Review Category: Movie

THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT

God exists – he lives in Brussels.

This bold proclamation is the starting point for a comedic fantasy from Belgium, France and Luxemburg, in which God is portrayed as a mean-spirited bully who lives in a drab apartment with his wife and young daughter, the other member of the family having left years ago, only to go and spout a load of hippy nonsense about love and get himself nailed to a cross…

God spends his days chain smoking in his dressing gown, either locked away in a room of filing cabinets which stretch to infinity, screaming at his computer and creating new laws of universal annoyance (when you get in the bath, the phone will ring or bread and jam will always fall jam side down – that sort of thing), or making life miserable for his placid wife and rebellious daughter, a girl who has never been allowed outside of the family home.

But when Jesus tells his sister that there’s a way out through the washing machine, Ea crashes God’s computer, sending out texts to everyone with the dates of their death, and heads off into the outside world to find six apostles of her own, write a New Testament and hopefully change the way the world and humanity is heading. Meanwhile, God sets out to bring her back leaving Mum, a goddess herself, alone to spring clean…

Yes, that’s right, a washing machine is the gateway to heaven, if heaven is where God lives. And that’s not the only bizarre notion in a film, which strains for, and sometimes achieves, a sense of whimsy. Along the way we see God getting beaten up by a gang of thugs for eating out of a bin, a woman who seems to have had no kind of happiness in her life since she lost her arm as a child (some disabled people may find that notion a little cringeworthy) falling in love with a man who tried to shoot her, Catherine Deneauve have a love affair with a gorilla, and a sundry other ridiculous plot devices designed to show us that time is short, life is precious and we need to make the most of it.

Back in 1991, writer-director Jaco Van Dormael created a gem of a film called Toto the Hero where fantasy and childhood were explored to touching effect, but in his new effort, there isn’t a satisfying sense of purpose to the story. It’s quite sweet and gentle and tries at times to be profound, as if the crew has been shown Amelie on a loop. Indeed there are touching moments, but what does it all add up to? Not very much really, unless God confined to a workhouse, whilst Goddess creates flowery skies and allows us to defy gravity, is what the meaning of life is all about. You can’t help feeling once the film is over, that it should be about something more.

THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: JACO VAN DORMAEL / SCREENPLAY: JACO VAN DORMAEL, THOMAS GUNZIG / STARRING: BENOÎT POELVOORDE, CATHERINE DENEUVE, FRANÇOIS DAMIENS / RELEASE DATE: 25TH MARCH

PANDORICA

The dystopian, post-apocalyptic, thriller is a well-trodden genre. Film has seen the world destroyed so many times now that chances are, one of the many films depicting the fall of the modern world, will have cracked just how it is going to happen. In these many films the world is a sand strewn wasteland, a broken metropolis, or- in this case- a regression back to our primal human past. A great filmmaker can make any of these work as exciting platforms for a survival narrative and in Tom Paton (making his directorial/writing debut), we have just that with the fun Pandorica.

Much like last year’s Mad Max: Fury Road, the exposition as to how the world fell is relatively vague and not especially necessary, explained through only a few sentences in the opening. However the mythos surrounding this “new world” of tribes and trials is much further developed and as a result rather involving. The plot simply concerns the leadership trials of the Varosha Tribe, whereby three of the best young are chosen to participate in these deadly trials to determine a new leader. Led into the vast woodlands by current leader Nus (Luke D’Silva), the three young warriors Eiren (Jade-Fenix Hobday), Ares (Marc Zammit) and Thete (Adam Bond) await their trials, only for an unexpected task to stumble their way.

Fans of dystopian cinema will pick up on noticeable tropes here in a film that is set in a post-apocalyptic world but is actually more concerned in telling a fast paced survival story. Paton’s writing is simple and effective, seemingly drawing on influences as wide as Neil Marshall and John McTiernan’s Predator. At just over 70 minutes in length, the film doesn’t waste any time in getting into its story and does a good job at establishing its own mythology in the process. Nus’ lead figure recalls the legends of the tribe and its traditions and while some moments play out as expected; the result is still an exciting and occasionally brutal thriller. The film recalls some of Marshall’s work aesthetically, with the tribal elements evoking his historical drama Centurion and his post-apocalyptic Doomsday. While the film’s brilliant shadowy, animalistic, antagonists ‘The Others’, recall the Yautja from Predator.

Apparently taking 11 days to shoot and costing around £70,000, this film flows better than some Hollywood productions and near enough avoids CG technology entirely and thus looks authentic and feels primeval, thanks mostly to the great make-up and costume design. Paton’s traditional narrative may boast the odd convention but the film does not shy away from that and instead of breaking new ground, it embraces its genre and delivers a solid pace and fantastic camerawork, with some crisp and wild cinematography, that makes the best use of the film’s eye-catching Billericay, Essex and Lake District locations. The idea of divine right being claimed by those with great power or the dissention among the group of survivors, are common tropes and Paton’s film effectively uses them to interesting effect, with a great deal of suspense been built thanks to the scoring by Chris Garvey, Max Sweiry and Steve Crompton, which occasionally has an edge of John Carpenter (another clear influence on the director, as evident by the trimmed pacing) about it.

The characters may fit some traditional molds but the acting is pretty darn efficient all round, with only the odd line of dialogue feeling out of place. The script is mostly serious but the occasional light moment trickles in and helps keep the character camaraderie fresh. Hobday is great in the lead as the strong-willed if unsure of herself warrior Eiren, Zammit is petulant and conceited as cohort/competition Ares and Bond is a likable presence as Thete. You care what happens to the group and their wise guide Nus (well portrayed by D’Silva) and this means that the story and its villains can play out to successful effect. Fine support comes in Laura Marie Howard as Flinn (a character who’s introduction really marks the start of the main plot), while ‘The Others’ are a great creation, and Bentley Kalu seems to have a ball going crazy as their leader 9.

Pandorica is a great treat for fans of the genre and makes no apologies for embracing certain conventions, especially as it uses them to tell a great story of ascending to claim that which you never thought you could. Paton directs with an eye for suspense and savage beauty and, while the film is very brisk, it gives this low budget independent film a real authenticity and focus. It will be interesting to see where Paton goes from here because for a feature debut, this is very impactful stuff indeed. Much Recommended.

PANDORICA / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: TOM PATON / STARRING: JADE-FENIX HOBDAY, MARC ZAMMIT, ADAM BOND, BENTLEY KALU, LUKE D’SILVA, LAURA MARIE HOWARD, AMED HASHIMI / RELEASE DATE: 1ST APRIL (SCREENING IN SELECT CINEMAS)

EL CIRCULO DE RAYNARD

The producers for El Circulo De Raynard would have you believe this film successfully blends together several different filmmaking styles. Documentary (albeit of the faux variety), traditional narrative and found footage are “expertly” combined, to produce a film unlike any you will have seen.

The film’s premise revolves around a film crew investigating the story of Frederich Raynard, a Nazi war-criminal who escaped capture at the end of World War II and fled to rural Spain. Settling there he established a cult. As the film crew investigate, they discover supernatural rituals and a far-reaching cover-up that will put all of their lives at risk.

Given the low budget the filmmakers worked with, El Circulo De Raynard is an accomplished piece of work. There are rare moments that point towards a lack of resources such as the depiction of any on-screen violence, but this is possibly over-critical. In truth, there are few signs of how tightly the costs needed to be monitored. While this should not be a decisive caveat with which to the judge the film, it is still a point worth mentioning.

Further positives can be found within the intriguing and the complex plotting. For the most part the twists and turns are carefully mapped out as, while the team delves into the mystery, you discover what they do. On the whole the cast perform well, and inhabit their roles with just enough conviction as to ensure disbelief is kept to a minimum. Issues begin to arise, however, when the story falls victim to over-complication in the final act, and you find yourself preoccupied with trying to unravel the convolutions rather than just going with them. At this point the film slips into moments of random contrivance that detracts from what had gone before, and fails to make the kind of dramatic impact the filmmakers were surely hoping for.

Don’t misunderstand; El Circulo De Raynard is an impressive film for what it is; but it is one that demands a bigger budget, one that deserves the freedom that comes from the resources necessary to polish some of those rough edges, that at times become just too distracting. In trying to sell the film as a genre-hybrid, the filmmakers have also done their own film a disservice. One focussed style would have given El Circulo De Raynard a stronger central theme and premise, whereas instead the finale leaves you a little confused and disappointed.

EL CIRCULO DE RAYNARD / CERT: TBC / DIRECTORS: MARÍA VALLE, MANUEL VIDAL / SCREENPLAY: RAÚL GONZÁLEZ / STARRING: DAVID CARRIO, JOSÉ LUIS CHAVARRÍA, NATLIA DÍAZ / RELEASE DATE: UK RELEASE DATE TBA

THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT

God exists – he lives in Brussels.

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

So is 10 Cloverfield Lane, which dropped as suddenly and unexpectedly – or at least with as little fanfare – a sequel to Matt Reeves’ JJ Abrams backed blockbuster 2008 found footage monster movie Cloverfield or not? The clue’s in the title, of course; perhaps it’s Abrams himself, on board here as Producer through his prolific Bad Robot Productions brand, who summed it up best when he described this new movie as the “spiritual successor” to the earlier hit. It’s best to go into this one with no real preconceptions but certainly if you’re expecting a film just like the original Cloverfield you might be inclined towards disappointment at first…but not for long.

10 Cloverfield Lane is an intense, claustrophobic gut-punch of a movie. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Michelle who, in the film’s urgent opening sequence, desperately flees New Orleans to escape from her fiancé Ben (voiced by Bradley Cooper) for reasons unexplained. In the dead of the night her car plunges off the road and she awakes to find herself a prisoner in a concrete-walled cell, attached to a drip and fed and watered by the ursine Walter (Goodman) who tells her that “there’s been an attack” and that the outside world has been all but obliterated. Michelle is understandably dubious – Walter’s clearly a survivalist nutjob – and she soon finds that she’s not alone in Walters’s admittedly well-stocked hideaway. She meets Emmet (Gallagher Jnr) who apparently witnessed the attack and fled to the bunker. It soon becomes evident that something has happened outside and the trio settle into an uneasy existence underground, prepared to sit out the two years or so it might take for conditions above ground to sustain human life. But when the bunker’s air filtration system breaks down, only Michelle can fix it and in doing so she makes a deadly and dangerous discovery, which changes everything for the survivors…

10 Cloverfield Lane grips like a vice from the outset and doesn’t let go for its hundred-odd minute runtime. The film is restless and uneasy, punctuated by a sense that something just isn’t right here, that the whole story isn’t being told. Edgy and discomfiting, we’re never allowed to sit back and relax; we’re waiting for the next trauma, the next moment of explosive confrontation. Winstead is brilliant as the resourceful, desperate Michelle but Goodman is quite astonishing as gruff man-mountain Walter and the relationship that develops between the pair crackles with tension and barely-disguised threat. The film’s slow burn eventually erupts into fire and violence and, without drifting too far into spoiler territory, it’s fair to suggest that fans of Cloverfield frustrated by the intimate human drama of the first hour or so of Cloverfield Lane are likely to feel a bit more at home with the extraordinary turn of events which send the last reel hurtling off into an entirely different, but no less exhilarating, direction.

But that’s not to suggest that anyone, fan of the original or not, is likely to be seriously disappointed or frustrated by 10 Cloverfield Lane. This is a gripping, unnerving drama (developed, incidentally, from a spec script originally entirely-unconnected to Cloverfield) which manages, in the end, to stay in the ‘world’ of the first film without slavishly aping its style or even its scenario. The film marries its sensational performances to an irresistible and uncomfortable story to deliver an intimate, almost low-key experience, which is sure to live longer in the memory than many of the brasher flashier blockbusters that lie in wait for audiences across the rest of the year. A wonderful and welcome surprise, a visit to 10 Cloverfield Lane is highly recommended.

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: DAN TRACHTENBERG / SCREENPLAY: JOSH CAMPBELL, MATTHEW STUCKEN, DAMIEN SHAZELLE / STARRING: JOHN GOODMAN, MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD, JOHN GALLAGHER JNR. / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

THE BOY

The Walking Dead’s Lauren Cohan makes her big screen debut in this daft devil doll drama as Greta, a young American nanny fleeing her own domestic crisis and taking up residence at an unfeasibly sprawling creepy old house in the English countryside. She’s here to look after Brahms, the eight year-old son of a surprisingly elderly couple who are off; it appears, on a long-overdue holiday. Much to Greta’s surprise Brahms turns out to be an eerie-looking doll with cold, porcelain features and empty staring eyes. Greta is left with list of do’s and don’ts for the immobile infant’s care and attention, while his haunted-looking folks are away. His ‘parents’ are clearly quite nuts but instead of telling them “It’s a puppet, you’re both mentalists, I’m off” and heading straight back to the set of The Walking Dead Greta doesn’t seem especially disturbed and decides to stay in the creaking old house for months (she needs the dosh) looking after Brahms whose needs, you’d think, are likely to be pretty spartan.

For much of its running time The Boy is both very dull and really very silly. The thrills come oozing out of the screen like cliché-filled treacle; Greta has dreams in which Brahms is alive (a trick the film pulls twice), she receives strange crackling phone calls (it’s a child’s voice!) and she hears odd sounds all around the house. Have no fear, it’s just the creaking of the script; it seems that Brahms isn’t just a grotesque china child, he’s up and about hiding Greta’s shoes and playing classical music at eardrum-shattering volume. Greta’s only friend is Malcolm (Evans), the family’s friendly neighbourhood grocery boy/man and he becomes understandably sceptical of Greta’s claims that Brahms is alive and well, and moving around the house quite happily. Eventually Greta not only has Brahms and his antics to worry about, but her overpowering boyfriend has tracked her down and is determined to drag her back home to the US of A. Brahms will be a bit pissed about that…

The Boy is saved from the dumper by a useful, if not entirely surprising, narrative twist, which does at least try to pull the rug out from under us, even as it sends the film hurtling into classic mad slasher territory. But it’s far from enough to restore the film’s tenuous credibility; the whole scenario demands too much suspension of disbelief and the leaps in logic the story has to make to even vaguely hang together are, in the end, just too much to allow us to take the thing even remotely seriously. On the plus side, director Bell does his best to keep the film’s motor running, even when the fuel tank is perilously low and it’s nice to see Cohan given the chance to do a bit more than shout “Glen!” every now and again before thrusting a knife into a zombie’s skull. But as a film The Boy doesn’t offer her much of an opportunity to shine, although she hurls herself into the incredible and fatuous story with a gusto it rarely deserves. This is one Boy, which doesn’t really need to be seen or heard.

THE BOY / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: WILLIAM BRENT BELL / SCREENPLAY: STACEY MENEAR / STARRING: LAUREN COHAN, RUPERT EVANS, JIM NORTON, DIANA HARDCASTLE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

LONDON HAS FALLEN

In 2013, Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer) directed an action film called Olympus Has Fallen, that saw North Korean terrorists take the White House down. Only for one man to save the president, the country and kick ass aplenty and make the odd wisecrack while doing it. This was a film that, this writer once described as “having a screenplay that seemed like it was written by Duke Nukem”, and that was a plus point. For all its cheesiness and dubious politics, the film was a bit of fun, not to be taken too seriously and it worked. So, a sequel was obviously on the menu, and this time it is London that comes under fire in Iranian-Swedish director Babak Najafi’s London Has Fallen. Could be fun right?

The film sees head of the secret service Mike Banning (Gerard Butler)- the aforementioned one man ass kicker- accompany the President of the United States (Aaron Eckhart) to the state funeral of the recently passed British Prime Minister. This gathering of world leaders is heavily guarded but has been infiltrated by a sinister group of terrorists, with the soul intent of crushing their enemies. Only Banning’s set of skills and limited allies can save the President, and thus the Western world, from annihilation. London Has Fallen should have been a fun throwaway action flick but sadly, where last time there seemed to be a simplistic charm on display, this sequel has an embraced and bafflingly stupid sense of finger waving jingoism about it.

Olympus Has Fallen was far from subtle but it knew what it was, nobody expected any political commentary (not a bad thing to attempt if you know what the hell you are doing) and this sequel wastes an unbelievably starry (the opening credits raise your eyebrows) cast on a film that, in trying to anchor a message just ends up as insensitively timed hogwash. Opening with a drone strike, chock full of innocent death, the film seems to attempt to make a statement on collateral damage in war, only to throw out a rather racist “sod it, shoot the rag heads” mentality instead. The film even ends in a very similar manner to which it began. Nothing has been learnt and at any moment you expect “Team America, F**k Yeah” to blare out from behind Butler’s protagonist, as ‘merica saves the world because everyone else are ‘useless pansies’. Besides the racial issues that come with it though, action movies are not pacifist pictures, nor should they be but when the lead character is stripped of emotion, humanity or humour and his actions are as incendiary as the supposed villains’, “from F***headistan or wherever” (yep, that’s an actual line in the movie), who do you root for? Bryan Mills, John Rambo, John Matrix, Snake Plissken, Sarah Conner, hell even Harry Callahan had appealing qualities, Banning did last time, now not so much.

There is admittedly the odd effective sequence, and you can laugh at how straight they play it- seriously, the tone is so unsmiling it is as though the makers thought this would be a modern day action classic. All this is not helped by the fact that the first third of the film seems determined to go to blockbuster-sized levels of destruction but the effects are atrocious and play out like PS2 cut-scenes. Why on earth they went bigger, when the effects were not suited to it (another thing the first movie realised) is beyond us? Butler did a fine job the first time but this is barely the same character, Freeman just looks shocked for the whole duration and Aaron Eckhart is only there to say how bad every situation that he and Butler’s ridiculously macho flag waver walk into is. The rest of the cast is slapped into atypical roles, each more unmemorable than the last. True, the film does effectively twang a Neanderthal nerve every now and then but overall this feels like a Donald Trump rally with bigger pyrotechnics. In fact, was “Let’s Make America great again”, the poster quote?

LONDON HAS FALLEN / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: BABAK NAJAFI / SCREENPLAY: CREIGHTON ROTHENBERGER, KATRIN BENEDIKT, CHAD ST. JOHN, CHRISTIAN GUDEGAST / STARRING: GERARD BUTLER, AARON ECKHART, MORGAN FREEMAN, ALON MONI ABOUTBOUL, ANGELA BASSETT, MELISSA LEO, ROBERT FORSTER, CHARLOTTE RILEY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

KUNG FU PANDA 3

Since the hugely successful first film in 2008, the Kung Fu Panda series has been a consistent pleasure from Dreamworks Animation. Combining great visuals, thoughtful stories, exciting battles and animal characters have proved a winner and now we arrive at the third film in the franchise, a point at which many have crumbled (Shrek, Spider-Man, X-Men, Terminator). So how has the martial arts mammal master fared? Well, we are relieved to say, rather well.

Kung Fu Panda 3 sees Dragon Warrior Po (Jack Black) and the Furious Five masters (Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Jackie Chan) continuing their journey of Kung Fu mastery, when Po rediscovers his family roots, with the appearance of his father Li Shan (Bryan Cranston). But when a new threat, in the villainous Kai (J.K. Simmons), is using the spirit world to make his own powers stronger, Po must train his people and try to fend off this new menace. The promotional material may bear (no point intended) elements that suggest the series has run its course- the poster depicts Po with arms full of Panda cubs- but thankfully, this is no overstuffed, cash-grabbing, threequel and is another darn fun entry in this deservingly popular series.

The film is visually stupendous and the manga influences leap from the screen, alongside the enthusiastic and culturally effective scoring from Hans Zimmer. The film is a colourful joy, with animation and characters that equally excel as vibrant, likable and interesting components of this animated sequel. The opening sequence alone is among the finest in the series, with fantastic and aesthetically interesting action, that kicks off what is an unexpected narrative direction. The spiritual element of the story works in broadening the series mythology and actually enlarges the franchises horizon, so it has many directions it could go in the future. Even the father (or rather double dad- with the chirpy presence of Po’s noodle making foster dad Mr. Ping (James Hong) and son dynamic at the centre of the plot works well enough, albeit initially it feels a tad jarring, before the daddy issue elements find their feet.

The aforementioned excellent opening and the traditionally structured final third (warrior training the inexperienced allies against an overpowering evil) are very well placed into this story of power and peace, that teaches kids how the pursuit of power can destroy whilst the search for inner peace can empower, heck some adults could learn from that. Where the film is let down a little is in the central stretch, which occasionally lags a bit and while enjoyable overall, it does take a while for the plot to come into its own. Plus, despite the fact kids will likely laugh along, some adults may tire of hearing “woah” and “awesome” before long. Still, for the odd failing joke or slow moment of storytelling, the plot has far more hits than misses and does come with its innovative spiritual pursuits, with the paternal relationship, once properly explored, becoming rather poignant mid-film and linking up with the events of Kung Fu Panda 2.

The voice cast is stacked and whether returning or fresh, they all feel into the parts and up for the fun, with nobody really seeming to phone it in. Jack Black is his usual excitable self as Po, as is Hong as Mr. Ping and Bryan Cranston is a great addition as Po’s biological dad Li Shan and, come the emotional moment mid-film, his endearing tone makes the character warm and appealing. The Furious Five crew are all again well placed in their parts, with Jolie’s Master Tigress once more being the most focal member of the group, though Cross’ Master crane, Rogen’s Master Mantis, Liu’s Master Vipress and Chan’s Master Monkey get some dialogue and banter in. Hoffman is a joy, as always, as Master Shifu and it is great to have Randall Duk Kim’s Yoda-like Master Oogeway back. However, once again, the key to the film’s success is in a great villain and in Simmons’ Kai, the film is blessed, as Kai is a worthy successor to Ian McShane’s Tai Lung in the first film and Gary Oldman’s Lord Shen in the second.

Kung Fu Panda 3 has its flaws but they are not plentiful and the momentum of this series continues, in what is another accessible, visually inventive and punchy entry in this reliably enjoyable franchise. Kung Fu Panda 4 is fine by us.

KUNG FU PANDA 3 / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: JENNIFER YUH NELSON AND ALESSANDRO CARLONI / SCREENPLAY: JONATHAN AIBEL, GLENN BERGER / STARRING: JACK BLACK, ANGELINA JOLIE, J.K. SIMMONS, DUSTIN HOFFMAN, BRYAN CRANSTON, SETH ROGEN, LUCY LIU, DAVID CROSS, JACKIE CHAN, JAMES HONG, RANDALL DUK KIM / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

HIGH-RISE

Ben Wheatley continues to make a name for himself with an increased budget in this adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s cult novel High Rise.

Dr Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) moves into the High Rise, a vast apartment block that has everything that its occupants could need. As the tower rises, the economic status of its residents does the same. As intermittent power failures and other problems start to affect the building, the social order starts to turn to chaos.

High-Rise has aspects of Wheatley’s previous work in its DNA; the violence and gore of Kill List, the dark humour of Sightseers, the kaleidoscopic visuals and surrealism of A Field in England. However, the production is obviously a step up from his previous work, creating a technically more accomplished film. High Rise is Wheatley’s best looking film yet, whether it’s Laing reflected over and over in the opulent lift, a clear reference to the shot in Citizen Kane, or the juxtaposition between the lush green garden at the top of the high rise, with the bleak industrial landscape just outside of its walls. Amy Jump’s script keeps High-Rise to the book’s time zone of the mid-1970’s. As such the technology of the film has a wonderfully analogue feel to it, contrasted to the large slabs of concrete that make up the building. The book’s subject matter also still remains prescient with the class system and inequality still an issue today.

Wheatley has also assembled a great cast. Hiddleston is magnetic as Laing and helps you get drawn into the film. Equally enjoyable is Luke Evans, as the increasingly erratic and hard partying alpha male Richard Wilder, who must surely be considered a co-lead. Sienna Miller continues to happily surprise and turn up where you least expect and Elizabeth Moss tries her hand at an English accent, with mostly positive results.

As the high rise descends into chaos and disorder, so, unfortunately, does the film. An entertaining and interesting build up in the first half leads to not a lot in the second. The film’s initial work, in drawing you in setting up a surreal and blackly comic world, ends up just leaving you with not much, as the film reveals that it doesn’t really have anywhere to go or much else to do. As such, the second half starts to drag and the film pushes at its bloated two-hour running time, as it just piles up more debauchery and chaos on top of itself.

High-Rise is Wheatley’s best film since Kill List but it is still beset with problems. It often looks great but an enjoyable first half gives way to a dull and dragging second half, due to the film’s lack of focus and drive. There are things to admire and enjoy but High-Rise can’t help but be a bit of a disappointment.

HIGH-RISE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: BEN WHEATLEY / SCREENPLAY: AMY JUMP / STARRING: TOM HIDDLESTON, SIENNA MILLER, JEREMY IRONS, LUKE EVANS / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 18TH

THE FOREST

Modern horror movies tend to demand that their audiences are willing to make huge leaps of faith regarding the behaviour and motivations of their lead characters. Take The Forest, for example; Natalie Dormer’s Sara Price receives a phone call from the Japanese Police, informing her that her troubled teacher sister Jess is missing, presumed dead, having been seen entering the Aokigahara Forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. The forest – in reality, as well as within the film’s fiction – is notorious as a final destination for the suicidal and is also reputedly haunted by the angry spirits (yurei) of those left to die. Sara, dutiful sister, jets 6,000 miles on what might seem to be an unlikely, fruitless, needle-in-a-haystack search to find her missing sister in the 14 square mile wilderness of the forest. At first though, accompanied by a friendly guide and an intrigued journalist she chats up in a bar, it looks as though Sara’s quest has drawn fruit with ease, as in the middle of the forest she stumbles upon a tent she recognises as belonging to her sister…but Jess is nowhere in sight.

The Forest wears its influences unashamedly on its sleeve (or perhaps on its backpack). There’s a bit of Blair Witch here, a touch of the Japanese ghost story and psychological horror yarn there; but it’s a pleasantly exhilarating brew that rewards in ways we might not expect from a film that, superficially, appears pretty generic and formulaic. What really makes The Forest work – apart from a persuasive performance from Dormer as the steely Sara – is its location. Filming in Tokyo initially gives the movie the uncomfortable air of a travelogue but when the action switches to the forest (a substitute location in Serbia as filming isn’t allowed in the real Aokigahara), the film switches gear and becomes edgy, claustrophobic and occasionally unsettling. Zada revels in the opportunities afforded by the dense, stifling environment to really ratchet up the disorientating sense of unease, and Sara’s determination to find her sister becomes almost obsessive as she plunges further into the forest. We’re never sure if what she’s seeing and experiencing is genuine or just a hallucination conjured up by her eerie surroundings. But as friends appear to become enemies and Sara begins to lose control of her sense of what’s right and what’s real, it seems that ghosts and memories from her own past are in danger of overwhelming her, just as it seems as if her search is coming to an end…

The Forest doesn’t reinvent the horror movie but there are some decent creepy moments here and there and the obligatory something’s-appeared-out-of-nowhere jump scares, which suggests that although the movie’s hardly destined to figure on anyone’s ‘top ten horror movies’ list, it’s guaranteed to provide a few thrills and spills for the ninety-odd minutes you spend in its company in the multiplex.

THE FOREST / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JASON ZADA / SCREENPLAY: NICK ANTOSCA, SARAH CORNWELL, BEN KETAI / STARRING: NATALIE DORMER, TAYLOR KINNEY, EOIN MACKEN, YUKIYOSHI OZAWA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW