Author: Joel Fisher

Bruce (Julian Sands) is the host of a supernatural television show who has come to unveil probably his greatest discovery. Along with his crew, he meets Frank (Anthony Skordi) and Rosemary (Maria Ioannu) at their hotel in Greece which is said to be the most haunted hotel in the world. The problem is that there has never been footage of any paranormal activity and Bruce is willing to go to any lengths to get it on camera.

The Ghosts of Monday is a supernatural thriller directed and co-written by Francesco Cinquemani which sets an interesting atmosphere and has a variety of ideas. At under ninety minutes, the pacing of the film feels just right, although maybe at times it shifts genres a little too often.

Those expecting a traditional ghost story should be delighted and with Sands at the centre, his charming and affable performance lulls them into a false sense of confidence. That’s when the film decides to take things up a notch and deliver the horror they were waiting for.

However, there are some elements which may not work as well for audiences such as the obvious misdirects and times where it seems to change from mystery ghost story to all out horror. Saying that though, there may be enough twists and turns to keep the audience interested until the very end.

Although those who expect a film to have a happy ending where everything is tied up neatly may not be as satisfied.

Unfortunately, despite the confident production and performances which range from well honed and experienced to screamers for hire, the many ways in which The Ghosts of Monday is pulled may frustrate and confuse its audience. Those expecting something more straightforward may get bored with the slow build up, while others may feel a bit overwhelmed by the story which goes to many places they may not expect.

There may even be those who like how the film goes as the ending is about as far removed from the start as is possible. However, it perhaps should not be judged on what the audience expected and rather how it turned out.

Alchemy Of The Spirit: Review

Oliver (Xander Berkeley) is an artist and deeply in love with his wife, Evelyn (Sarah Clarke). However, one day he awakes and finds that his wife has passed away and his life starts to change around him. He immerses himself in his art, almost making his wife part of it as he explores their life together and tries to put across what her presence truly meant to him.

Through imagined discussions with his late wife, Oliver manages to work through his emotions over losing his wife and his connection to art to come to a conclusion.

Alchemy of The Spirit is a spiritual melodrama co written by Xander Berkeley, Sarah Clarke and Mink Stole and directed by Steve Balderson. A movie which may prove divisive to audiences as there are many facets which could sway their judgment.

Firstly, a movie written by and starring a husband and wife team may immediately smell of a passion project. The thought that they perhaps couldn’t get their vision realised in cinematic form without making it themselves will certainly turn some audiences away. Then there are the visuals which may give an audience pause for thought.

Some may look at the movie and think that it’s using style of substance to justify its existence, using soft filters and lens flare to disguise the lack of plot.

However, there are those who will see Berkeley and Clarke’s project as a labour of love. A story that comes from a personal place filled with ruminations about the existence of the soul and where we go after we die. Some may also love the artistic visuals and use of a vivid colour pallet to tell such an intricate story.

There’s no denying that Xander Berkeley and Sarah Clarke have managed to put on screen a very personal story about their innermost feelings. There’s also no denying that Berkeley is an impressive artist with talents only those familiar with his acting would now become aware. However, at barely an hour and a half, it seems that the criticisms of style over substance to pad out a half-realised story may be more accurate.

Dave Fishwick (Rory Kinnear) is a man of the people and has helped many of them out in his community. Arranging many loans which have been legally accredited, Dave has saved lives in the town of Burnley. The next logical step is to set up a bank, surely?

However, after a visit from London lawyer, Hugh (Joel Fry) it becomes clear that the journey to financial security will not be an easy one.

Bank of Dave is a feelgood comedy based on the true story of the real Dave Fishwick who indeed did just as the movie portrays. However, Bank of Dave is written by Piers Ashworth and directed by Chris Foggin who made Fisherman’s Friends, taking Dave’s story and moulding it into their tried and tested formula.

The story of a man (or men) with big dreams who is visited by a man from London who has his perceptions of the local area overturned by their generosity and warmth is certainly not a new one. Certainly not new if you’ve seen Fisherman’s Friends either, because you may know exactly where the story may be going.

Unfortunately, if you have then you would be right in that respect because Bank of Dave does nothing other than to give its audience exactly what it thinks they want with no deviation at all. This makes Bank of Dave so predictable that you can practically time when certain things will happen in the plot. It isn’t very subtle either, which may make the audience feel like they’re being forcefully pulled in one direction.

Kinnear does a good enough job with so little characterisation and although his accent could have been better, the audience may start to feel for him (the actor, not the character). Watching as he’s forced to humiliate himself in something so two dimensional.

There’s an economic crisis in the UK as there is in many places around the world and unfortunately Bank of Dave seems to forget that. Woefully misjudging the extent of the problem in favour of a feelgood comedy which seems to think that the solution is all too easy.

Rahami (Zar Amir-Ebrahimi) is a journalist who is starting to get concerned about killings that she’s been hearing about in her local area. So far, all the women have been sex workers and despite the general bad feelings towards them, Rahami is determined to get justice done.

She meets with Sharifi (Arash Ashtiani), a journalist who has received calls from the killer after every murder, detailing his motivations, as if wanting his crimes to be made public. Together, Rahami and Sharifi do what they can in an institution that would do anything to brush such heinous atrocities under the carpet.

Holy Spider is a film directed and co-written by Ali Abassi, inspired by a true story of a man known as the Spider Killer who killed 16 sex workers in Iran from 2000-2001. Starting out as a typical kind of serial killer movie, Holy Spider then goes beyond the killer getting caught. Continuing as the shocking details of the court procedures unfurl that may have seen Saeed (Mehdi Bajestani) walk away a free man.

Giving the typical kind of formula for a serial killer feature, Rahami is faced with all the kinds of things that may happen in other more glamorised fiction. She’s a single woman in a society that sees women as less than men, and when she goes to the police they don’t believe her, forcing her to take on the investigation herself.

Holy Spider even goes as far as to show the killings in lurid detail which suggests to the audience that this is not all that different from what they see in a typical true crime drama.

However, after that then the tone changes and the wider issues are explored and exposed as Saeed enters the courtrooms and the audience realises what he faces. Bajestani gives a suitably smug and self-righteous performance as the real killer may have done, explaining his motives he gains a following due to a deeply religious and misogynistic patriarchy. This gives Holy Spider a far deeper insight into what could have been an easy open and shut case and shows the bigger problems facing women in Iran.

Saying this though, the tonal shifts in the film are a little misleading and verge on dismissing its victims as merely victimless faces. Although if audiences stick with it through to the end then they will see the world is not so different wherever you go.

After Love: Another Review

Mary Hussain (Joanna Scanlan) has been married to her husband, Ahmed (Nasser Memarzia) for many years and they stayed close right until the end. When Ahmed dies, it turns Mary’s life upside down and even more so when she finds out about the details about her husband’s secret life. It turns out that Ahmed had a relationship with a woman named Geneviève (Nathalie Richard) in France and this betrayal forces Mary to seek answers to how her husband could do such a thing.

So, going to France, Mary’s determined to settle things and to find out everything that’s been kept from her, and then she meets Geneviève herself. As Mary turns up at her front door, Geneviève makes an immediate assumption about her that she’s been sent to help with the housekeeping – and Mary lets her believe that.

Possibly the worst thing a person can do in her situation, driven by grief and with her judgment clouded, Mary believes it’s the only thing she can do to can uncover the truth.

After Love is an award-winning drama written and directed by Aleem Khan. A story which could have been played very differently due to its high concept, After Love instead feels more nuanced and real with Scanlan giving a great performance in the central role.

Although a relatively short film that never outstays its welcome, After Love feels like a film filled with the little quiet moments that occur when your life has been changed forever. Joanna Scanlan’s performance is never better than in those moments as well, showing all the emotion and repressed mourning that she holds inside. Emotions that are withheld so that she can discover more about her husband.

Plot wise, After Love may be a more predictable affair than it would admit to being. Although something that could have been played as a broad comedy like Mrs. Doubtfire ends up being far more touching than an audience may expect.

Held up until the very last minute, After Love is a universal story of what we would do after a loved one leaves us, and it may leave you feeling grateful for the ones that are still here.