FILM OF THE WEEK
RELAY
David McKenzie’ slick and stylish paranoid thriller boasts a mesmerizing performance from Riz Ahmed. He plays Ash, a broker who fixes profitable payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals threatened by them. He is highly skilled, no one knows what he looks like, he hardly says a word and communicates with his clients via a proxy from the Relay organisation.
His latest client is Sarah (Lily James), a vulnerable young woman who is being harassed and threatened by the pharmaceutical corporation she used to be employed with until she got fired for copying some secret files. She has the documents to prove their corrupt activities but begins to regret her decision to go public until Ash and the Relay organisation come to her rescue…
It is an intense and well-constructed thriller like those conspiracy theory movies from the seventies with a touch of film noir and Hitchcock.
Ahmed is fantastic – a strong presence and a man of few words. The camera loves him and is one of the most photogenic actors working in cinema today. Lily James is also perfectly cast as the female protagonist – a charming actor who manages to gain the audience’s sympathy from her very first scene. Sam Worthington is suitably threatening as the man from the pharmaceutical company determined to take back the incriminating files at all costs.
Worth catching!
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER in IMAX
Another masterstroke from Paul Thomas Anderson, the celebrated director of MAGNOLIA, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, THE MASTER and LICORICE PIZZA. His robust screenplay is inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Vineland” and follows the story of a fearless revolutionary group called French 75.
We first encounter the group’s members, including Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia (Teyana Taylor) on a dangerous mission to liberate the detainees at the USA/Mexican border. It is a brilliant opening which sets up the mood for this spellbinding film which leads up to one of the most breathtaking climactic sequences I have seen for a long time.
The acting is of the highest order – DiCaprio is superb and so is Sean Penn as the perverted colonel wearing one of the ugliest hairstyles on celluloid since Javier Bardem in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. But its Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti as the two women in Bob’s life that leave the most lasting impression threating to steal the film.
One of the most original and captivating films of the year filmed in glorious VistaVision and best experienced in 70mm and in IMAX. There will be awards!
SHELBY OAKS
The opening of Chris Stuckmann’s debut horror suggests yet another example of the dreaded found footage genre but thankfully after the prologue, it changes gear.
Riley and her group of Paranormal Paranoids have been missing for 12 years, and her sister Mia (Camille Sullivan), who has never abandoned hope in finding her whereabouts is prompted to continue her investigation when a stranger shoots himself in front of her eyes…
The premise is not bad but Stuckmann’s lame horror is directed by numbers, lacks suspense and full of plot holes.
Give this a miss!
RUST
The making of this terrific western, co-written and directed by the talented Joel Souza, is the stuff that nightmares are made of. During the setting up of one sequence, leading actor and co-writer Alec Baldwin accidentally shot the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, and it is a miracle that this has finally seen the light of day. Despite its controversy, this brilliantly made film is worth seeing thanks to its stunning cinematography and sharply written screenplay.
The action is set during the 1880’s and follows the story of Lucas Hollister (Patrick Scott McDermott), a young boy who accidentally kills a rancher instead of a wolf. He is sentenced to death by hanging but at the eleventh hour he is rescued by his estranged grandfather Harland Rust (Alec Baldwin), who breaks him out of jail and takes him on a long and dangerous journey across the Wyoming Territory…
It is magnificently shot in dark and cloudy landscapes that highlight the inner turmoil of its characters. The acting is excellent and the direction is strong and assured.
Give yourself a treat and see this neglected film. (Prime Video)
IN WAVES AND WAR
The title of Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk’s powerful documentary comes from a quote from Homer’s Odyssey – the story follows three Navy SEALs, who following their service in Iraq and Afghanistan, begin to suffer from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
In similar fashion to the Vietnam War survivors, these veterans are also left by their government to cope with their deep psychological pain without any help. They are on the precipice of suicide like many of their friends, but instead they choose to travel to Mexico and rescue one another by trying a new treatment with hallucinogens.
This psychedelic therapy, which is still illegal in the U.S. and the U.K., opens a new path towards healing and almost miraculously exterminates the darkness from these veteran’s souls.
It is an inspiring and deeply moving film that brings to light this remarkable healing process and is perfectly complimented by three animated sequences which highlight the men’s hallucinatory dreams. (Netflix)
Any feedback is welcome: georgesavvides@hotmail.co.uk
