Review: The Messenger

17th September 2015

The Messenger is Jack. He’s the conduit between them and us.

Them?

Ghosts.

Those with unfinished business who died too soon. The Ghosts are as tormented as Jack is and both are looking for peace in this thriller with a supernatural gloss. Yes, it is a film about dead people but look beyond that and you’ll find a tale of love, loss and ultimately hope. The Messenger as directed by David Blair confirms why British independent films are hot right now and definitely worth a trip to the cinema to see!

It’s gritty realism and the scenes of people dying are graphic. I wouldn’t describe The Messenger as a supernatural thriller but rather a film that explorers love and loss in its’ many forms and uses supernatural elements, namely ghosts, to explore this narrative. Mercifully, the dialogue is sharp and funny, or rather if you enjoy your humour as black as midnight,as I do, then this it is spot on. It is this dark, gallows type humour that lifts the film and stops it from being a pastiche of Ghost and Sixth Sense set in an urban, English city. Andrew Kirk’s script is peppered with sarcastic wit and keenly observed scenarios although one criticism would be that The male characters appear more complex than the female characters especially the character of Emma, Jack’s sister. It is even hard to care or feel any empathy towards her character. He has included nods to the Sixth Sense as well as an interesting adaptation of the love scene from Ghost. However look beyond the obvious, The Messenger is a film about perceptions – who are you, what is your truth?

Andrew Sheehan is mesmeric on screen. He gives a stellar and measured performance as Jack through delivery of the acerbic one liners and use of mannerisms to convey Jack’s torment of his particular gift: seeing dead people. The supporting cast including Joely Richardson, Jack Fox as one of the ghosts – Mark Lewis – who died too soon and Lily Cole who plays Jack’s sister Emma.

You won’t want to kill The Messenger, maybe give him a good wash before you hug him, but this is definitely a film to see with friends or alone but possibly not one a first date.

The Messenger opens in cinemas on 18 September.

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