Review Category: Movie

A group of thieves begin what was supposed to be the simple robbery of safety deposit boxes in a bank in Valencia. However, when their pre-dug escape tunnel becomes flooded by an unexpected deluge of rain, they are forced to frantically improvise a way out. Also, it turns out that one of the safety deposit boxes they are robbing contains some damning evidence placed by a former government official now in a coma, and some shady fixer types are brought in to resolve the situation at any cost.

To Steal from a Thief starts off well, wasting little time in getting the heist underway and establishing the ruthless nature of the robbers, and before long everyone is trapped inside with an army of police besieging the bank. However, it soon descends into a by-the-numbers crime thriller with little to distinguish it from others of its ilk.

Only two of the robbers have any real presence, and even though some of the bank’s customers taken hostage are given some very brief characterisation at the start with their financial issues and why they were in the bank in the first place, this is soon forgotten about and afterwards they become little more than anonymous extras. Likewise, the manipulative bank manger, who after performing her plot-required actions is quickly relegated from the action.

For what is supposed to be a crime thriller, the film is not actually all that riveting. For much of it there is no real sense of danger in regards to the plight of the hostages, so the only people left for whom there could be any fallout from events are a bunch of thieves who aren’t interesting enough to make you care about them, and some unseen politicians, who are by default unsympathetic on account of their chosen profession if not because we never actually see any of them who could be directly affected.

As the film begins, there is a slight indication it may be another reaction to the financial crisis and suggest that banks are just as big a bunch of thieves, if not even more so, as the crooks who rob them (even the title would suggest this), but this is soon lost amidst the vaguely sketched political wrangling.

Unlike, say, Spike Lee’s Inside Man, which (overtly smug ending aside) was a great example of a protracted bank heist movie with an added mystery at its heart, little that To Steal From a Thief has to offer raises it above the average. Too much focus on a nebulous conspiracy plot and not enough on the characters who are supposed to drive it result in something largely forgettable.

TO STEAL FROM A THIEF / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: DANIEL CALPARSORO / SCREENPLAY: JORGE GUERRICAECHEVARRIA / STARRING: LUIS TOSAR, RODRIGO DE LA SERNA, RAUL ARVELO, JOSE CORONADO, PATRICIA VICO, JOAQUIN FURRIEL / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating:
 

Joe and Paddy are a pair of Irish mercenaries working a job in an anonymous and barren stretch of desert, holding to ransom the daughter of a wealthy Arab until payment is made. What should have been a simple task is complicated by Joe’s paranoia and instability along with the fact they are both keeping secrets from the other.

Tiger Raid’s stage play origins are made apparent in the small cast and lengthy, dialogue-heavy scenes driving the plot rather than the intermittent bursts of the brutal violence the main pair nevertheless prove themselves to be capable of. While the story’s consistent verbosity means it’s never short of something to say, the slight limitation in the subject matter makes things a little repetitive. Conversations are brought up several times, and while each iteration reveals a little more about its subject, the necessary duplication gets a little frustrating. Also, when it becomes apparent that every personal detail the discussions reveal will have later implications, it makes you reconsider just how much depth the characters truly have.

The parched desolation of the desert isolates the actions of the duo from the rest of the world, only the intermittent and indecipherable crackle of radio communications from their unseen commander giving them any link to the rest of humanity. It’s this seclusion that, despite the barren expanse surrounding them, makes events feel cramped and intimate, adding a degree of claustrophobia to the heightening friction.

As the two leads, Brian Gleeson and Damien Molony play off each other fantastically, their respective roles of unquestioningly loyal soldier and ambitious upstart driven to their extremes by both the spiralling situation and personal revelations. The developing relationship between the pair drives their interaction, growing from unease to mistrust to confrontation and back again, events all the while threatening to boil over uncontrollably until something happens that there’s no going back from. Sofia Boutella, meanwhile, gets a little short shrift in the role of kidnap victim Shadha, her presence serving little more purpose than to exacerbate already inflamed tension between the two mercenaries.

As the murky details of the situation become further cleared and the strain on characters’ trust continues to rise you begin to increasingly question if there is any way this can end without bloodshed (aside from the anonymous extras killed so Joe and Paddy could reach this point), and the story ends on a satisfying and inevitable note that wraps things up in a neat but uncontrived way, culminating everything to have thus far occurred.

TIGER RAID / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: SIMON DIXON / SCREENPLAY: SIMON DIXON, MICK DONNELLAN, GARETH COULAM EVANS / STARRING: BRIAN GLEESON, DAMIEN MOLONY, SOFIA BOUTELLA / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating:
 

As a zombie virus surges through the homeless community of Seoul Station and soon spreads to the city, a former prostitute tries to survive in the rapidly escalating chaos, while her would-be pimp boyfriend and anxious father search for her in the blood-and neon-soaked streets of the South Korean capital as swarms of ravenous undead continue to rise.

Like Yeon Sang-ho’s debut feature The King of Pigs (which premiered in the UK at EIFF four years ago, unfortunately marred by atrocious subtitling), Seoul Station delves into the darkened recesses of human nature, unflinchingly laying bare the results of our basest instincts. As a zombie movie it also continues the tradition began in Romero’s classics, using its themes to make observations about the human condition, in this case the way we often perceive others as lower in the natural order and thus place greater value on certain lives due to merely their place in society.

Had the infection not originated amongst the homeless it might well have been identified and dealt with far sooner, but as homeless are often treated as a tolerated blight whose presence people are consciously aware of but at the same time pointedly ignore, the spread of the infection goes unchecked until it’s too late. Where and how the initial victim was bitten is never revealed; he only appears staggering down the street with a bloodstained bite wound, people soon walking past him bleeding out in the gutter without acknowledging him or giving him a second thought.

The animation is at its most impressive in the realisation of the undead. With stretched translucent skin scored with black veins and bloodshot feral eyes wide and unblinking, they are nightmares made flesh, and one chilling moment in particular sees a horde turns as one to glare impassively at a riot squad, pausing almost for dramatic effect before descending on them in a flail of snarling hunger. To make them more of a horrifying threat, they are not traditional zombie movies’ shambling corpses but the sprinting bloodthirsty rage monsters of the likes of 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake.

For much of the film there are no true heroes or villains, just desperate people trying to survive in a city that won’t help them, in this regard much like the existences homeless people live every day. It’s also no accident that the main character was previously a prostitute, someone whose plight would have gone equally unnoticed by the masses.

When a large group of survivors is located, they are found cloistered behind a makeshift barricade, their route to freedom obstructed by a blockade of police buses. Their desperate and frustrated shouts for help are treated like the actions of rioters, with the authorities either unaware or uncaring of the true nature of the situation (and either way would likely have reacted the same).

Seoul Station is first and foremost an animated zombie movie – and a pretty damn good one at that – but its seething contempt at the way the underclass of Korean society is treated (which could also be applied to any country in the world) elevates it even higher.

SEOUL STATION / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: YEON SANG-HO / STARRING: SHIM EUN-KYUNG, RYU SEUNG-RYONG, LEE JOON / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating:
 

Now here’s something of an oddity, and one that on face value would not appeal to STARBURST readers. Anyone following the controversy surrounding this ‘gay porn’ short will be aware that the appeal to lovers of cult movies is that the screenwriter – unnamed on the film, but widely recognised (by everyone except those who look after his Trust) was a rather prominent classical actor of yesteryear. The producer and driving force at getting the film made and certainly who took all the flak when it came to getting a release is David McGillivray, famous for his work with exploitation legends Pete Walker and Norman J. Warren.

The action, shall we say, takes place in a small gentleman’s outfitters on the high street. As the mannequins are being dressed in the window, a young man enters and requires a fitting. The staff, of course, are very willing to help and go above and beyond the call of duty to service the handsome and well-built man’s needs.  If that sounds incredibly salacious and seedy, then it’s probably because it is. It’s also rather funny, and as it’s all set to a pumping disco soundtrack, it’s a perfect pastiche of what people expect older porn films to look and sound like.
As the action gets going, there’s a steady stream of onlookers at the store front. They can’t believe their eyes, and they certainly won’t believe the effect what they’re witnessing will have on them.

Now, it goes without saying that Trouser Bar won’t be for everyone. As hard to believe as it is, there are still some people so narrow-minded that they won’t accept that ‘other’ sexual tastes actually exist and happen – or at least are very uncomfortable being confronted by it. Which, one could guess is the whole point of the film. Having the crowd gather – and they are a varied bunch, and at points include legendary comedy writer Barry Cryer, actor Nigel Havers, and comedian Julian Clary. From big builder types to bookish looking nerds, they are all transfixed by what’s going on in the changing rooms of the shop. And you know what? It’s a perfectly natural reaction. Curiosity is normal.

It’s just a shame that we can’t openly discuss the screenwriter, whose vision and passion for men’s trousers – particularly corduroy – gave him such pleasure in his lifetime. That the Trust looking after his ‘interests’ are stuck with an attitude of shame about the great thespian’s personal life is indicative of the attitudes of some. If only for that reason, this is STARBURST material. We don’t cover ‘adult’ entertainment as such, but when it comes with such a pedigree, it’s hard to ignore.

Above all else, that soundtrack is damn infectious.

TROUSER BAR / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: KRISTEN BJORN / SCREENPLAY: A. GENTLEMAN / STARRING: ASHLEY RYDER, PETER BENEDICT, ANIL DESAI / RELEASE DATE: TBC

 

Italian director Matteo Gerrone’s first English-language film is, quite simply, a thing of beauty. Taking its cue from a collection of tall tales told by the 17th-century Neopilitan poet Giambattista Basile – with a dash of cinematic artistic license – Tale of Tales might well be the most visually arresting, diverting and downright charmingly enjoyable movie you’ll see this year. And there’s not a slavering alien or man in a cape in sight…

Tale of Tales takes the form of three random fairy tales, largely unconnected from one another but weaving around and between one another across the film’s generous two-hour-plus running time. This is a film full of magical kingdoms, castles perched high on hills, storybook kings and queens and princesses, wizened hags, extraordinary creatures and with a monstrous ogre thrown in for good measure. In his book ‘Grimm Tales’, which explores the provenance of many of our best-known fairy tales, Philip Pullman espouses the view that fairy tales aren’t concerned with psychology, their characters have no ‘interior life’, good people are good and bad people are bad. Tale of Tales broadly follows this principal – we know little of the lives of the core characters here beyond the events of these stories – yet their worlds are so richly and colourfully drawn it’s not difficult to believe that they’ve lived and loved and fought and lost and will continue to do so long after they’ve turned away from our gaze. In the kingdom of Darkwood the king and queen (John C Reilly and Salma Hayek) are frustrated by their inability to conceive a child. A necromancer provides the solution; the queen must eat the heart of an aquatic dragon cooked by a virgin. The valiant King dies in combat with the dragon but the queen gets her feast – but the virginal cook suffers an unfortunate side effect and a day later they both give birth to identical golden-haired sons. The Queen is jealous of her regal son’s friendship with his lowly ‘twin’ and conspires to keep them apart… by fair means or foul. Meanwhile in the Kingdom of Highmountain the King (Jones) makes a pet of a flea, feeding it bloody steaks until it grows to enormous proportions. But the creature dies and the King, whose daughter Violet has grown restless and wishes to marry a handsome prince, skins his pet and promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to anyone who can identify the animal hide. A succession of handsome would-be suitors fall by the wayside – until a grotesque ogre solves the puzzle and wins the prize, much to Violet’s horror. The ogre sweeps her off to his cave deep in the hills…  In the kingdom of Stronghold, the lusty King (Cassel) is entranced by the singing of a woman he spies down in the town. He can’t see her face but reasons she must be beautiful and he takes to wooing her. But the woman of his dreams is actually the ancient, wrinkled Dora (Hayley Carmichael) who lives in penury with her equally crumpled sister Imma (Shirley Henderson). They concoct a grisly plan by which Imma can spend a night with the King without him seeing what she really looks like…

Tale of Tales is a proudly European movie yet with its medieval trappings, extravagant Kafkaesque beasts, and bizarre, quirky characters, you’d be forgiven for making a comparison with some of Terry Gilliam’s more perverse offerings, albeit with much of Gilliam’s affectation and extravagance removed. These are simple, angular stories, told without artifice but with an enviable clarity. Gerrone brings his bold worlds to the screen with stunning efficacy, with slightly unearthly and remote ‘kingdoms’, jagged and unfriendly landscapes (especially in the segment where Violet is trapped  in the ogre’s vertiginous lair) rubbing shoulders with extraordinarily timeless, stately Italian locations. Visually the film just doesn’t put a foot wrong, magnificently capturing the twisted darkness of the very best fairy tales in three stories which all, refreshingly, boast strong female lead characters and which are, at heart, all about greed and desire and jealousy all told in a world so unlike our own and yet populated by people we recognise motivated by emotions we’ve all felt at one time or another.

A treat for the eyes, the heart and possibly even the soul, if we’ve any real criticism of Tale of Tales it’s that we could have done without the odd flash of gratuitous nudity, which really adds nothing to the film except, perhaps, to move it out of the orbit of a younger audience who would surely have been captivated by this gloriously rich, dark and inventive tale of fantasy kingdoms and mythical beasts. We really can’t recommend Tale of Tales highly enough; you might need to work hard to track it down as it’s enjoying an extremely limited theatrical release (it’ll be available on the usual pay-to-view platforms but this is a movie best relished on the big screen) but you’ll be rewarded by one of the most unashamedly enjoyable and utterly magical movie experiences of the year.

TALE OF TALES / CERT:15 / DIRECTOR: MATTEO GERRONE / SCREENPLAY BY EDOARDO ALBINATI, UGO CHITI, MATTEO GARRONE, MASSIMO GAUDIOSO / STARRING SALMA HAYEK, TOBY JONES, VINCENT CASSEL, SHIRLEY HENDERSON / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10
Actual Rating:
 

After achieving huge success with the Despicable Me films, Illumination Entertainment expanded on that success last year with Minions, a film that gave the goggled dungaree wearing spongey henchmen their own spin off feature. So, what is the next logical step, ahead of their animal musical comedy Sing this Christmas and Despicable Me 3 in 2017? That’s right, everybody’s best friends…pets! From the first trailer onwards The Secret Life of Pets has generated a certain amount of buzz (or should that be purr) from audiences. Featuring genuinely charming trailers accompanied by a few good laughs and with many calling the film “Toy Story with animals”, this certainly could be the best effort yet from the studio. So is it a bit of a hiss take or furfection?

The plot, set in New York City, concerns Jack the Jack Russell Terrier (voiced by Louis C.K.) who leads an idyllic life with his lovely owner Katie (Ellie Kemper), before things are thrown into disarray when she brings home Newfoundland-like mongrel Duke (Eric Stonestreet). As the two struggle to get along, a park incident strands them both on the streets, and as their friends try to find them, Duke and Jack will have to work together to survive persistent animal catchers, streetwise strays out for revenge against mankind and other perils, as they try to get back home. Containing elements of Oliver & Company, Toy Story, Bolt and Up, this animated feature is not quite as good as its influences, nor as poignant as you hoped but still offers a lot of smile inducing fun for the family audience it aims to please…and does.

The Secret Life of Pets is a film bookended by greatness, starting with a real joyful embrace of its core concept. Featuring moments that speak directly to animal lovers, Brian Lynch, Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio’s script understands animals and the early moments of the film, that has our pets ransacking fridges and tossing around furniture, are brilliant. Likewise the film’s affectionate closing moments really highlight the bond that people share with their pets and warmly reflects that relationship onscreen. Sadly, the issues arise from the central journey the film takes, which struggles to be as funny as the insights into how our beloved pets think and act. There are a lot of enjoyable moments but the concept feels like it could have been utilised more than it was as, much like Lawrence Guterman’s Cats & Dogs, it is a great underpinning for a movie.

Don’t get us wrong; the film is very fast paced and full of energy, with its heart in the right place but despite being billed as Toy Story with animals, the film never reaches such heights on an emotional or sophisticated level. Though there are some neat references to pop culture and film, as well as a well placed gag concerning society’s growing obsession with YouTube cat videos. Still, despite the strong start and finish and a lot of effective action sequences and charm, the main body does miss the mark a few times. However, in spite of some comic missteps and an overthought narrative (it tries a bit too hard to make the story a big city wide adventure when it doesn’t need to be), The Secret Life of Pets does its job in entertaining more often than not.

It helps that the film stars a pleasant cast of characters, with enthusiastic voicework, as Max and Duke become a great screen duo eventually- see a Sausagetopia scene- but Lake Bell’s lethargic and ever so slightly selfish cat Chloe steals scenes aplenty. True the lack of a proper villain in place of Kevin Hart’s rather annoying rabbit Snowball is a bit of a setback but with characters like the sneaky Ozone the Sphynx cat (Steve Coogan), Tiberius the Hawk (Albert Brooks), lovestruck Pomeranian Gidget (Jenny Slate) and Pops (Dana Carvey) the paralysed Bassett Hound, there are plenty of characters here to entertain a wide range of viewers, even if some (Ozone especially) deserve more screen time.

The Secret Life of Pets may not be as great as you hoped it would be but it is still a fun little film with animation that is colourful and awash in this sunny hue that makes it really attractive on the eye. However a greater, and slightly unexpected high point, is Alexandre Desplat’s scoring, which is not just a reliably pleasant audible backdrop but is a real Americana score, evoking a ‘60s New York cinema vibe. It is a very smooth and well-worked soundtrack, showcasing moments of dark foreboding, playful whimsy and bustling energy with real panache. The Secret Life of Pets does not innovatively flourish like Rango and Zootropolis, nor does it grasp the heart like Dreamworks’ How To Train Your Dragon films or Pixar’s poignant back catalogue but even in this competitive age of animated cinema, it is a pleasing viewing experience. The film is purely intended as a fun time for animal lovers and this reviewer felt like giving one of his own animals a hug afterwards, so job done really.

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS / CERT: U / DIRECTORS: CHRIS RENAUD, YARROW CHENEY / SCREENPLAY: BRIAN LYNCH, CINCO PAUL, KEN DAURIO / STARRING: LOUIS C.K, KEVIN HART, STEVE COOGAN, ERIC STONESTREET, ELLIE KEMPER / RELEASE DATE: 24TH JUNE

Expected Rating: 9/10

Actual Rating:

Following on from the hit short Call Girl, not to mention working on several big name genre features, Jill ‘Sixx’ Gevargizian returns with another work of art that shows her sublime touch with the genre and validates the praise we’ve already heaped on the rising star of modern horror.

The premise of The Stylist is a very simple one: Claire (Townsend) is working late in her salon, waiting for her last client of the day. When Mandy (Plas) arrives, she’s full of excitement for her swanky business party and wants to look her best; who knows, she may even make a good enough impression to get that promotion she’s longed for.

Accepting a large glass of red wine while Claire works her wonders, Mandy soon begins to drop off to sleep…

As usual with short films, the less one knows about the plot before going in, the better. This is certainly true of The Stylist, as we’re taken on a shocking ride – visually and emotionally – during the fourteen minute running time. With a background in hair styling herself, writer/director Jill Gevargizian shoots the otherwise mundane routine of washing and drying hair as though it’s a Cordon-bleu cookery show (or perhaps Hannibal’s cuisine sequences), with Claire caressing Mandy’s blonde locks with a tender longing. Which, of course, makes what comes next all the more shocking. 

Najarra Townsend, who was so sickeningly compulsive in Contracted, is once again superb as Claire. She’s a multi-layered character who goes far beyond cinematic psycho; it’s certainly difficult to elaborate on that without spoiling the intricacies of the story, but rest assured, it’s far from clichéd or predictable.

Special mention must be made for cinematographer Robert Patrick Stern; the film looks stunning, and there’s not a wasted shot thanks to John Pata’s editing and Eric Haven’s screenplay (from Jill’s original story). The score (by Nicholas Elert) is moody, mournful, and unobtrusively atmospheric.

The Stylist has already won awards at its sole festival screening, and we wouldn’t be surprised if more followed. It’s encouraging to see the leap in confidence of the director from Call Girl and the micro-shorts like Grammy and Police Brutality; she patiently tells the story without feeling the need to rush into crowd-pleasing gore sequences and the like. They are there, though, and the wait certainly pays off. It’s not the bloodletting that is the kick for The Stylist, though. The climax is much more affecting than a simple shock. Keep an eye open for this one; you won’t want to miss it.

THE STYLIST (SHORT FILM) / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: JILL GEVARGIZIAN / SCREENPLAY: ERIC HAVENS / STARRING: NAJARRA TOWNSEND, JENNIFER PLAS, ANGELA DUPUIE / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Gods of Egypt is quite possibly one of the most impossible films to have been made in modern times, but impossible in the sense that it shouldn’t even exist at all. It is one of the worst films of 2016, and while it is entertaining, the entertainment factor is completely unintentional and you would struggle to keep your eyes away from the screen. By being loud, boisterous, and bombastic in its sense of adventure, the film insists that it’s good, but it never lets up once. It’s as laughably bad as Joel Schumacher’s version of Batman, but is also very reminiscent of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, with these all-so powerful gods being so pathetic, they don’t possess any power whatsoever, unless they transform into this horrendous Iron Man/Transformers-like Animality (except for Geoffrey Rush, who for some reason just grows in size).

Everything in the film fails across the board, from the casting, the direction, the writing, the VFX work, the cinematography, the action sequences and so on. While it is true that the whole controversy of whitewashing the cast, instead of casting Middle-Eastern actors, sticks out like a sore thumb, the whole movie is woefully miscast. With the exception of Daredevil‘s Elodie Yung (who actually kind of gets away with it), there is not one great singular piece of casting in the whole film, and unsurprisingly, everyone speaks with a British accent (again with the exception for Geoffrey Rush, who almost sounds Scottish). You don’t really have any attachment to any of these characters, the generic human couple in the thief Bek (Brenton Thwaites) and his girlfriend (Courtney Eaton) are never relatable, and you never really give a hoot about whether she’s dying and if he can save her life.

There is so much awkward humour in the film, you never find yourself laughing, but when the movie tries to be serious, dramatic or clever, you would find yourself in stitches. The direction falls flat, with no clear sense of pace or fluidity in its execution, resulting in what is a total mess of a film. The CGI looks so artificially synthetic; it makes the graphics of next-gen console video games look superior by comparison. In fact, it’s even worse than the Star Wars prequel trilogy in terms of how the CGI is utilised. The action scenes are so incredibly gargantuan and over-bloated, that it is evident that every fight took place within a giant green-screen soundstage. Oh, and why does every single fight scene have to have a 360° spinning-cam?! 

The film’s veracity and total commitment is so amazing, it’s completely baffling, and everyone involved must’ve known how bad this was going to turn out. The only exception to that being director Alex Proyas (the man who gave us The Crow, Dark City and I, Robot), who is so in love with his own catastrophe, that he had the gall to call out on reviewers, who are just as baffled and confused by the film’s existence, call them “deranged idiots” and criticise them for not understanding the film. This film pulls from great Egyptian lore and mythology, and even the experts on this topic would’ve been horrified by how this is represented in mainstream culture. Even the Earth is shown to be flat instead of spherical in this film!

Gods of Egypt is this decade’s Batman & Robin or Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, being loud, colourful, gaudy and obnoxious in every possible sense. Honestly, it makes 300: Rise of an Empire look like cinematic art in comparison. It’s so long it overstays its welcome and it fails on every possible level, but at least it can make you laugh at how bad it is sometimes, although whether that’s good for anyone’s health or not remains to be seen.

GODS OF EGYPT / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: ALEX PROYAS / SCREENPLAY: MATT SAZAMA, BURK SHARPLESS / STARRING: BRENTON THWAITES, NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU, CHADWICK BOSEMAN, GERARD BUTLER, ELODIE YUNG, GEOFFREY RUSH, COURTNEY EATON / RELEASE DATE: 17TH JUNE

A psychological art film created by Kyle Broom delves into the world of pompous fame chasers. Broom plays on the stereotypes of arty socialites who become so consumed with their own egos and work. It’s an interesting allegory for self-obsession and the consequences of this. Whilst making a film about art, it seems as though the director is attempting to produce a work of art himself. Does he succeed? It kind of depends on what his true intentions were, Tabloid Vivant has a strange and surreal plot, with scenes that are very much out of place in style and story. It’s very much an art house film in which pretty much anything goes, and we can all look at this with a different perspective.

It’s a strange concept of two unlikely lovers using and abusing one another as they attempt to gain recognition for their united but individual pieces of work. One a writer, the other a technical artist isolate themselves in their friend’s cabin in the woods. They soon begin to lose control of their work and behaviour as they live off a dangerous diet of alcohol, sex, and paint fumes. Broom has a very interesting style of mixing realism with absurdity, he uses a lot of archive footage to give visual nuggets during scenes of lengthy dialogue and exposition, an attempt to distract us from the mundane.

Although the lush cinematography and cool soundtrack give the film a pleasant aesthetic that allows you to revel in its warped surroundings, it is empty of enough story and substance to save the film from its lackadaisical tendencies. It seems as though it would have been best played as a short form film rather than a feature. It isn’t long but feels very long-drawn when really we want to get to the nitty and gritty of these two unpleasant characters and see them at their worst.

The final act is when it finally gets interesting, the couple have become so consumed by this new revolution of art that they have forgotten how to live in the real world, they become violent and grotesque. Their attempt to save the painting from prying eyes leads to rather unfortunate circumstances. If you can get over the pretentious and stuffy first half of the film, you will be rewarded with a somewhat unique experience in the wacky and deranged department.

TABLOID VIVANT / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: KYLE BROOM / STARRING: JESSE WOODROW, TAMZIN BROWN, CHRISTOPHER CARLISLE, AMBER FRIENDLY / RELEASE DATE: TBC