delivers a couple of good, fleetingly shown, bits of gore in the 15 minutes). It's a film about people finding themselves inexplicably drawn to one another, leaving their history aside as they just focus on one another for their time together, and also looks at the pain of grieving for someone you lost so suddenly, and without being able to comprehend the circumstances of their death (given a fantastical element here, but applicable to any sudden death that you can't get your head around).

Dumouchel is a nice mix of subtlety and expressiveness in his non-talking role, Drake is often so sweet that it's easy to forget she's a lake-dwelling creature looking to drown victims, and Andrews is at his best during a scene in which he finally puts two and two together and cannot find a way to make it not equal four. I might be forgetting anyone else who makes a very brief appearance, but the film very much belongs to these three performers, and every one of them brings something to their respective roles.

Blackshear may make a number of small mistakes throughout, but they're forgivable when the end result comes together so satisfyingly. It's hard to pinpoint where he should have added some details and where he should have left things even more vague, but the balance feels ever so slightly off with some of the scenes that provide backstory, or don't. He does a good job, overall, and I'll be keeping an eye on his future film releases.

The Siren is definitely worth your time. The material is strong enough to compensate for the lower budget, and viewers are easily drawn in to a scenario that is both sweet and very dangerous. Check it out when you can.

8/10

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Play Or Die (2019)

Based on a novel by Franck Thilliez, entitled "Puzzle", Play Or Die is a typical example of what you get when you have a first-time director, Jacques Kluger, making something that he believes manages to deliver something trendy with a bit of a twist.

Charley Palmer Rothwell is Lucas, and Roxane Mesquida is Chloé. The two friends work together to find the location of an intense "escape room" game called Paranoia. It's set in an abandoned mental hospital, and a few other players have managed to find the place. Everyone is soon made to realise that the ultimate prize for solving each riddle isn't just being the person who beat the game, it's getting away with your life intact.

From the very earliest scenes, showing Rothwell and Mesquida solving the clues that lead them to the location of the main game, Play Or Die has a problem in making the whole premise seem remotely plausible. Nothing is done to help show the lure of the game, nothing seems so tricky that only the best of the best would crack any of the clues, and it all just seems ridiculous. Things only get worse once the leads reach the main location, where most mistakes will end in certain death. The solutions to the problems become more complicated, and participants are expected to solve time-sensitive puzzles while the threat of instant death looms ever larger over them.

It would seem that we can lay the blame squarely with Kluger, who also co-wrote the script with Amiel Bartana (another first-timer). What may have worked in novel form, and I am only supposing here, just doesn't work onscreen, at least not without the distraction of some more style and wit that this is, sadly, lacking. Any film working within this realm is potentially ridiculous (from the Saw series to the many Escape Room films that have popped up lately), but they can often be enjoyable at the same time, depending on the logic and fiendishness of the traps, and the cast of characters being made to go through them.

This is another area in which the movie stumbles. Rothwell and Mesquida aren't the strongest of leads, with the former actually being slightly annoying for a lot of the runtime. It's not necessarily his fault, the script paints him as a glum figure who doesn't even seem to enjoy the thrill of the puzzle-solving (which adds to the lack of believability). Mesquida, on the other hand, at least gets to be enthusiastic and energetic for most of her screentime. Disposable supporting players are portrayed by Marie Zabukovec, Thomas Mustin, Daphné Huynh, and Hippolyte de Poucqes.

There are so many movies out there that are better, and similar, to this. It doesn't matter that this one tries to do something a bit different at the end, I still recommend you check out any of the other films I have mentioned in this review. Or you can watch Nerve if you fancy some light fun, and Would You Rather if you want something darker.

3/10

The Drone (2019)

If you're going to watch one movie about a possessed killer drone then it may as well be this one, a film that does a lot better with the premise than, for example, the recent reboot of Child's Play (there are a number of similarities here), and one that generally plays out much better than it probably should.

Neil Sandilands is "The Violator", a man who uses a drone to spy on females before making them his victims. Cornered by the police, the film starts off showing him being killed while holding on to his precious drone. There's an incident, of course, that puts his soul into that of the flying object, which then eventually ends up on the doorstep of a married couple, Chris (John Brotherton) and Rachel (Alex Essoe). That's when things start to get problematic, to say the least.

Directed by Jordan Rubin, who also co-wrote the script with Al and Jon Kaplan, this may not be as obviously hilarious throughout as one of their previous collaborations, Zombeavers, but it once again shows how the group have a real knack for taking a potentially ridiculous premise and managing to navigate the perfect tone throughout. The Drone starts off fairly light, despite a couple of death scenes within the first ten minutes, and it has a sense of mischief that works very nicely as small odd occurrences start to confuse the leads.

Brotherton and Essoe are both excellent in their roles, working well with one another and having a believable chemistry. Although not onscreen for long, Sandilands is allowed to make such a strong impression at the start that he casts a shadow over every minute the drone is present. Anita Briem is a lot of fun as an inappropriately flirtatious neighbour, Rex Linn does a decent enough job as a detective eventually called in to investigate the situation, and Christopher Matthew Cook somehow manages to keep a straight face during scenes in which the drone attempts to communicate with him and show him that he is actually his brother.

If you have read all of this review so far and laughed at the sheer preposterousness of the main premise, fear not. Rubin and the Kaplans are well aware of that. They play everything with a small sheen of self-awareness throughout, not stopping to point out anything in particular, but making the fun characters observe certain things, and allowing the journey to realisation to be littered with small moments of characters balking at the real explanation of events. It's a fine line, and walked well by all involved. The leads are fun and likeable, but the main premise is actually played pretty straight.

It helps that the pacing is perfect. The 82-minute runtime means it doesn't overstay its welcome. You get the set up, you get the occasional deaths, and then you get a second half that starts to build up both the bodycount and the very real threat to the leads.

Far from a perfect film, but kind of perfect entertainment (if you know what I mean). The Drone is recommended if you want a fun distraction that clocks in under an hour and a half.

7/10

Prime Time: Dark Encounter (2019)

The second feature film from writer-director Carl Strathie, with both Alice Lowe and Sid Phoenix returning to work with him, Dark Encounter has good intentions. It's just a shame that it is horribly dull, and leads to a third act that Strathie clearly thinks rewards viewers for their patience. It's not half as good as he thinks it is, and many may end up as disappointed as I was.

It is 1982 in America, and a young girl (Maisie) goes missing. Her family are understandably distraught. When people gather together one year later for a memorial, strange phenomena are witnessed in the local area. Are alien abductors returning to look for more potential abductees, or is there another reason for things?

Technically competent, and there are some nice shots here and there that give off a nice vibe evoking both The X-Files and a number of '80s sci-fi movies, the biggest problem with Dark Encounter comes from the unnecessary choices made that don't seem to help the film in any way. Why is it set in 1982, for example, when it doesn't seem to affect the plot? Maybe I missed, or have already forgotten, something that wouldn't work if the film was set in the present, but it seems that the only reason for the time setting is a vein of nostalgia it doesn't even mine. And as for setting it in America, with the largely (fully?) British cast all adopting decent accents for their roles, I am also at a loss as to what that adds to anything onscreen. I understand it may have helped to sell the movie in other territories, maybe, but it just seems to be too obvious throughout in the way it refuses to show any more exterior views than a few establishing shots, or anonymous wooded areas.

None of the cast do a bad job, they're just left to suffer at the hands of a weak script unworthy of their talents. Laura Fraser is the central figure, Olivia, the mother in mourning who wants to know what happened to her daughter, but Mel Raido, Sid Phoenix, and Grant Masters all do just fine. Alice Lowe and Vincent Regan aren't onscreen for long enough, especially the former (someone I always enjoy seeing in any role she takes on), and nobody else is given the chance to make a strong impression.

Now let me just get back to that third act. This is a drama marketed as a sci-fi horror movie, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just worth bearing that in mind if you're after something more at ease with the standard genre tropes and thrills. What stops this from working is how badly executed the material is. Strathie doesn't set things up well at all, taking viewers in one direction and then hastily pulling them another way when he deems it the right time for a rug pull. It also doesn't help that it's a very interesting plot development that feels completely mishandled.

Not recommended, although I would still be interested in seeing what Strathie might do next, especially if he ever decides to just base things in the UK, in the present, without seeming slightly embarrassed about working with certain genre standards.

3/10

You can buy a disc here.
Americans can buy a disc here.

The Gentlemen (2020)

I absolutely understand that Guy Ritchie movies aren't necessarily designed for anyone other than Guy Ritchie fans (and I'm not talking about his studio work here, I am talking about GUY RITCHIE movies), and I also absolutely understand that another crime comedy from him will be about as appealing as a smack on the back of the head from an irate Jason Statham, but The Gentlemen actually ends up being a lot of fun. Ritchie is confident enough in his own abilities, and he seems to relish the chance to get down 'n' dirty with a great cast who will help him create his most blatant homage yet to The Long Good Friday.

Matthew McConaughey is Mickey Pearson, the mastermind behind a superbly profitable drug business. It's pot he sells though, which means we can still view him as a good guy compared to other criminal types onscreen. Charlie Hunnam is Ray, Mickey's trusted right hand man. Mickey wants to retire, which sets off a twisted and violent chain of events as people try to nominate themselves as worthy successors. The prime buyer would seem to be a savvy businessman named Matthew (Jeremy Strong), but Dry Eye (Henry Golding) is an up-and-coming boss/thug who wants to get a big piece of the pie. We learn all of this through a lengthy conversation between Ray and a bloodhound journalist named Fletcher (Hugh Grant).

The Gentlemen is a film that does everything well, and is elevated by the cast. From those just mentioned, the only performer I didn't really enjoy was Strong, who delivers a performance that feels just a bit too weak and lacking in confidence for his character (despite his character being the kind of brain who outsources to brawn).McConaughey is his usual cool self, and very laid-back until he has to pounce on someone, Hunnam is the best I have seen him be, Golding is enjoyable in a role that thankfully doesn't have him yet again showing all of us men up as inferior and unromantic souls, and Grant has an absolute ball playing the kind of unscrupulous journo he has often publicly berated while working in support of Hacked Off, a campaign group set up to hold members of the tabloid press to account over their illegal tactics of phone hacking to gain private information that would provide them with juicy tabloid gossip. Michelle Dockery is a fitting queen to McConaughey's king, Eddie Marsan has fun in a small role that leads to a punchline both hilarious and appalling, and Colin Farrell once again proves that he can be relied upon to do his best work when not constrained by the packaging of a mainstream star vehicle.

There are only two main problems, and they're problems you find in most Ritchie movies (although I hadn't realised it before). First of all, every character feels like a character written by Ritchie. Nobody has their own voice here, although Grant almost overcomes this with the strength of his performance. Secondly, the large selection of characters inevitably delivers some that you wish weren't given much screentime (in this case it's a bunch of amateur criminals who upload their exploits to YouTube).

Those with sensitive ears will want to give this a miss, because the word "cunt" is bandied about more than it would be at a Christmas night out with a bunch of gynaecologists, and those who prefer their tales of crooks and crime to be told in a more straightforward fashion may also be a bit peeved, especially during the indulgent moments that allow for some playful unreliable narration from Grant's character. Everyone else should have a great time.

8/10

Mubi Monday: Accident (1967)

Although there are many similarities between this and The Servant (Losey directing, Pinter on the writing duties, Bogarde the star at the heart of things, the exploration of a very twisted situation intertwined with an essence of particular Britishness), Accident is also interesting for how much it does differently from that film. Everything is much more subtle, much more restrained, but that serves to highlight how much every word is loaded, and how everyone moves through society with the protection, and sometimes hindrance, of their own class role.

Bogarde plays Stephen, an Oxford professor. He takes an interest in a couple of his student. One is William (Michael York). The other is Anna (Jacqueline Sassard). William likes Anna very much. Unfortunately, Anna has also caught the eye of another professor (Charley, played by Stanley Baker). And so we get a tale told in flashback that shows the Laura-like effect Anna has on all the various men around her.

Based on the novel by Nicholas Mosley, Accident is a story that is worked by Pinter and Losey, because both complement one another perfectly, into something that plays out in a controlled and sedate manner, for the most part, with occasional moments to shock that are so effective it ends up taking you an extra minute or two to properly process what you've just watched. That is especially applicable to the way things unfold in the third act.

Bogarde is his usual good self, putting himself forward as a good man, despite the fact that his actions belie his self-image. Baker is superb, the more obvious baddie in a film that actually has very few good people in it, either due to direct actions or the inaction that enables certain behaviour. And York gives a performance slightly removed from his better-known roles. There's an insecurity sitting hidden beneath his usual layers of cockiness and charm, and he seems to be trying to both impress the professors around him while also competing against them at times. Sassard is perfect in her role, probably best described, certainly in the 1960s, as a "bewitching, exotic beauty". She has the look, and a lovely accent, but she also does very good work in the scenes that ask more of her. Vivien Merchant is the wife of Bogarde's character, and she embodies the old-fashioned kind of good wife who will support her husband without wanting to look any closer at some of his bad behaviour. Those who go looking for evidence of misdeeds may not like what they find.

A twisted and tragic tale, and also one that almost encourages you to observe and laugh at some of the ridiculous notions thought up by mature men who should know better, when not in the grip of infatuation, Accident is still depressingly relevant today. Married men excited by the prospect of young women who may take a fleeting interest in them, people projecting their own feelings and desires on to others, the husbands who think they are maintaining a fine marriage because everything is fine at home while they enjoy their indiscreet affairs, all of these things happen just as much now as they did back in the 1960s. So you're best to watch this film and remind yourself to avoid that kind of behaviour.

8/10

Netflix And Chill: Extraction (2020)

The directorial feature debut from stunt actor Sam Hargrave (who has worked many times on the Marvel movies with Joe Russo, who takes on writing duties here, adapting a graphic novel into a star vehicle for Chris Hemsworth, who you may also know from his small part in helping the Marvel machine grind through the cinematic competition), Extraction is sort of what you might expect from someone with his background. It's pretty light on plot, pretty thin on the characterisations, and pretty great when it comes to some of the stunt work.

Taking place in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the story concerns the son of one crime lord taken hostage by people working for another crime lord (Amir Asif, played by Priyanshu Painyuli). Hemsworth is Tyler Rake, a skilled mercenary hired to retrieve the child and extract him to safety. The initial encounter is easy enough, but it soon becomes obvious that others are after the young boy, and local law enforcement are also on the payroll of Asif.

Once the action properly begins here, at about twenty minutes in, it rarely lets up for the rest of the runtime. And viewers should be prepared for a lot of brutality, this is wince-inducing stuff, whether it's the close quarters combat between Hemsworth and everyone, including a lot of kids, trying to overwhelm him or the constant fatal gunshot wounds.

Being unfamiliar with the source material (a phrase I am aware that I tend to use in every other review lately), I'm not sure how well this has been adapted by Russo. It certainly feels more like a videogame movie than a graphic novel adaptation, a cross between the standard Call Of Duty antics and some Uncharted chase sequences through buildings being pretty thoroughly destroyed as our hero attempts to defy ever-increasing odds to get one boy to safety.

Hargrave directs well enough, often distracting you from the elements lacking in the film with some impressive set-pieces. The first big fight sets the tone for everything to come, and sets up Hemsworth as someone more than capable of battling his way through a city of potential enemies, and there's also a vehicle chase sequence that stands out as one of the best I have seen in some time. No doubt, if you love your action movies then you should definitely give this a watch. It's just a shame that the plot feels either too clichéd at times, or just too clumsy in the way it attempts to manipulate viewers into caring a little bit more about someone who is, as I have just mentioned, essentially a lead character in a videogame.

Hemsworth is superb in the lead role though, never looking unsure of himself and his abilities. It's possibly his most physical action role yet, and he's more than up to the task. Rudhraksh Jaiswal is very good as the young boy being dragged through fire and blood to a place where he can hopefully be safe. The other main character to make a good impression is Saju, played by Randeep Hooda, another ex-military man sent to rescue the boy, putting him in direct conflict with Hemsworth while both parties view the other as a major obstacle. Golshifteh Farahani and David Harbour do okay as potential allies, Painyuli is your typically ruthless crime boss, and lots of other people do well in ensuring that they hit the right spot before being kicked around or shot in the head.

I can see some people hating this. The style and the simple nature of the way it is plotted mean some will be made weary by it, this is a plot so simple that it really NEEDS to take that big starting point and maintain the momentum all the way through to the end, which it does, impressively. While the characters are paper-thin, and it doesn't have anything more to say beyond "isn't Hemsworth a handsome badass", the action has enough variety, the choreography and editing work to keep the energy high without becoming headache-inducing, and it's a perfectly fine way to kill some time during the weekend, with your snacks and beverages of choice lined up beside you.

6/10

Shudder Saturday: 0.0Mhz (2019)

A fairly new film, and one that there isn't much information available, apologies in advance for any mistakes in the name format for those involved. I have tried to keep myself right, but sometimes my limited time and resources show up my glaring lack of professionalism.

Here's the summary on IMDb for 0.0Mhz - "Members of a supernatural exploration club go into a haunted house." That's all I knew about it going in. Well, that and the fact that it was another horror movie from South Korea. I was sold. Although I tried to keep things moderated, my expectations started to climb up. It feels like far too long since I watched a horror that really packed in the quality scares (I may be forgetting something, but Satan's Slaves might have been the last one) and I was ready to enjoy some haunting imagery.

Based on a webcomic by Jak Jang, 0.0Mhz is written and directed by Yoo Sun-dong (his second feature after Musudan, which I haven't seen). Sun-dong never seems sure of his own talent, which is a great shame because some of the better moments in the film are put together perfectly. You get a character who sees spirits of the dead while nobody else can, you get a character possessed in a way that leads to a twisted body moving around in moments of explosive energy, and you get a nice feeling of tension building as the club members realise that they've got in way over their heads. Unfortunately, these better elements are couched in a film that runs from one familiar beat to the next, something particular hard to overlook when you get the lively and menacing strands of dark hair that we've now seen in approximately one thousand other Asian horrors.

The cast all do okay, but the only ones who stand out are Jung Eun-Ji (the girl who can see dead people) and Choi Yoon-Young (the girl who seems to be in the most immediate danger from the spirit, and the actress asked to give the most physically demanding of the performances). The boys onscreen all either feel completely disposable or a little bit creepy anyway, or both. Even when put in danger, it's hard to care about them, and they certainly seem to get a much easier time than their female counterparts.

Perhaps there's a lot missing here that was laid out in the webcomic. It definitely feels that way, with no major history given to the main spirit/haunting and a few of the enjoyable details seeming pointless, although they add nice colour to the picture being painted. Horror movies can be full of small details that feel pointless, just to add scares and help the pacing in between the set-pieces, but things here are given a sense of importance here that never feel fully justified.

There's enough here to please horror fans who want something a bit different from the many glossy mainstream options, but I also suspect that, in some ways, this IS a glossy mainstream film. It just doesn't feel that way to us viewers who look at it as a title from the extensive range labelled "world cinema".

5/10

We Summon The Darkness (2019)

There's humour in We Summon The Darkness, but it's not really a horror comedy. There's a period setting (late 1980s), but that's not really ever a focus, apart from giving a more realistic grounding for the wild central plot. And there's a good cast, but they're not used as well as they could be. In fact, everything in We Summon The Darkness feels a bit half-assed, to use the technical term.

Alexis, Valerie, and Beverly are three young women on their way to see a heavy metal show. Once there, they meet three boys they seem to click with. The girls invite the boys back to an empty house they're staying at, the perfect spot for some more drinking and partying. But should these youngsters all be letting their hair down in the middle of nowhere, especially with the recent spate of Satanic cult murders?

Writer Alan Trezza previously gave genre fans Burying The Ex, a fun little film enjoyed by myself and about ten other people (so it would seem). That also had Alexandra Daddario in a starring role (she plays Alexis here), but she was surrounded by Ashley Greene and Anton Yelchin. It was also directed by Joe Dante, which was a big plus. Similar to this, Burying The Ex had one neat little idea at the heart of it. Unfortunately, We Summon The Darkness doesn't have anything of note beyond the one little idea it has (a plot beat that is surprisingly predictable from the very opening scenes).

Director Marc Meyers isn't someone incapable of doing good work. But he's no Joe Dante. The biggest mistake that Meyers makes is having complete fait in the script from Trezza, which means neither party does enough to make this as good as it could be.

Daddario does well in her role, although she's the weakest of the three main female cast members, and Maddie Hanson and Amy Forsyth are good in the roles of Val and Bev, respectively, with Forsyth easily the strongest of the three. As for the boys, Keean Johnson, Logan Miller, and Austin Swift are a good mix, even if their very first appearance onscreen doesn't bode well. Other characters pop in and out of the narrative, but the only other one worthy of note is Pastor John Henry Butler, played in an enjoyably atypical way by Johnny Knoxville (who I would very much like to see get a meatier role in this vein).

There's entertainment to be had here, Meyers does just fine with the technical side of things, despite lacking the ability to elevate the material, but We Summon The Darkness feels very much like some comedy act in which the performer is very proud of his jokes, especially one he drops on the audience early on to set the tone, while every audience member sits patiently and waits for the big laugh that never comes. There's nothing here that will make you remember the movie hours after you've watched it, and I can't help thinking it is destined to become a forgotten obscurity within the next year or two. I also can't help thinking that it wouldn't have taken too much effort to save it from that fate. It's a shame that Meyers and Trezza weren't able to make that effort.

5/10

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Crawl (2019)

As a major hurricane starts to move into the area, Haley (Kaya Scodelario) ignores all of the warnings to drive further into the danger zone and find her father (Barry Pepper). She hasn't been able to get a hold of him and it's a worry. She eventually finds him, underneath a house and badly injured. Oh, and there are a number of alligators that have also decided to pop round for a visit. Can Haley, with her exceptional swimming skills, help both of them to survive this ordeal?

Crawl is a fun creature feature, but it's not one you can watch with without making an effort to consciously switch your brain off. If you know anything about alligators then this may be harder, but if you go with the flow then you're going to have a good time.

The main cast members to enjoy here are the alligators, impressively realistic CG creations that remain feeling like a physical threat as soon as their presence is made known. That's not to take anything away from Scodelario though, who gives a performance that requires every ounce of her focus and strength. Pepper, by comparison, gets to spend a lot of the movie fairly prone and relaxed (well, as relaxed as you can be after being bitten by alligators that are still prowling around your home). He's good, but he's mainly there to motivate Scodelario in different ways. Other people do appear, but they're really just there to become a snack for the dangerous predators.

Written by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen, the structure is nice and tight (the runtime is 87 minutes), with the premise being set up quickly enough before the tension and thrills start to be added on. It becomes clear early on that they don't really care about the reality of the situation, instead doing enough to ground the movie reality of the situation (one in which a human can outswim an alligator, which is just one of the differences between reality and what is depicted here).

Director Alexandre Aja is no stranger to this type of thing, having provided superb tension and thrills in many of his previous movies (and at least he keeps this a lot more grounded than the enjoyable silliness of Piranha 3D). He knows how to set up the geography of the cramped location, how to get everyone where they need to be, and how to shoot some great set-pieces that alternate between having the alligators front and centre in a way that provides some jumps and having them gliding underwater to be an invisible menace.

This is not a serious study of what happens when a large predator is suddenly added to an environment normally fairly safe for humans. It's just fun, and manages to be fun from start to finish. We've already had sharks being used this way (in the likes of Deep Blue Sea and Bait), so it's good to see the alligators getting some time to shine. And when I say time to shine I mean time to hunt down humans and try to bite massive chunks out of them.

7/10

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Prime Time: Midsommar (2019)

Unlike many other people, I wasn't overly impressed by Hereditary, the feature film debut from writer-director Ari Aster. It was certainly an assured piece of work, and had some great moments, as well as an impressive visual style, but everything started to unravel in a third act that, to me, felt surprisingly hokey and predictable, considering what had come before it.

So I wasn't anticipating Midsommar with much enthusiasm, especially when the trailer gave me a strong feeling of having been there and done that before. And if I want to see a film like The Wicker Man then I'll usually just watch The Wicker Man.

I am pleased to be proven wrong. Midsommar is one of those films that is so good I am considering revisiting Aster's previous feature, especially as both movies are thematically connected by exploring how people deal with death, and how they grieve.

Starting off with one hell of a grim opening, viewers are then introduced to the main characters. Dani (Florence Pugh) has been changed by a devastating personal tragedy, which means it has never been the right time for her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor), to separate from her, as he feels he should. Christian and his friends, Josh (William Jackson Harper) and Mark (Will Poulter), have been invited to a special festival in Sweden by another friend, Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren). It will be a chance to relax for some of them, while one or two others may make it the subject of their big university dissertation. But the trip could feel very different when Christian decides to invite Dani along, expecting her to say no. The welcoming residents at the Swedish retreat soon start to show some bizarre behaviour, to say the least, and it becomes obvious that the first impression of something pretty and sweet hides something much darker.

As mentioned above, this is another exploration of death and grief from Aster, and it's an impressive flipside to his first feature. Where Hereditary was all about the consuming darkness and the constant pain hanging overhead like a heavy weight ready to crash down, Midsommar looks at someone attempting to take their mind off things and constantly attempt to act "normal" until that becomes natural to them again.

The visuals throughout are gorgeous, with the bright colours, floral displays, and geometric design of each shot giving you plenty in every scene to appreciate, explore, and dissect. Not always noticed by the central characters, many of those at the festival make sure they sit or stand in a certain formation, and the camera moves around to let viewers see what the leads might miss.

Pugh puts in another superb performance here. The past two years have seen her immediately become one of my favourite actresses, thanks to the sheer range and undeniable talent shown throughout her roles, and this turn is arguably her strongest yet. Reynor is the right choice for Christian, because he's charming and likeable enough even as he's being a bit shitty to people. Poulter provides a number of the lighter moments, and they can grate slightly, and he's good in his role, Harper is a considerate guest interested in learning more that will help him in his studies (so not too far removed from the character that he's best known for playing on The Good Place), and Blomgren is enjoyably ambiguous for a lot of the runtime. As for the many other festival attendees, all are believably beatific and everyone ends up onscreen precisely where Aster wants them.

I am sure that some will dislike the fact that Midsommar is highly derivative and predictable, if you've seen even one other film like it, but it's a film all about the journey, not the destination. And it's one hell of a journey.

8/10

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Sonic The Hedgehog (2020)

You have to hand it to them. The best thing to happen to the Sonic The Hedgehog movie was a trailer with main character design so bad that a lot of people seemed about to rush off and pluck out their own eyeballs. It was atrocious. It was unthinkable that someone passed that as a final product. It was . . . the beginning of something positive for a film that people had previously been simply shrugging their shoulders at (in my experience).

Now here we are. Sonic looks far cuter, and less likely to cause nightmares, and the whole movie is an easy bit of entertainment for people who like the little blue speedster and can enjoy over the top antics from Jim Carrey.

The story is pretty simple. Sonic has ended up here on Earth. His bag of golden rings are his most valuable possession, because one ring can take you wherever you want to go. They become a portal to wherever you have been thinking of. He's going to need them to make a getaway when a power surge alerts authorities to his presence. Befriending a small-town cop (Tom, played by James Marsden), Sonic tries to mark a few items off his bucket list before leaving Earth, all while being pursued by the very smart and very dangerous Dr. Robotnik (Carrey).

Written by Patrick Casey and Josh Miller, who have been working together for many years, Sonic The Hedgehog is pretty much what you expect it to be. Marsden once again works well alongside a CG effect making his life difficult, there are lots of moments that show off Sonic being so fast that everything else around him barely moves (a barfight is the best example of this, and the best set-piece in the whole movie), and Carrey gets to cut loose and have fun. Purists may be unhappy with him not portraying Dr. Robotnik as they would prefer to see him, but I think it's the right choice.

Director Jeff Fowler is making his feature debut (impressive, considering his VERY short CV - his only other directing credit is the average animated short, Gopher Broke) and does a perfectly fine job with the material. It has the energy that it needs, you get a few little touches to please fans of the SEGA games, and the general look of everything (Sonic, Robotnik, the gadgetry being used to hunt Sonic, the special effects) is good enough to make you forget all about that massive initial mis-step.

Carrey may steal a number of scenes, and he has one solo physical dance/comedy sequence that shows he hasn't lost his knack for such shenanigans, but Marsden is a good, stoic lead, Tika Sumpter does fine as his girlfriend, and Ben Schwartz is a surprisingly great fit as the voice of our spiky sprinter.

It's simple, predictable, and probably great to settle down and watch with younger viewers, who will undoubtedly enjoy the cute, colourful hedgehog and laugh at the obvious jokes. Not really one I'll rush to revisit, despite being kept mildly amused for most of the runtime, but I'll be much more optimistic about the planned sequel than I ever was about this.

6/10

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Mubi Monday: The Servant (1963)

A dark and brooding British drama, looking at the class divide and the expert manipulation of one individual by another, The Servant is uncomfortable viewing during many of the main scenes, and a bit of a classic.

Dirk Bogarde plays Barrett, a man hired by Tony (James Fox) to be his servant. Initially appearing to be quite the perfect choice for the role, Barrett is soon shown to be working on a scheme to make his life a lot better. This will involve getting a job for Vera (Sarah Miles), a woman he pretends is his sister, and trying to make the most of the household whenever he is not having to undertake the main duties of his role. Tony thinks he has found a perfect employee, while his girlfriend (Susan, played by Wendy Craig) smells a rat.

Based on a novel by Robin Maugham, The Servant was adapted into screenplay form by celebrated playwright Harold Pinter, and directed by Joseph Losey. Both men know exactly what they're doing as they dive deeper and deeper into the nightmarish atmosphere created by someone who should be a trusted member of staff. The framing of the character shows the constant, and fluid, power battle, and many individual scenes look gorgeous, even while depicting people trying to wallow in some of their more base pleasures.

There are times when Barrett is quietly and subtly making things worse for his employer, just through a "careless" word here and there, or appearing at an inopportune moment, and then there are times when Barrett is more brazen in showing his attitude. He clearly doesn't want to be a servant, but it seems to be his designated lot in life, and that may be impossible to change.

Bogarde is superb in his role, all charm and humility at the start, sliding into a more menacing persona as the plot starts to take shape. Fox is comfortable in his role, and does well in showing the kind of attitude of someone who tries to keep blinkers on while things around him start to get worse. Miles is a good match for Bogarde, and Craig excels as the only one who sees the truth of what is going on.

Commenting on class, of course, and the fact that so many "invisible" workers can hold so much power and confidence in their relationship with their employers, The Servant is a film that will also resonate with anyone who has ever been in a situation that had friends who took advantage of a bad situation while it was fun for them to be tagging along for the ride. It's a superb film, one that will haunt you long after it ends, and still feels fresh and relevant today, despite being specifically set in a fairly bygone Britain.

9/10

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Netflix And Chill: Polar (2019)

Based on a graphic novel, "Polar: Came From The Cold", this over the top action movie feels very much like an attempt to capture a viewing audience of John Wick fans. There are moments that definitely feel similar (as will happen nowadays every time one skilled hitman is facing off against numerous foes). But I think the difference can be summed up with one sentence. John Wick lost his beloved dog, the lead character in Polar accidentally shoots one.

Mads Mikkelsen is Duncan Vizla, 14 days away from his retirement after years spent working for the Damocles organisation. He's due a very lucrative pension, which is surely a worthy reward for a lifetime spent in his dangerous line of work. Mind you, the head of Damocles doesn't want to pay out massive pensions, which explains why all employees tend to die just before or after their retirement. A team is sent to track down Duncan and make sure he has no need of his huge pension fund.

I'm not sure who to blame here, having not checked out the source material, by Victor Santos. There's maybe stuff in the graphic novel that works better on the page than the screen, as is so often the case, but Jayson Rothwell doesn't help with a clumsy screenplay, and director Jonas Åkerlund feels as if he's just floating without a rudder from one Wick-lite moment to the next.

It's the tone that causes the biggest problem. Every moment that has Mikkelsen being a composed badass is great, because Mikkelsen can do composed badass in his sleep. There are also many good little conversations between him and Katheryn Winnick, playing Vivian, the mediator trying to hire him for one last job that turns out to have him as the main target. Vanessa Hudgens and Richard Dreyfuss also fare well, but everyone else seems to have been given a script for an entirely different movie.

The group tasked with seeking out our hero (led by Hilde, played by Fei Ren) are almost always shown killing someone in a way that is either gleefully over the top or just allowing them to vent their frustrations on people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although it's worth mentioning the hilarious sex scene that involves Mads (fans get to see some Mikkelbooty) and Ruby O. Fee, who plays Sindy, one of the killers who gives fresh meaning to the term "special finishing move". And the less said about the owner of Damocles (Blut, played by Matt Lucas), the better.

With that glaring disparity in mind, it's hard to judge the performances, considering that everyone involved may have been doing exactly what was asked of them. Lucas still stands out like a sore thumb, he's a whole other level of awful and I really cannot understand why he was thought right for the role (again, maybe it's close to the source material, I just don't know).

Some sequences look great, including the main attempt to capture Duncan and a very satisfying final bout of revenge killing, and there are infrequent moments in which the comedy works (our lead giving a highly inappropriate talk to a classroom full of kids is great fun), but neither Rothwell nor Åkerlund have the confidence to maintain the balance required to make this a success. The fact that it still entertains is all down to the performances of Mikkelsen and Winnick.

This could have been great. It's not. This could have at least been good. It's not. It's just average, which makes it disappointing. Fans of Mikkelsen will still find enough to enjoy, but he deserved a better vehicle for his not-inconsiderable talent.

5/10

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Shudder Saturday: Exorcismus (2010)

Sophie Vavasseur plays Emma, a young woman who ends up worried as she starts to have increasingly dangerous and violent episodes that seem to suggest she is maybe becoming possessed by an evil spirit. Her parents (played by Richard Felix and Jo-Anne Stockham) are initially as sceptical as you would expect, but eventually decide that it's best to get help from a priest (Stephen Billington). Things get worse and worse, with real harm occurring to those around Emma.

Directed by Manuel Carballo, making what I believe is his first English language feature after some shorts, as well as TV work and one other film, in Spanish, Exorcismus is decidedly more impressive than it should be, thanks to the fact that it doesn't really try to make things more complicated than they need to be. Carballo directs well enough, and there are some moments of good tension as you see people fail to become aware of Emma about to potentially lash out at them, and he keeps himself within a comfort zone for anyone familiar with this subgenre.

Writer David Muñoz probably helped with that, obviously. The script has some cheesy moments, and certainly falls a bit flat during the many moments in between the actual possession drama, but it works well for laying everything out and simply aiming to entertain viewers. And it all builds nicely, with Emma initially suffering from fits, progressing to pushing her best friend away and having horrible visions, then moving towards the expected third act reveal of the full horror of the situation.

If the script and direction are surprisingly good, in the way that both manage to settle into the expected beats while somehow avoiding that feeling that it's all just rehashed from better movies (I think the very Britishness of the presentation helps to make it feel a bit fresher than it otherwise would), the acting is a bit more of a mixed bag. Not terrible, but not good enough to help elevate the material further.

Vavasseur isn't great when acting normally, unfortunately, but she does better when it's time to start the eye-rolling and growling. Felix and Stockham try hard, despite being the main characters who are given the weakest dialogue. Billington is earnest enough in his role, it's a decent performance from him, and there's a minute or two of screentime for Doug Bradley that treats him a lot better than so many other horror movies I could name. The other person worth mentioning is Isamaya Ffrench, a young actress who makes a strong impression in her feature film debut (and who has since gone on to develop a career as an interesting and talented makeup artist).

There are one or two plot turns that you may or may not enjoy, nothing that stops the whole film to emphasise how much they're veering from familiar territory though, and there are no moments I can single out as absolute highlights (well, there's one that surprised me, but I won't spoil anything here), but Exorcismus does what it sets out to do, and doesn't overstay its welcome with a runtime that clocks in at just under 100 minutes. I say it's worth a watch, even if it is unlikely to become a new firm favourite.

6/10

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