This is a round up of new films seen at home this month on all services other than Netflix.
Starting as usual with Amazon Prime:
Hedda
This adaptation of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen has been written and directed by Nia DaCosta, with Tessa Thompson in the title role. The setting has been moved from 19th-century Oslo to 1950s Great Britain. The movie unfolds over the course of one tumultuous night, when Hedda and her uptight husband George (Tom Bateman) hold a party. I found the first half of this a hard watch. Hedda and almost all of the guests are utterly dreadful people, entitled and cruel. It picks up a little when she spars with ex lover, Eileen (Nina Hoss) and there are good performances from Imogen Poots and a very funny Kathryn Hunter.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Kenny Dalglish
Master documentarian Asif Kapadia returns with this look at the Liverpool and Scotland football legend. Dalglish is the best British player that I have seen, and he deserves utmost respect for how he handled himself after the Hillsborough disaster. The footage during and in the aftermath of that horrific event dominates the second half of this doc, and it is still hard to watch today, bringing back vivid memories of hearing it unfold as I travelled back from a game just a few miles away. I felt the anger about how those responsible for the deaths, and for propagating lies afterwards, were never brought to account rising again. Aside from that harrowing section, Kapadia delivers a typical slick account of the great man’s career. There is plenty of match action that I have not seen in decades and it benefits from Dalglish narrating.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Eden
It was ominous that a film directed by Ron Howard and starring stars Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney and Daniel Brühl has been quietly released on a streaming service when it was not made by them. So, is this film about a group of European settlers, who arrive on the isolated Floreana Island, in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, pre-World War II, hoping to start a life there, a turkey? The answer is yes. If may be based on a true story, but it is a mind numbingly dull telling and all the characters are very unlikeable.
Rating: 3 out of 10
Playdate
When recently unemployed accountant Brian (Kevin James) agrees to a playdate with stay at home dad Jeff (Alan Ritchson) and their sons, he expects an easy afternoon. Instead, he’s thrust into a chaotic scramble to stay alive as they are pursued by a ruthless team of mercenaries. James works better as a sitcom star than a movie actor and his limitations are evident. Ritchson plays a comedic version of his Jack Reacher character and he provides the few chuckles that there are.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Over on Sky, subscribers can see:
Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer
Masquerading as a marriage counsellor, a serial killer teaches his methods to a desperate writer trying to find inspiration and save his marriage. The ridiculous title illustrates the strained tone, though Steve Buscemi, as the murderer, does what he can to save it.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Mickey 17
This science fiction story is Bong Joon-ho’s follow up to his Oscar winning Parasite and it stars Robert Pattinson as the financially destitute Mickey Barnes. He wants to get off Earth but cannot afford to do so unless he signs up to be an ‘expendable’, a disposable clone worker, and undertakes several dangerous assignments he is not expected to survive. Unfortunately, he does! I was not as high on Parasite as some but that was far superior to this dreary, overlong and tedious sci fi.
Rating: 3 out of 10
Thieves Highway
After discovering a plot to haul stolen cattle in the middle of nowhere, lawman Frank Bennett (Aaron Eckhart) becomes the only thing standing between a group of dangerous rustlers and a clear run to the border. Eckhart continues to be a solid presence in straight to streaming/rental action thrillers. Although, the plot has some well worn tropes – Frank’s partner, played by Lochlyn Munro announces that he is going to retire, so you know what will happen to him – the setting of the cattle trade keeps it fresh. Director Jesse V. Johnson keeps things rattling along efficiently and it ends well.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
On the BBC iPlayer:
The Librarians
This documentary, directed and produced by Kim A. Snyder looks at librarians in Texas, Florida, and other states, as they unite to combat book banning in the United States. Whilst this has been heavily covered in the news, it does still have the power to shock. The pure hatred of the MAGA/Christian fundamentalist types as they rail against any books that show LGBTQ+ rights, black culture or black history in a good light under the pretence that they are pornographic is stomach turning. Anyone who tries to resist is subjected to verbal abuse and threatened physically or, if they are lucky, merely fired from their jobs at libraries. The ban stretches to celebrated classics like The Colour Purple to a picture book about mice that was removed from shelves because the characters did not have any clothes on! Snyder inevitably draws parallels with Fahrenheit 451 and the book burning in Nazi Germany but it is hard to argue that this is any different.
Rating: 8 out of 10
The following can be bought or rented on the usual services:
Signs of Life
Joseph Millson’s drama stars his wife Sarah-Jane Potts as Anne, a woman in her 40s travelling alone in Lanzarote. She has been driven by grief to be selectively mute. By chance she is thrown together with another traveller, the garrulous Bill (David Ganly). There seems to be a trend of British dramas about people going abroad – such as Aftersun, Hot Milk and How to Have Sex – and Signs of Life is one of the best. In the first half, very little happens, but I found it mesmerising. That is down to an extraordinary performance by Potts, who conveys so much with a brief glance and meticulous shot composition by Millson and the cinematographer, his nephew Elliot. Once Anne and Bill get together, it takes a far more comedic turn but retains its spell. A beautifully understated film elevated further by a score by Anne Dudley and Joseph’s brother, Peter James Millson.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Row
A woman washes ashore on a blood-stained rowing boat. With all of her crew mates missing, presumed dead, she must try and piece together fractured memories of the ordeal to prove her innocence. In this two hour film, there is potentially a taut 90 minute story that would be more effectively told in a linear fashion. There are some decent final twists though.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Solo
Simon (Théodore Pellerin) is a rising star of Montreal drag queen scene. It’s love at first sight when he meets Olivier (Felix Maritaud), the new recruit of the bar show where he performs. But soon, a toxic and destructive dynamic arises between them. It really helps if you are into drag performances if you are to enjoy Solo. I struggle to see the appeal of extravagantly dressed performers, of any gender, lip synching to pop tunes, so the many scenes of that left me cold. Simon’s passivity was also pretty annoying, though writer/director Sophie Dupuis captures the backstage chaos pretty well.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
The Partisan
Roman Polanski’s daughter Morgane impressed me hugely in Looted in 2020 but I have not seen her in anything since, so she was the main draw in this Second World War drama written and directed by James Marquand. She plays Krystyna Skarbek, a Polish agent of the British Special Operations Executive. Polanski delivers again with an intense performance that does not soften Krystyna’s hard edges. She had a remarkable life that Marquand does justice to, but the second part of the story gets a little bogged down.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Oh, Hi!
A new couple, Iris and Isaac (Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman), go on a weekend away, only for her to take him hostage when she realises that he is not as committed to the relationship as she is. Before that twist, I enjoyed the burgeoning relationship helped by Lerman and Gordon’s natural chemistry. After that, we do get some amusing moments, particularly when Iris’ friends played by Geraldine Viswanathan and John Reynolds turn up. But Sophie Brooks’ film suffers from too many tonal shifts and an increasingly ridiculous plot that involves witchcraft. I guess it has something to say about the millennial dating scene, but that just makes me feel old as it seems way more complicated now than it used to!
Rating: 6 out of 10
On Apple TV:
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost
Ben Stiller directs this documentary about his parents, the comedy partners Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. After their deaths, he clears their house with the help of his sister, Amy. Going through their belongings, memories surface of their childhoods abd beyond. I was aware of Jerry’s work, particularly his hilarious character in Seinfeld but also in films like the classic The Taking of Pelham 123, but had no idea that his wife was also a performer or their long career as a double act. There is plenty of archive TV footage to enjoy as well as home movies and audio. But, this film is more affecting as an examination of Ben Stiller and his relationship with his less successful sister as well as his parents.
Rating: 7 out of 10
On Paramount Plus:
Vicious
Polly (Dakota Fanning), is a woman living alone in her 30s. Late one night, there is a knock on the door. On the other side is a mysterious older woman (Kathryn Hunter) who lies her way inside before presenting Polly with a box. She explains that in order to survive the night, she has to give it something she loves, something she hates and something she needs. Fanning is excellent as the terrified participant in a twisted game and the first half is head scratchingly suspenseful. It loses its way later, though, becoming more predictable.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Finally to My 5:
Who Would You Kill For?
A woman becomes the prime suspect when her ex-husband and business partner is found dead in their restaurant. This started promisingly but the identity of the killer is obvious despite a convuluted plot.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
Shattered Vows
A honeymoon goes tragically wrong when Brendan (Will Holland), falls off a hotel balcony. When the autopsy points to murder, his wife, Sarah (Christie Leverette), has to prove her innocence. This is a whodunnit where the killer is obvious, so the story drags. Amongst some ropey acting, Rae deRosa shines as Sarah’s friend.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10
Seclusion
Dr. Madeline Faye (Nicky Whelan), a successful psychiatrist and best-selling author, seeks refuge in her wealthy father’s beach house while she works on her next book, but she begins to suspect that a former patient is stalking her. Cheap looking, poorly acted and boring.
Rating: 2 out of 10