film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Blog

  • Hollow From Paul Holbrook Nabs RIIFF Prem

    Hollow From Paul Holbrook Nabs RIIFF Prem

    The Pitch Fund winning film Hollow has been selected for the 2021 Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, taking place from August 9th-15th 2021. Hollow, whose World Premiere will take place at RIIFF, was chosen from over 6,700 submissions from more than 98 countries. The 39th Flickers RIIFF Festival will be a COVID-safe hybrid of in-person outdoor drive-in and online screenings. 

    Hollow follows a grieving mother as she considers taking revenge against the man who killed her child. Award-winning Bristol-based filmmaker Paul Holbrook shot the film in 2020 with Reel Issues Films producer Luke Walton and Jackie Sheppard of Footprint Films. Hollow is a dark, revenge thriller exploring the moral and religious intricacies surrounding the concept of revenge and redemption. Hollow is the follow-up film to Hungry Joe, also written and directed by Paul Holbrook.

    The Pitch Film Fund, which is now open for 2022 submissions, was established in 2009 to discover, nurture and develop emerging filmmakers by providing opportunities to receive in-depth training, masterclasses and support, as well as financial backing to create short films inspired by the bible. Runners up receive training and development to help further their careers. Previous Pitch films include internationally praised shorts such as the Pan African Film Festival winner White Gold and Bafta Cymru-nominated Only Child. Many winning filmmakers (and finalists) have secured agents and a roadmap for their careers, while two-time finalist Francis Annan directed recent feature hit Escape From Pretoria (produced by Jackie Sheppard and Mark Blaney of Footprint Films).

    “Hollow is a very personal project for me, so to have the chance to make the film through The Pitch and then be selected for an international film festival, is a chance for me to show the world that a boy who grew up in the backstreets of Bristol, can still achieve his dreams,” added Hollow director, Paul Holbrook.

    Paul is an award-winning writer/director. A proud working-class Bristolian, he was born and bred in Hartcliffe – a rough, impoverished council estate in the South West of England.

    Despite a lack of formal education, Paul started out as a screenwriter, writing feature-length scripts for the spec market and made encouraging progress, advancing in various industry-backed screenwriting competitions including Page, Shore, Screencraft and in 2018 made the final 1% of The Academy Nicholl Fellowship (The Oscars). He has also made the final stages of the BBC Writersroom, the later stages of iShorts and has been selected for industry-backed mentoring and career development through Creative England, Bafta and the BFI.

    After years of honing his writing craft, Paul eventually moved into film-making too, driven by a passion to develop and direct his own work he has written and directed a plethora of successful short films across varying genres including comedy, drama, sci-fi and horror. His work fuses real-world authenticity, British social realism and genre flair and his films have screened and won numerous awards at Bafta, BIFA and Oscar-qualifiers festivals around the world including Palm Springs, BFI London, Encounters and Aesthetica.

    Paul is a returning member of the BaftaXBFICrew programme, has been funded by BFI Network and Enter The Pitch and is in early development with BFI on his first feature, based on the award-winning short Hungry Joe. He is shopping around his autobiographical coming-of-age feature Snog and is in active development on an exciting TV comedy called Ordinary Joe. He alsohas a plethora of smaller projects aiming to shoot through 2021.

  • Army Of Thieves: Trailer Talk

    Army Of Thieves: Trailer Talk

    May 2021 saw ‘Justice League’ director Zack Snyder return to the zombie genre after 17 years, with the Netflix Original ‘Army of the Dead’. Starring Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), it was a fun and enjoyable, but long, heist adventure set during a zombie apocalypse. Overall, it was great to see Snyder return to the subgenre. And due to the film’s success, a second film is coming to Netflix!

    ‘Army of Thieves’ is a prequel that sees Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer) take the leading role as the safecracker, who will now lead a team of thieves into a heist during the early stages of the zombie outbreak. 

    The trailer utilizes the same editing trick as the trailers for ‘Baby Driver’ and ‘Hobbs and Shaw’ which is to have the shots edited to the beat of the backing track that’s playing, making this a satisfying one to watch. However, while this is the case, it falls into the categories of ‘it would be better if this wasn’t connected to the previous entry’ while also feeling too similar to the previous entry. Change the location and the main cast, and it’s essentially the same film as before. 

    Overall ‘Army of Thieves’ sounds like an interesting idea on paper, and the trailer is fantastically edited, but it just feels too similar to the previous film. Hopefully I am proven wrong, and it delivers an enjoyable and fun film, just like ‘Army’, but only time will tell. 

    ‘Army of Thieves’ arrives on Netflix later this year.

  • The Return: Review

    The Return: Review

    Roger Emmerlich (Richard Harmon) is coming home after the death of his father. He’s not had a great childhood and there are bits he doesn’t remember so clearly, but nonetheless Richard is returning with his friend, Jordan (Echo Andersson) and his girlfriend, Beth (Sara Thompson).

    As he enters the house though, Roger thinks that there’s more going on than he knows and there may be something buried deep in his past that he needs to uncover. Also, little do they know but they’re being watched by a corporeal entity which has evil in mind.

    The Return is a generic horror movie which falls into all the tropes that an audience would expect, however it unfortunately doesn’t make any sense either. First of all, the first rule of any horror movie should be that you never show the monster, but it seems that the filmmakers hired somebody to do the CGI so at every given opportunity the monster appears.

    It also doesn’t help that there’s not a lot of consistency with the look of the monster either and the explanation for its existence is also somewhat confused.

    Although the cast try and do the best with the script, there seems to be very little chemistry between Roger and Beth as well. Not to mention the unusual choice of making Jordan into the most annoying character in the film, but forgetting to add anything that makes her endearing rather than childish.

    The typical things happen such as creepy noises, fleeting glances of the monster and people going where they shouldn’t, but there really isn’t enough to keep the audience invested, even when one of the characters does bite the dust. It also seems that the rest of the cast agree and when they do finally discover the body it’s as if they never existed and they carry on.

    The Return seems to be a ghost story that wasn’t really well thought out and all those involved were just there to get paid. There’s an attempt at a few surprises along the way and a final twist, but it will just leave the audience frustrated and confused.

  • How To Deter A Robber: Review

    How To Deter A Robber: Review

    Madison Williams (Vanessa Marano) is the youngest in her family and she’s feeling unappreciated. Her mother, Charlotte (Gabrielle Carteris) is hyper critical of her daughter and it’s driving Madison insane. Although Madison does still have her boyfriend, Jimmy (Benjamin Papac) to keep her company over the holidays so it’s not so bad.

    Then one night Madison sees a light on in her neighbour’s house and she knows that they’re not at home, so she convinces Jimmy to help her investigate. When they get there though, nothing is out of the ordinary so seeing as nobody is about and they’re alone, they settle in for the night. However, once they realise that their neighbours have been robbed and they slept through it, Madison and Jimmy have to find who did it and bring them to justice.

    How To Deter a Robber is a dark comedy thriller set at Christmas which may be a great alternative if you’re not the kind of person who enjoys Christmas. It’s also been released recently, so you may enjoy it if you’re one of those ‘Christmas in July’ people as well – apologies for the late review.

    The comedy aspect of the film is also of the dry variety, so if you’re looking for a laugh out loud comedy then you may want to try something else. Although How to Deter a Robber does have its moments. For the most part though, it’s a light hearted comedy thriller with a dark streak, so if that sounds like your kind of thing then you’re bound to enjoy it.

    The cast are all well suited, Madison and Jimmy’s relationship is more like brother and sister than boyfriend and girlfriend, but that plays well into the script and keeps the energy going.

    Also, Madison’s uncle Andy (Chris Mulky) plays a great part once he gets involved with helping the pair deter the robbers.

    There are a few surprises along the way and a twist at the end which the audience will not see coming, but may only add to the dark humour that an audience may enjoy. It does feel a little weird watching it in August though, so if you really want to then maybe wait a few months.

  • Beckett: The BRWC Review

    Beckett: The BRWC Review

    Beckett Synopsis: Following the death of his wife (Alicia Vikander) in Greece, Beckett (John David Washington), an American tourist, finds himself at the center of a dangerous political conspiracy – and on the run for his life.

    Opposed to the action genre’s nonstop carnage, Netflix’s latest international thriller Beckett maintains a meditative tonality. Luca Guadagnino’s long-time collaborator Ferdinando Cito Filomarino crafts his directorial debut in the image of old-school conspiracy thrillers. The results have some inconsistencies, but Filomarino’s well-tempered odyssey through a grief-stricken man’s chaotic chase for redemption elicits a compelling allure.  

    Filomarino’s debut wears a wave of influences. The director’s patient touch incorporates Guadagnino’s withdrawn atmosphere inside the intrigue of classic Hitchcockian thrillers like North by Northwest. The film’s cadence may feel like an imitation at times, but it’s an accomplished and sincere one at that. A quiet start allows audiences to sink into Beckett’s loving relationship with April, with their crackling chemistry finding a groove before the unspeakable strikes. 

    Before he confronts his demons, Beckett is unknowingly upended in a country-wide scandal bursting inside Greece’s volatile political system. Filomarino fittingly ratchets up the tension through a series of refreshingly grounded setpieces. Characters routinely trip over their environment, misfire shots, and breathlessly stumble through the director’s free-flowing sequences. Paired with steady framing from cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, the toned-down setpieces pop with genuine gravity and naturalism. 

    As chaos ensues around him, Beckett comes to life through John David Washington’s career-best performance. The straightforward action movie premise would set expectations for a more traditional hero, but Beckett plays more like an unlikely everyman. Washington finds sobering emotionality between the frenetic chases, toiling with loss and regrets through his subdued touch. Beckett’s emotions simmer until intimate frames push his persona past action movie norms. 

    It’s a fantastic opportunity for Washington’s introspective skillset, with the actors sturdy and constantly affable hold keeping viewers locked in. Supporting players Vicky Krieps, Boyd Holbrook, and Alicia Vikander also elevate in their boilerplate roles. Vikander especially makes the most out of her seldom frames as April, creating a lived-in relationship that lingers with viewers. 

    Beckett consistently connects, but the narrative makes for a rocky ride at times. Screenwriters Kevin A. Rice and Filomarino spice up their familiar formula with timely depictions of political revolution. It’s an engaging backdrop, but one rarely imbued with the texture and clarity necessary to leave an impact. The inconsistent subtext impacts the third act the most, which masks the film’s emotional undertones for a flat web of conspiracy thriller contrivances. 

    I’m unsure if Beckett will please every action fan, but viewers with patience and preference for character-driven narratives are in for a welcomed surprise. 

    Beckett debuts on Netflix August 13th.