By Alex Purnell. A beautifully profound film, She Dies Tomorrow takes enormous pleasure in its solemn approach to mortality.
The anxiety which one gets before delivering an important speech is the kind of energy this slow-burning film exudes, an hour and a half thriller delving deep into mental health, its terrifyingly dark subject feels comfortably at home during today’s social and political climate.
She Dies Tomorrow is mesmerising, with its occasional psychedelic colours and obsession with Mozarts Lacrimosa, it tells the story of a contagious panic, in which everyone who comes into contact with a carrier becomes convinced that they will die tomorrow.
This bizarre but highly frightening premise is only heightened by the acting abilities of Jane Adams and Kate Lyn Sheil (playing the parts of Jane and Amy respectively). Completely and irreversibly convinced of their premature demise, their manic and depressive state seems to be ignored or shrugged off by others, playing off of today’s mental health epidemic. It’s not until hours later, those who have interacted with a ‘carrier’ also become irrationally convinced of their untimely fate. It seems She Dies Tomorrow’s release was timed frighteningly perfectly with current world events.
Going in blind to this film is initially jarring, with its arthouse infused imagery and sound coupled with its nihilistic themes it’s pretty easy to quickly dismiss. Those who fight through the first half-hour are met with its sombre and slow storytelling, but pushing past this barrier and trying to delve deep into its themes is necessary to fully enjoy the feature.
Although the dead-pan acting and the plateaued story did run thin at points, the entire piece was thoroughly enjoyable, particularly the visuals are exciting, at times being beautiful and others disturbing with its flashing lights and melancholic outlook. This is most prominent when a character who has been ‘infected’, a dizzying array of colourful strobe lights as a haunting voice speaks through what sounds like a radio device, the individual becomes distressed as they cope with their new reality.
Bringing us a story about facing our own destruction, director Amy Seimetz manages to scare us with this millennial thriller, and although at points it grows tiresome, its premise hits a certain societal nerve. A serious social critique or a black comedy? It’s difficult to defuse sometimes as it jumps around its cast of tortured characters. But at the end of it, She Dies Tomorrow radiates with style and aesthetically pleasing cinematography whilst planting a brutally real and current worldwide problem.
She Dies Tomorrow is on Curzon Home Cinema, BFI Player and Digital Download 28 August
DC, Batman, Pattinson: Weekly Round Up – Okay, folks. I suppose we can’t really avoid it at this point, can we? Let’s talk all things DC.
As many of you may already know, the DC and Warner Brother’s FanDome event took place this weekend. This is a brand-new event, which was held as virtual convention, and feature a wealth of announcements surrounding the the slate of DC/Warners output. This didn’t just include movies – although of course that’s what we’ll be focusing on today – but also video games and TV shows.
There were DC panels centres around many of the films, featuring the cast and crew, and there was even some footage dropped during the event, which has sent the internet into something of a frenzy. Could it be that, given their side-lining of the Extended Universe project (which, let’s be honest, was solely a corporate attempt to compete with Marvel’s Cinematic Universe), that DC’s new direction could see them overtake their main competitors to lead the battle of the comic book movie studios?
Wherever you sit on that fence will likely depend on how involved you are in all of this, but it certainly seems that their focus on more standalone, creative led projects, as well as the surprise announcement from a few weeks back that we will be seeing the fabled Snyder Cut of Justice League, has kicked things into a higher gear. And, after all, let us not forget that as it currently stands, Marvel have reached something of a point of closure for many fans, with Endgame rounding off a decade-spanning story arc, and with no real sense of urgency or clear path in terms of plot moving forward, it does seem highly likely that there are plenty of people out there who are now more open and willing to give something a little bit different a chance.
Two Batmen for the price of none it would seem is the order of the day over at The Flash, but of course Affleck and Keaton aren’t the only two actors who will be taking on the Batman mantle.
Matt Reeves’ standalone movie, The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the titular hero, Colin Farrel as The Penguin, Jeffrey Wright and Commissioner Gordon, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman and Paul Dano as The Riddler has long been a film of much intrigue to me. I mean, just look at that cast list! But we finally got our first proper look at the movie this weekend with the release of the first trailer, and, guys… it looks off the chain!
Other being absolutely awesome in every single way, one thing the trailer does highlight is the Detective thriller vibe that Reeves has often spoken about hoping to reinsert into the character. I don’t know about the rest of you, but on the basis of this trailer, alongside the cast, The Batman has quickly become my most eagerly anticipated big budget studio movie.
There were other trailers dropping over the weekend as well. We got an extended look at the much-anticipated Wonder Woman 1984, which sees Gal Gadot and Chris Pine returning to their roles from the first movie. This trailer gives us a good look at Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah (I’m very curious how Cats director Tom Hooper feels watching this) as well as Pedro Pascal’s Maxwell Lord, and seems to hint at the possible reasoning behind both the return of Pine’s character – who died at the end of the first movie – and the relationship between Gadot’s Princess Diana and Wiig’s Ann Minerva.
The things I’m sure most people were excited about though was getting a glimpse at the fabled Snyder Cut of Justice League. This thing has been so talked about and had such a troubled history at this point that its existence is beyond legendary. Well, we did get a look at the trailer, and it’s interesting, with the use of Leonard Coen’s Hallelujah acting as both a sort of odd reminder of how bizarre it is that this is actually happening, and also signalling that we’re very much back in Snyder territory with this one.
The trailer, though, doesn’t give us a whole lot to look at that we haven’t already seen previously, and the bits it does are fleeting. The more interesting announcement instead came from Snyder during the panel after the trailer dropped, where he revealed firstly that his cut of Justice League is coming in at FOUR HOURS long, and will be split into four one-hour long episodes, and that he and Warner’s are currently working on securing distribution outside of America.
I guess the question is, how do you feel about four hours of Justice League? I’ll be honest, I’m all for it, even if it does turn out to be a load of rubbish. I mean, at this point, I just wanna see the damn thing. – DC, Batman, Pattinson: Weekly Round Up
Away is a silent Latvian animation written, directed, animated and scored by Gints Zilbalodis. It tells the story of a boy who wakes up on an island with nothing but a bird for company, a motorcycle as a means of escape and a large, towering monster who looms over him watching his every move. The boy sees no other option but to try and fix his motorcycle and get as far away from the monster as he possibly can. Although obstacles along the way ensure that his journey will not be a simple one.
Beautifully animated with a wonderful score, Away is a charming animation that takes its audience away to a fantasy world with humungous monsters that constantly pursue the island’s inhabitants. For those who are fans of video games, Away may also seem rather familiar as it evokes a visual style of games such as Rime and a similar thematic style to Shadow of The Colossus.
However, although at times Away does manage to create great visual spectacle, in terms of story there isn’t really enough there to make it feel like a profound piece of work as the boy struggles to escape.
Filled with metaphors, Away is not so subtle as it shows the obstacles that the boy overcomes in order to escape the monster. This leads to times where watching the boy struggling up a treacherous mountain and watching a turtle fall on his back, struggling to get upright is a little too straightforward.
Although these metaphors will resonate more universally with an international audience, it does feel that perhaps Away could have spent a little more time adding a bit more variety, rather than just following the boy as he travels across the island and reminding the audience of his incredible struggle.
Also, Away’s chapters will again remind audiences of a video game, with each section having the boy met with an obstacle or showing an incredible set piece which further enforces the idea that perhaps Away would have been better in this medium.
An incredible accomplishment in animation, storytelling, music and sound design, Away is beautiful to watch, but with a bit more development would be a more fulfilling experience.
In 2006 Christopher Nolan asked us if we were watching closely, now fourteen years later he’s making sure we still are. Tenet requires every ounce of attention you can muster, and blanking at the wrong moment could leave you lost for everything left to come. This is what he does though, and it always has been. Nolan doesn’t just make films; he makes spectacles of the highest order. For all its ruthlessness his auteurism is as distinct and audacious as the other elite of the filmmaking craft, and although he’s used his talents to greater effect in the past, Tenet is a welcome reminder of the genius of his method.
No director thinks as much of humanity as Nolan does. Almost all his films speak to the power of individuals to transcend perceived reality and achieve great things. He deals with grand abstract themes traversing dreams and dimensions and yet presents them in such a way that there is always a human who can master them, or at the very least keep them at bay. His obsessions don’t lie explicitly within the supernatural, more aptly they lie in humanities ability to traverse it. In Inception, this meant experiencing dreams as a reality and Cobb venturing deeper into them than ever before. In Interstellar, it manifests as a fourth dimension of human creation that allows Coop to send signals back through time. As for Tenet, the “Nolanness” here is the ability to move forwards while moving backwards.
To explain this is to explain the movie so I’ll begin with our protagonist, simply named “The Protagonist” (John David Washington). He’s an operative who proves himself worthy of knowing two things. The first is a gesture composed of intertwining the fingers on both hands and spreading the palms, and the second is simply a word, “Tenet”. Combining these two things is described to us as something that will open many doors, not all of them the right ones. Armed with these mysteries The Protagonist begins to investigate a strange kind of ammunition he’s been encountering in the field, one with the ability to defy physics. It turns out massive amounts of concentrated radiation is causing objects to reverse the flow of time, instead of moving forward as we do, they are moving backwards, and if bullets can be “inversed” as they describe it, then any manner of larger and more dangerous objects can too.
One man controls this phenomenon, a man with the ability to contact the future and have things sent back to the past. He is Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh), a Russian oligarch who suddenly came into his riches despite his low-class upbringing. Rapidly it becomes clear that his intentions with the new technology are nefarious and contain world-ending ramifications. In short, he needs to be stopped. The Protagonist is then left with a fight against, and through, time itself and has two main companions to help him. The first is Neil (Robert Pattinson) a resourceful man who knows too much and explains too little, and the second is Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) Andrei’s emotionally battered wife who proves to be the only means of getting near her husband.
That is as clear as Tenet can be laid out without unnecessary confusion or blatant spoilers, and therein lies its most significant problem because Tenet is so much more than that. Countless lines pass with great difficulty to comprehend them, and it leaves you grasping for essential pieces of context and explanation. Often a sensation arises that the film is passing by without inspiring any great feeling or leaving any imprint. Here is when Tenet is at its weakest, its an oddly stubborn and uncompromising beast you desperately want to understand but can’t, because frankly, it won’t let you.
However, the film has more than enough saving graces, and the action is its first and most prominent. Nolan is known for his adrenaline-fuelled set pieces, and Tenet has some of his best ever, many of which play simultaneously in reverse and forward motion. There’s nothing quite like the experience of feeling a cinema shake during a Nolan movie, and as this time-defying combat occurs, it’s impossible not to be enthralled. Ludwig Göransson had impossibly big shoes to fill in the absence of legendary composer and long-time Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer, and he delivered expertly. These sequences ensure even the most lost of viewers will be in awe for a few moments, and even with a lack of full comprehension, their pulses will race.
The performances are the films other triumphs. Even with what is a rather one-track role, Washington has never felt more like a superstar, proving he is just as at home in high-budget blockbusters as he is in indie films. Robert Pattinson is every bit as charismatic as he has proven he is of late, and this is another welcome addition to his recent homerun filled filmography. Their two largest co-stars steal the show, however, and without them, the film would be void of emotional stakes. Kenneth Branagh and Elizabeth Debicki have the rare kind of chemistry that speaks to genuine hatred. Their characters have a relationship based on blackmail and manipulation, and when they go at each other, they go hard. Together they make for an irresistible cocktail of villainy and despair, and when all is said and done, it will be them whom you remember the most.
For better or for worse Tenet is Christopher Nolan’s ultimate puzzle. Those with the constitution to unwaveringly pay attention to its secrets will be rewarded with an epic tale found somewhere beyond time. Those without may just have to get by on the visual achievements alone.
“I have a crush on him,” Sam played by George Webster, unabashedly proclaims to his friends in the park at the very start of this short film. If you don’t listen carefully, it just slips on by. Unheard and unacknowledged by his friends, they are too busy taking the piss out of the lone kid on the swings, also named Sam and played by Sam Retford.
Yet, this is perhaps the most powerful line of S.A.M and the whole point it was made. You see, our first Sam has Down’s Syndrome and it seems his friends and perhaps a lot of the audience, don’t expect him to have a romantic or sexual aspect to his life.
During the rest of this short film we are privileged to be part of the intimate interactions of the two Sams as they pass time on the swings developing a mutually respectful relationship. Acted beautifully by Webster and Retford, the themes of love, self acceptance, dysfunctional families, all unpacked so movingly as the boys sway back and forth.
Retford plays the teenage angst faultlessly. Webster delivers his Sam’s acceptance of his natural instincts with ease. Inclusion and diversity come at us from different perspectives. There is a beautiful moment when Sam played by Webster turns around in his swing to face the same way as Retford’s Sam. The symbolic act of unity and acceptance, not lost on me.
The writing and directing team Eyre & Ely have given a voice, face and identity to part of the LGBTIQA+ community with learning disabilities who more often than not move through the broader community with an unacknowledged sexual identity. Perhaps even viewed as asexual.
More than the message, this story is so beautifully and realistically told. It left me wanting more. I’d love to see this short film developed into a full length feature but only under the care and nurturing of the custodians of Eyre and Ely whose casting, script and direction were faultless.
And finally, there’s nothing I love more than a love story with a great sound track. Ali Ingram’s, songs Tornado and Your’s Alone are perfectly placed in this movie.
