Category: Suspense

Civil War

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★Civil War

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Alex Garland

Written by: Alex Garland

Produced by: Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Gregory Goodman

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Nick Offerman, Wagner Moura, Jefferson White, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Greg Hill, Edmund Donovan.

‘Mines ahead.’

In a word, Civil War is unflinching.

Set in the near future, the fourth film directed by Alex Garland, follows war photographer, Lee (Kirsten Dunst), along with fellow journalist Joel (Wagner Moura) and veteran journalist Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) as they document a civil war in America.

The Western Forces, an armed alliance of states rebel against the federal government as the film opens out of focus, to a closeup of the president (Nick Offerman) prepping himself to tell lies to the nation, rehearsing in between flashes of war on the streets.

A crowd waits while soldiers hold machine guns.  The press take photos.  The soundtrack builds.  A young girl, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) with a camera gets in close to the action as pressure builds, as the violence builds with the music.

Jessie gets smacked in the face; unprotected, she puts herself in the face of violence until Lee shepherds her away.

Then a bomb explodes.

Then silence as Lee takes photos of the carnage.

Jessie wants to be just like Lee.

So when Lee and Joel decide to go to DC, to photograph and interview the president before the The Western Forces take over the capitol, forcing surrender, Jessie talks her way into coming along.

After decades of being a journalist, Sammy wants a lift a Charlottesville, not DC.  Not where journalists are views as combatants.  He doesn’t want in on their suicide pact.  And Lee doesn’t want to be burdened by a journalist who’s too old to run away.

It’s 857 miles to DC.

The countdown a timeline of the film as the four determined documenters of war make their way into an ever-increasing crisis of violence.

It gets brutal.

Civil War

There’s a callous tone to this film.  The violence has that element of senselessness that comes with war movies, Garland making a point not to sensationalise the violence, “‘It is exceptionally difficult’, Garland says, ‘to make a war movie that is, in fact, anti-war.’”

The perspective of the film is watching the journalists document the war, adding another dimension of psychological callousness, or how the callous mindset develops – Lee has a duty to record, wanting to capture that perfect shot.  The questions about what is happening is for other people to ask.

Joel is addicted to the adrenaline of being on the front line, ‘What a fucking rush.’

Jessie has never felt more alive as when she thought she was going to die.

It’s senseless and brutal.  But I couldn’t look away.

Civil War is a film that finds that edge, to walk that fine line to understand the need to document; the journalist not only risking life but also harnessing the ability to close the door on feeling empathy, even morality.

To only be the observer, a lens.

It’s disturbing.

The balance of that loss of humanity is the toll the job takes on Lee.

The superstar photographer, losing her belief in journalism.

Difficult themes to unpack and like Garland’s previous films (Men (2022), Annihilation (2018), Ex Machina (2014)) Civil War feels unique but not in a fantastical way; this time he’s grabbed the truth by the throat and has not held back shining a bright light on what people are capable of closing their eyes to – the journalists taking photos to show the world while closing their eyes to what they’re documenting.

And the point is made because this is a very well-made film: the camera work, the cast and performances, Kirsten Dunst of course, but Jesse Plemons as an unknown soldier asking the question, ‘What kind of American are you?’ is unforgettable.

Some of the images stain the mind and remain long after the credits roll.

I really don’t like war movies because of that senseless violence, but Civil War is worth seeing because there’s something different here, the unpacking of the complex psychology of the characters adds a thought-provoking darkness that is uniquely Alex Garland.

 

Oppenheimer

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.3/5)Oppenheimer

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Written for the Screen by: Christopher Nolan

Based on the Book: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martine J. Sherwin

Produced by: Emma Thomas p.g.a, Charles Roven p.g.a, Christopher Nolan p.g.a.

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damo, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck with Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh.

‘The most important thing to happen in the history of the world.’

When a film opens with a quote about Prometheus stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mankind to then be punished forever in hell, you know you’re in for a heavy ride.

And in the 3 hours of viewing, there was a lot to unpack; the foundation, however, of the film is a character study of J.  Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy): the father of the atomic bomb.

There are different threads in the story of the film, as the narrative follows main character Oppenheimer through his introduction, a flash forward in time, then back to his original research and forging of friendships and collaborators such Isidor Rabi (David Krumholtz), Niels Bohr (Kenneth Branagh) and yes, Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) (and kind of amazing to think of Einstein still alive less than 100 years ago).

At first the film is about the science, about Oppenheimer’s research into quantum mechanics and the idea of a star dying, cooling, the density getting greater and greater creating a gravitational pull so strong that it sucks in everything, even light.

This was the second wave of physicists exploring relativity after Einstein published his theory.

‘Algebra is like sheet music, can you hear the music?’

And Oppenheimer, overseas, absorbed all he could from the universities of England to Germany; he wanted to explore it all, then bring it back to America – no one was researching quantum mechanics in America.

He meets a girl, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) – a member of the Communist party.  His brother’s a member too.  His personal life is something that is called into question later, the later referenced in black and white, so there’s another layer to the story, like the love life of Oppenheimer is another layer to his personality.  His personal life with, later, wife Kitty (Emily Blunt) and children another story added to his life.

Then, World War II breaks out.  The atom has been successfully split.  Rumours of the Germans working on an atom bomb reach America.  They’re already two years ahead.

What choice do they have but to try to beat the Germans because if they don’t, the war, the world is ended.

This is where the suspense ramps up.

OPPENHEIMER

It’s the time of creation, collaboration, to experiment and research, the pressure to beat the Germans, while keeping the research secret from the Russians, the threat of spies and suspicion, so the thought of using the bomb is lost in the science of successfully making the weapon.

Then, it’s time for Trinity: the first ignition of the atom bomb’s power.

The way the explosion is captured on screen was like watching rage unfold over and over.

Nolan comes through loud and clear with the way he handles the suspense of the countdown to the explosion and the aftermath literally a tremor in the background of Oppenheimer’s world.

The play of sound and silence and the crackle and vibration all combine like Oppenheimer’s mind has just been set on fire.

There’s the image of many feet stomping and the world softening at the edges to let through a little bit of crazy.

And it feels like this is the end of the story.

But from the beginning, there’s the flash forwards to a time where Oppenheimer is being questioned about his part in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  And about his connections to the Communist Party and the suspicion of information leaked to the Russians.

As hinted in the opening of the film, there’s the stealing of fire, then there’s the punishment.

In the film, it feels like the aftermath.

Here is the exploration of guilt.

And there’s a distinct change in feeling as Nolan explores Oppenheimer’s character, showing his exposure as the image of him sitting naked – he layers the feeling.

There’s more to the story than the science and the suspense, Oppenheimer is also about the psychology of a world that now has the capacity to end it – the film continues, and yes it feels long, but the full circle of understanding Oppenheimer and the world’s response to the galactic event of the atom bomb being unleashed needed time to get the full extent of the very human response of the politicians, the scientists who helped create the atom bomb and Oppenheimer.

It’s complicated, suspenseful, political, scientific and psychological.  It’s a lot.

But that raging fire and those blurred edges and uncertainty around Oppenheimer’s character to then reveal the truth of all those involved in the creation of the bomb added up to a sophisticated film that demanded full attention.

Somehow, Nolan has captured an aberration using Oppenheimer as a voice.  And that takes brilliance.

 

Knock At The Cabin

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.8/5)

Rated: MKnock At The Cabin

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Screenplay by: M. Night Shyamalan and Steve Desmond & Michael Sherman

Based on the book: The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

Produced by: M. Night Shyamalan, Marc Bienstock, Ashwin Rajan

Starring: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Kristen Cui, Abby Quinn and Rupert Grint.

‘It’s time.’

There’s always the mystery, the waiting for the twist with M. Night Shyamalan movies – here, it felt like Shyamalan holding his nerve while adding touches, echoes of his previous films: the creaking of trees as the wind shifts through them while the characters wait and watch to see what monster will slowly come into view.

Instead of monsters, four people emerge.  But it’s Leonard (Dave Bautista) who first introduces himself to young Wen (Kristen Cui).  She’s catching crickets.

‘I’m just going to learn about you a little,’ she says.

Leonard helps.  He’s good at catching crickets.

They’re going to be friends.

Until his three colleagues show themselves: Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), Adriane (Abby Quinn) and Redmond (Rupert Grint).

They’re holding weapons made from axes and sledge hammers.

Wen gets scared and runs back to the cabin, back to her two dads, Daddy Andrew (Ben Aldridge) and Daddy Eric (William Ragsdale).  They’re a loving family.  Andrew and Eric promise each other to always be together, no matter what.

So when Leonard and his colleagues tell them they have to make a terrible choice to stop the apocalypse, they will always choose their family.

Even if the intruders say they have the most important job in the world.

Are they ‘Jehovah witnesses?’ asks Ben.

Knock at the Cabin is a serious film, with brutal and bloody moments.  The opening of sketches of crows and screaming faces.  But the tension is offset with light moments like these doomsayer’s wielding weapons being possibly Jehovah witnesses.

Not laugh at loud funny, but light.

The impending doom and the bloody is also a contrast to flashbacks to family: the love, the honesty; when Andrew and Eric first met Wen.

It’s genuinely sweet and adds weight to the choice they refuse to make.

The pacing of the story shows restraint making this one of Shyamalan’s better quality films.

It’s a deceptively simple structure, most of the film set within the cabin, that builds just the right amount of tension while playing with expectation.

The delivery was there to support the idea of the story: not too funny, nor too violent, or too caught up in the drama of the family, just light touches to suspend the reality of the extreme premise of ordinary people faced with the idea of the world ending.

 

Fall

Rated: MFall

Directed by: Scott Mann

Written by: Scott Mann, Jonathan Frank

Produced by: Christian Mercuri, James Harris, Mark Lane, Scott Mann, David Haring

Cinematography: Miguel ‘MacGregor’ Olaso

Starring: Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mason Gooding.

‘No trespassing.  Danger of death.’

Let me start by saying, I’m scared of heights.

So from the opening scene of vertical views down onto rock-climbers hanging onto cliffs and leaping for another hold.  My heart was pumping from the get-go.

And it didn’t stop.

Fall is relentless in ratcheting up the tension, truly, edge-of-seat viewing.

But there’s cheese.

Adrenaline junkies, Becky (Grace Caroline Currey), hubby, Dan (Mason Gooding) and best buddy, Hunter (Virginia Gardner) push their limits together.

Seemingly unstoppable, until the worst happens, leaving Bec devastated.  And her dad (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) concerned she’ll never snap out of her deepening grief.

It’s when Bec looks like she can’t go on, best buddy, she’s-my-cherry-pie, Hunter has the cure: climbing an abandoned radio tower via a rusty ladder, 2000ft into the air.

Time to tame fear, ‘And kick it’s arse.’

Cue the strings in the soundtrack.  Cringe.

Up to this point, I wasn’t convinced I was going to get into this movie, I’d just be on edge because of that insane height, standing on a pancake platform, Bec and Hunter about to fall any second.

Then those rusty bolts started rattling.

The camera work here pushes that feeling of vertigo and the thought of falling is always there as the girls hang off the edge of the tower to take selfies.

There’s a lot from Hunter’s online persona, Danger D and #LifeOverDeath moments.

But this, ‘kick fear in the dick,’ mentality gradually won me over – you get the vibe though, a bit twee.

Then the shots widen, pushing the sky into the background of these crazy climbers as the bolts start to fall and I’m gripping the arms of the chair.

It just keeps pushing that tension to the point I was thankful for some of the cheesy drama of the story.

It’s not ALL tension; there’s some room to breathe.

But wow not much.

Be prepared for a bracing thrill and some unexpected moments in this intense survival film: worth seeing on the big screen.

 

The Black Phone

Rated: MA15+The Black Phone

Directed by: Scott Derrickson

Screenplay Written by: Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill

Based on the Short Story by: Joe Hill

Produced by: Jason Blum, Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill

Executive Produced by: Ryan Turek, Christopher H. Warner

Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone and Ethan Hawke.

‘Would you like to see a magic trick?’

It’s 1978.  Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) is pitching a baseball, trying to impress a girl.

With two strikes, he almost does it.

He lives with his dad (Jeremy Davies) and little sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw).

Their dad drinks.  Finny and Gwen are tense.

Kids in town are going missing.  And they all know why.  It’s the Grabber (Ethan Hawke).  He’s taking them.

What drew me into this film was how cool the kids are – this is a movie about them; a crime, supernatural horror where kids are being kidnapped and a black phone that’s dead but still ringing.

The film is based on the short story written by, Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son and a great horror writer in his own right, see, 20th Century Ghosts (2005), short fiction piece, Best New Horror – a unique voice that’s haunting and has a punk horror feel about it.  There’s also the novel, Heart Shaped Box (2007) and others worth checking out.  Yes, I’m a fan with signed copies.

Adapted for the screen by director Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill (Sinister (2012), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) and Doctor Strange (2016)), it’s like there’s a window into what it’s like growing up in a small town in Denver: bullies, parents, crushes.  Serial Killers.

Gwen as the little sister is hilarious with her little skips of excitement and comments like, ‘Dumb fucking fart knockers.’

Not only is she a fire-cracker, she has a gift.  Her dreams show her things she’s not supposed to know, like, The Grabber has black balloons.

So when her brother’s taken, she prays to God for her dreams to show her where he’s been taken.  And desperate, the cops listen because no-one else knows about those black balloons.

The suspense is built by slowing the shots, the words silent, the sound of sinister amplifying the quiet to give a moment to feel, to then screech a sudden shot to a dead kid, to get the heart pumping.  There’re some jumps here, layered over the suspense so, The Black Phone creates a suspense thriller without the gore.

There’s a lot of thought here from director Scott Derrickson with cuts back and forth when Finney realises he’s trapped in basement, where no-one will ever hear him scream.

There’s good use of objects from the creepy mask of the killer to create an other-worldly monster, the toy rocket ship like a talisman, the crack in the wall of the prison like a bleeding cut.  And of course, the black telephone.  The ringing built in the soundtrack like the sound of a saviour.

There’s a careful stepping as each piece of the story come together, each given space and care and more thought than I expected.  And there’s restraint to let the performances of the characters become the focus.

Where do they find these kid actors?!

And there’s good support from Jeremy Davies as the dad and ‘night-night naughty boy’ Ethan Hawke suitably creepy as, The Grabber.

A better than expected suspense, supernatural thriller with thoughtful pacing set to a 70s vibe.

Dune

Part OneDune

Rated: M

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Based on the novel written by: Frank Herbert

Screenplay written by: Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts

Produced by: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Joe Caracciolo and Villeneuve

Executive Producers: Tanya Lapointe, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Thomas Tull, Jon Spaihts, Richard P. Rubinstein, John Harrison and Herbert W. Gains

Director of Photography: Greig Fraser

Costume Designer: Jacqueline West

Composer: Hans Zimmer

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Stephen Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, with Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem.

The film opens with, “Dreams are messages from the deep,” written across the screen.  A thread that flows through-out the film lending that magical touch to a film that at its foundation, is political intrigue.

Based on the novel written by Frank Herbert, Dune (Part One) is a story of the desert, greed, vengeance, witches and blood.

I was reminded at times of the previous adaptation directed by David Lynch, Dune (1984), immediately taken back with the spit scene, the device used so well then and used again here like a nod of respect to the previous film.  There’s also John Harrison’s 2000 miniseries, “Frank Herbert’s Dune.” And the 2003 sequel miniseries titled “Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune,” starring James McAvoy. However, I’m reviewing Dune (2021) without comparison, preferring to take the film as it stands.

It’s 10191.  The House of Harkonnen has been mining spice from the desert sands of Arrakis for the last 80 years getting obscenely rich, while the people of Arrakis are given nothing by the Outsiders but violence and pain in return.

It’s a system that has worked well.  So why does the Emperor decide to give The House of Atreides the right to move into the desert city and take over the mining?

House of Atreides is powerful.  Too powerful.

‘When is a gift not a gift?’

The Duke’s son, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) has to learn about the politics of the Empire quickly.  He’s been trained to fight by Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), he’s been counselled by his father, The Duke (Oscar Isaac), he has been shown The Path by his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson).

So he trains, he listens to his father.  And he dreams.

I liked the serious tone of, Dune, offset by the warmth of Paul’s friend, Duncan (Jason Momoa) and his father.

‘What do they say of Arrakis?’

‘To shower, you scrub your arse with sand.’

But mostly, Dune is a dark film.  The waking life of Paul sometimes the stuff of nightmares with giant worms shifting the sand from beneath like the waves of an ocean, their massive mouths filled with teeth to suck anything that makes sound into their abyss; and the cruelty as the innocent are beheaded without actually seeing the gore – you don’t need to see the dead to know the deed is being done.

This is more about the foreboding build of tension that Denis Villeneuve does so well.

The film begins with the sound of a thudding heartbeat.

And here, Villeneuve’s trademark usage of the soundtrack is layered with the sound of different languages spoken and the silence of hands moving in sign language like the thread of the story pulled together into this web of intrigue from the Emperor and his games, the brutal Harkonnen made rich from mining spice, the mystery of the people of Arrakis and the dangerous power passed from Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica to her son.

What threw me was the introduction of hope into the film.

I enjoyed the desert aesthetic and tribal feel of the Arrakis people, but the hope of the people was pushed into dramatic territory and the build of tension began to fade.

But wow, I was awed by this film, with mouth dropping open at the scenery, the use of light, the pattern of rock, the flowing yellow fabric of Lady Jessica’s dress in the desert wind, the explosive bombs dropping from spaceships, desecrating the landscape below and the story of betrayal, political play and intrigue.

Definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

Old

Rated: MOld

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Written by: M. Night Shyamalan

Based on the Graphic Novel: ‘Sandcastle’ by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters

Produced by: M. Night Shyamalan, Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock

Starring: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abbey Lee, Aaron Pierre, Kathleen Chalfant, Alexa Swinton, Nolan River, Kylie Begley, Embeth Davidtz, Eliza Scanlen, Alex Wolff, Emun Elliott, Thomasin McKenzie.

I wasn’t overly impressed with the trailer for, Old: people going to a beach and getting old.  Quickly.

But being a Shyamalan film, there’s always going to be more to the story.

Based on the graphic novel, Sandcastle the idea of people stranded on a beach, rapidly aging, gave Shyamalan the foundation of the film.

I don’t know whether it’s because I haven’t been to the beach, heard the waves or being greeted at a resort with a cocktail for a while (supposed to be in Magnetic Island right now but currently in lockdown, grrr) – the scenery added another dimension: the water always flowing, keeping time.

The Capa family arrive via a private bus to resort, Anamica.

There’s the sound of birds and cicadas: the sound of the tropics.

The daughter, Maddox (Alexa Swinton) is singing.

‘I can’t wait to hear it when you’re older,’ says Prisca (Vicky Krieps) about her daughter’s voice, mother of Maddox and young son Trent (Nolan River).

Some of the hints are heavy handed.

Yet the family dynamic with husband, Guy (Gael García Bernal) and Prisca’s relationship being played out in front of their children; and their young son hanging out with his new friend, Idlib (Kailen Jude) son of the resort manager: ‘What’s your name and occupation,’ the two boys ask the resort guests.  It’s the sort of thing kids do when they’re free and happy on holidays.  And a great way to introduce the main characters.

It’s all very watchable.

Like an easy listening radio station.  It’s easy watching.

But there’s always hints of what’s to come.

A guest has an epileptic seizure at breakfast.  But she’s OK.

Parents keep secrets from their kids.

There’re buzzards flying overhead.

Given an invitation to a private beach, it’s made very clear it’s a secret.  Just for the Capa family.  But then other guests get on board the bus.

They’re driven through the jungle.

Just walk through a cave and you’re there.

The cave opens-up onto a pristine beach, surrounded by rocky cliffs.

A lone man sits in the distance.

The kids find buried cutlery and dolls in the sand.

There’s no phone reception.

Then the children on the beach begin to change.

‘Something is going on with time on this beach.’

I expected the build to be boring.  But there’s enough mystery going on with the characters inside the main storyline to allow pace.

The timing is important in the film because the whole story’s about time.

Old isn’t edge-of-your-seat action or thriller, but suspense handled well.

The kids particularly at the start of the film ease the story in nicely.

I like Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) as the mum.

The casting all round was well done, the change of the young kids to the older characters believable.

Except the glaring change in eye colour for one character (not giving anything away), from blue to brown when she gets older a jolt out of a tenuous suspended reality.  I don’t know whether I missed something or a genuine oversight?  But it felt like swapping out an actor in a soap opera and everyone pretending it’s the same character.  The change threw me.

Yet even after this stretch the film was still better than expected with good pacing making the mystery overall, an intriguing watch.

Deliver Us From Evil (Daman Ak-ehseo Guhasoseo)

Rated: MA15+Deliver Us From Evil

Written and Directed by: Won Chan Hong

Produced by: Chul Yong Kim

Starring: Jung Min Hwang, Jung Jae Lee, Jeong Min Park.

Korean with English subtitles.

‘You don’t need to go this far.’

Deliver Us From Evil is the sort of gritty crime-thriller I hope to come across and will be going on my, ‘Best Thriller Movies,’ recommendation list.

Starting in Tokyo, In-nam (Jung Min Hwang) is an assassin for hire.

He has one last job, then he’s done.

‘You got a job.  A big one.’

Then it’s time to dip his toes into the ocean.

In-nam doesn’t look like a knife-wielding assassin. But when there’re shots fired in the dark, we see his blood splattered face – shh… shh… he says, as the life drains from his target.

Cut to Bangkok and the kidnapping of a young nine-year-old girl.

His daughter.

Enter Ray-The-Butcher (Jung Jae Lee).  Blood brother to his last target.  A man In-nam should have killed a long time ago.  A man who won’t stop.

In-nam is an assassin with a history.  He doesn’t get to just leave.

The story has several threads chasing In-nam (it really does feel like he’s hunted by the narrative): he wants to retire, he’s running to escape his past and people with scores to settle; but more than anything, he wants to save his daughter.

He makes contact with people in Bangkok, leading to lady-boy Yui (Jeong Min Park), his guide.  So there’s all the action of the backstory of his daughter’s kidnapping while In-nam and now Yui are chased by this mad-dog gangsta, The Butcher.

It’s non-stop set on the streets of Bangkok all captured by cinematographer Kyeong Pyo Dp Hong (he was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on, Parasite) – non-stop action filmed using a stop motion technique so the hand-to-hand combat in hotel hallways or the confined space of a lift are all captured in detail for the audience to appreciate.

And then there’s the scenery from Japan to Korea to Thailand with the film captured in Bangkok immediately recognisable with the heat of burnt orange streets and a machine gun fight from the back of a took-took.

The film isn’t this superficial or flat feeling killing spree – there’s also these moments of humanity: the sweetness of a young girl and the assassin with dead eyes coming alive to save his daughter.

I couldn’t look away from the visceral carnage yet got teary because there’s a good story at the foundation of all the action.

And there’s care taken with the filming: a fleeting shadow, the slowing of a scene to the jolt of a car crash.  There’s nothing held back except holding off from a complete gore-fest so I was able to keep watching – a fine line between gross and gritty artfully kept so torture, stabbing and child organ farming are all part of the story but instead of sickening, the grit adds to the suspense.

Brutal, but if you’re a fan of a gritty crime-thriller, you’re in for a treat.

A Quiet Place Part II

Rated: MA Quiet Place Part II

Directed and Written by: John Krasinski

Based on Characters Created by: Bryan Woods, Scott Beck

Produced by: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, John Krasinski

Starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski.

‘Keep listening,’ signs Regan (Millicent Simmonds), because, A Quiet Place Part II is about the children left, the sons and daughter walking in the footsteps of their father (John Krasinski) so the sequel is a continuation of the previous story, to go, “deeper”: the term John Krasinski (writer and director) used to best describe Part II in the Q&A following the preview screening.

It’s hard not to walk into the cinema with sky high expectations after being blown away by the surprisingly taunt suspense yet moving original (A Quiet Place (2018) got 4.5/5 from me, see review here).

And my expectations were met.

Because the tone and feeling are in the same realm but instead of the surprise of family drama amongst the thrill of surviving a monster invasion – Part II is more than just surviving, this is about hope.

Instead of that linear unfolding of story (remember the nail?!), the suspense here is crushing as the family separates to survive: ‘You got this, you have everything you need,’ Evelyn (Emily Blunt) tells her son, Marcus (Noah Jupe), hand to chest – breathe.

And by separating the characters the film multiplies the number of intense situations.  Just waiting, waiting, for that next scare, that hum in the background building to suddenly snap.

I don’t want to give too much away but there’s some clever shifts in time here, seamless, as Marcus remembers Day 1.  The invasion.

I wasn’t expecting the father, Lee (John Krasinski) to be back but what a great way to reintroduce the world by going back to the beginning.

There’s that absolute silence that again invites the audience to lean in, to then jump (there are so many jumps!) with explosive action, the audience gasping and twittering as the monsters prowl, purr and claw people apart.

Jumping forward to Day 474.  It gets tense.

John went on to say the original was written as a family drama that just happened to be a genre film. That family drama is what made it for me (as well as the suspense, play with sound, story, etc).  The father character and the family unit was just so well played the impact still resonates.

So to continue with the family unit but now changed was good but different.

There’s the introduction of friend and neighbour, Emmet (Cillian Murphy).

John describes his character as morally ambiguous and an anchor for the story.

Emmet was an interesting character, a round character that had to be warmed up.  But the standout here for me was Millicent as the daughter, Regan: strong, gentle, determined.  Just like her mother.

Part II wasn’t quite as good as the original (for me) because some of that, wow this is different, had to be built elsewhere.  But with clever direction, steering the tone and build of suspense (really-ramped up this time), while still opening-up the family drama – those scenes of mother and baby so authentic and sweet – made Part II a worthy sequel.

And watching on the big screen, with the audience gasping, jumping and as a whole all holding our breath (breathe) was a treat.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

Rated: MA15+Those Who Wish Me Dead

Directed by: Taylor Sheridan

Screenplay by: Michael Koryta, Charles Leavitt and Taylor Sheridan

Based on the Book by: Michael Koryta

Produced by: Steven Zaillian, Garrett Basch, p.g.a., Aaron L. Gilbert, Kevin Turen, Taylor Sheridan, p.g.a.

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Finn Little, Jon Bernthal, Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult, Jake Weber, Medina Senghore, Tyler Perry, Boots Southerland, Tory Kittles, James Jordan, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Howard Ferguson JR., Ryan Jason Cook, Laura Niemi.

“I did the right thing.”

Those Who Wish Me Dead has everything I expected from a Taylor Sheridan film.

The edge-of-your-seat suspense hits from the opening scene: with flashes to black to a parashuter, smokejumper Hannah (Angelina Jolie) falling into the smoke of a raging fire.

Then the layering of story, that impending doom as forensic accountant Owen (Jake Weber) flees with his son Connor (Finn Little) – there’s a directive to kill those who know too much.  No survivors.  It’s a zero sum game.

So father and son escape to the forests of Montana where Owen’s late wife’s brother lives – Ethan (Jon Bernthal), also a sheriff.

But if the worst happens, Owen gives his son a note with all his secrets, to, ‘Give to someone you can trust.’

When Hannah finds Owen wandering in the forest, is she someone he can trust?

She’s a firefighter, haunted by nightmares of her past.  She’s a tough cookie, loved by her team, her fellow firies who see the wild as she drinks, releases a parachute from the back of a truck while still attached.

What they don’t see is her guilt.  But Ethan sees her.  He’s also her ex.

The small town relationships are intertwined – a delicate balance as two hitmen, (Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult) bring disaster, chasing down survivors.  Chasing a young boy who knows too much.

There’s a lot going on in this film but it’s all so well handled and balanced I felt like I was watching this intense story unfold in real time.  While gripping the arms of the cinema chair, holding my breath.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

As well as the suspense, there some shocks and jumps alongside the well-thought crime thriller.

There’s also the relationships, authentic characters and awe inspiring scenery (director of photography Ben Richardson (Wind River (2017)) – those huge expanses of landscape, the clouds and then the fire storm devouring everything like a monster.  Like Hannah’s demons come back to chase her.

But even more than a great story (love a movie based on a book if the screenplay is done right) and cinematic shots and detail like gunfire flashing light in the eye of a killer – every single character was perfectly cast and absolutely believable.

Angelina was made for this role – down to earth, tough, haunted, fighting her way back from guilt by saving this kid.

So there’s a focus on the drama in this film rather than a deep dive into the case the forensic accountant was running away from.  And wow, a rarity for me, the finely balanced intricacies of the drama was more compelling than the crime.  Very rare.

Yet still – that suspense!

Yeah, I liked this movie.  Every bit.

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