Hello, and welcome to the Geeky Brummie film roundup! Each week we run through the upcoming cinema releases to see why you should get excited for them. This week we have a very naughty boy who’s not the Messiah, and a very naughty little girl who’s not just a little girl…
Usual disclaimer: unless otherwise stated, I haven’t seen these films. All of my opinions are based on trailers, early reviews and other rumours and buzz.
Abigail
In Abigail, a group of kidnappers abduct the daughter of a wealthy crime boss, hoping to make a killing on the ransom money. All they have to do is hole up in a mansion and guard her for a day. That becomes significantly more difficult when the sweet little girl with a fondness for ballet turns out to also have a fondness for blood.
I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. Abigail is played by Alisha Weir, who was great in Matilda and Wicked Little Letters and seems to be having a huge amount of fun here, whether she’s dancing with her victims’ headless corpses or delivering creepy lines through some spectacularly oversized prosthetic fangs. The rest of the cast is also very strong and has some good horror credentials, including Giancarlo Esposito (playing, shockingly, a calmly sinister crime boss), Melissa Barrera (Scream), Dan Stevens (Legion), Kathryn Newton (Lisa Frankenstein) and Kevin Durand (The Strain).
The basic concept of a group of people trapped with a monster is nothing new in and of itself, but the vampire being a little ballerina girl should make for an entertaining twist. I’m also hoping they play with the theme of good vs evil, given that the scary monster is an innocent (at least, to begin with) victim of kidnapping, and the protagonists are a group of child abductors.
This looks like the sort of horror that is less concerned about scares or subtext than it is about finding entertainingly inventive ways to splash some fake blood around. Horror purists might be put off by that, but I think general audiences are going to love it.
- Abigail on IMDB
- Abigail on Rotten Tomatoes
The Book of Clarence
The Book of Clarence is set in Biblical times, in which an ordinary man sets out to emulate the fame and popularity of Jesus for personal gain. On the face of it there are some obvious parallels with the classic Monty Python film The Life of Brian, but tonally this feels a lot more mature and modern.
Taking a more historically accurate approach to casting than most Biblical films, director Jeymes Samuel has assembled a fantastic cast of predominantly Black actors. Clarence is played by LaKeith Stanfield, who is always a sign of a good film and deserves more leading roles. All the key New Testament characters are present and correct: David Oyewolo (Selma) plays John the Baptist, Alfre Woodard (Luke Cage) plays the Virgin Mary, Michael Ward (Empire of Light) plays Judas Iscariot, Teyana Taylor plays Mary Magdalene, and James McAvoy plays Pontius Pilate. Benedict Cumberbatch is also in there somewhere, although he doesn’t appear in the trailer so don’t expect a major role.
What we can see in the trailer includes some action scenes in the form of gladiatorial matches and chariot races, some comic moments, some drama, and a bit of magic when the real Jesus arrives. This has all the right elements for a hugely entertaining exploration into the nature and power of belief, as well as a modern retelling of a well-known story from the perspective of someone viewing it from the margins.
- The Book of Clarence on IMDB
- The Book of Clarence on Rotten Tomatoes
Sometimes I Think About Dying
In Sometimes I Think About Dying, Daisy Ridley plays Fran, a quiet and depressed introvert who avoids unnecessary human contact and occasionally daydreams about how she will meet her maker. An interaction with a new starter at her office inspires her to try and let people into her life a little more, and the film tells the story of their relationship.
This looks like a sweet and understated little indie. The reviews I’ve read have all been hugely positive about Daisy Ridley’s performance, which is clearly far, far away from Rey in the Star Wars sequels. There will of course be some sad moments – it is first and foremost a film about depression – but the dreams of death allow the film to express that theme in a more abstract way so that the acting can retain its subtlety. Other than that I haven’t heard all that much about it. If you want something a bit quieter and more grounded from your cinema trip this week then this is definitely the one to go for.
- Sometimes I Think About Dying on IMDB
- Sometimes I Think About Dying on Rotten Tomatoes
Fantastic Machine
This is a very intriguing documentary. The trailer is simply a collection of video clips from the internet and news, with no information about the film itself, but it says a lot about the documentary’s message. This is a history of the camera and the way it’s been used and misused, from functional and informative, to entertaining, to inane, to dumb, to dangerous. It’s also an exploration into the way human behaviour changes, often for the worse, when you point a lens at it.
As I understand it, the full film follows this compilation style with minimal narration, letting the audience reach its own conclusions about what these clips tell us. But given that this is a film about how the medium of film is used to convey a message, it’s no surprise that the trailer and presumably the film itself needs no more than some fun clips and clever editing to get its point across. It might be a difficult one to track down but should be worth a watch if you can.
- Fantastic Machine on IMDB
- Fantastic Machine on Rotten Tomatoes
If you only see one film this week…
With a great cast and a fun twist on the vampire genre, my film of the week this week is Abigail.
Still in cinemas and worth a watch
- Civil War
- Monkey Man
- Godzilla X Kong
Trailer of the week
A new animated film starring Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree-Henry, Transformers One focuses on a young Optimus and Megatron, back when they were friends going by Orion Pax and D-16, as they gain their transforming powers and fight to save Cybertron.
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