An author with writer’s block is visited by the ghost of his dead wife Elvira, who is soon making second wife Ruth jealous. I know I usually rail against the “pre-dead wife” trope, but with Noel Coward’s play I’ll allow it. Sadly though, even with the reappearance of the gorgeous, ghostly Elvira (Leslie Mann) this… Blithe Spirit (2020) Read More
She Dies Tomorrow 3 stars
Amy thinks she’s dying tomorrow… and it’s contagious. I suspect She Dies Tomorrow will be one of those movies where we will all put a very personal spin on its message. Perhaps the hypersomniacs among us will decide it’s about the contagiousness of yawning, the historians about tulip mania or the dancing plague. In my… She Dies Tomorrow Read More
Alternate Endings: Six New Ways to Die in America 3.5 stars
A funeral industry expert in the US predicts significant numbers of closures of traditional funeral homes over the next few years – in the death business, it’s adapt or die. Funerals, like weddings, sure aren’t like they used to be. From tubs of Irish earth so expats can be buried in a part of their… Alternate Endings: Six New Ways to Die in America Read More
The Farewell (Sundance London) 5 stars
The Farewell is writer-director Lulu Wang’s second feature, and it’s a funny, bracing, tender and profoundly moving film. “Sexy but poor” is how Billi (Awkwafina) describes herself half-jokingly to her mother, visiting her parents while trying to avoid the apartment she always owes rent on. Her parents also live in New York, the whole family… The Farewell (Sundance London) Read More
30 Miles From Nowhere 3 stars
After so many horror films about teens and college kids facing their doom, their friendships unravelling in the face of danger, it’s refreshing that this time it’s the older but not wiser getting their comeuppance. With the youngsters I tend to bear in mind how much of an annoying, supercilious whiner I was at that age… 30 Miles From Nowhere Read More
Pet Sematary (2019) 3 stars
Nothing sums up the difference between city and country in Pet Sematary better than the story of the reanimated prize bull. The people of Ludlow in rural Maine combine practicality and belief in old legends, encapsulated by the tale of a local farmer who used a supernatural burial ground to bring back his most valuable animal…. Pet Sematary (2019) Read More
Destination: Dewsbury 2 stars
It’s a huge shock when the first one of your generation dies, as delusions of immortality crumble and the reality of middle age looms. New indie British comedy Destination: Dewsbury tackles this from the viewpoints of four men, mates since school, their lives starting to disintegrate just as the fifth member of their schoolboy gang turns out… Destination: Dewsbury Read More
Two For Joy 4 stars
For the widowed Aisha (Samantha Morton) grief itself has become the driving force, rather than the reaction; with her family caught in an enervating circle of misery where the sheer exhaustion of getting through the day prevents them from escaping. It needs a huge catalyst to kick them off the repetitive cycle onto a different… Two For Joy Read More
Hereditary 4 stars
A creaky floorboard and a clicking tongue. Two sounds you don’t want to hear when you’re alone in the house and the only tongue clicker you know of is your dead sister. “I never wanted to be your mother” Annie says to her teenage son Peter (Alex Wolff), “it wasn’t my fault and I tried… Hereditary Read More
Padre 3.5 stars
“The space behind you is as important as the one in front of you” says James (Willem Dafoe), guiding his female performers as they rehearse his new play. It’s a good analogy for grief and death as journeys. I’ve found that when it comes to grief, once that initial crushing of the ribs has lessened,… Padre Read More
Heathers 4.5 stars
The 80s was a blunt decade, designed to disrupt – oversized, brash and brightly-coloured, where the brave and bullish could succeed. In a time defined by red lipstick, shrinking violets need not apply. Everything is over-oversized in Heathers. It’s even bigger, brasher, brighter and more vicious than the decade it satirises. Unsurprisingly in this live-action,… Heathers Read More
2:Hrs 2.5 stars
2:HRS is odd. Definitely quirky, sometimes befuddling, with lots left, intriguingly, hanging. At times it feels rather like one of those occasional Doctor Who episodes which has no Doctor in them, a sort-of sci fi tale set identifiably in the UK with ordinary people having to step up when life surprises them. Tim (Harry Jarvis) is… 2:Hrs Read More