JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY comes to Netflix for Christmas 2020 With varying successes when it comes to Christmas films (The Christmas Chronicles, Klaus), Netflix has announced their entry for the festival film of 2020: Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. A musical adventure and a visual spectacle for the ages, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey is a wholly fresh and spirited family holiday event. Set in the gloriously vibrant town of Cobbleton, the film follows legendary toymaker Jeronicus Jangle (Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker) whose fanciful inventions burst with whimsy and wonder. But when his trusted apprentice (Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key) steals his most prized creation, it’s up to his equally bright and inventive granddaughter (newcomer Madalen Mills) — and a long-forgotten invention — to heal old wounds and reawaken the magic within. From the imagination of writer-director David E. Talbert and featuring original songs by John Legend, Philip Lawrence, Davy Nathan, and "This Day" performed by Usher and Kiana Ledé, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey reminds us of the strength of family and the power of possibility. Check out these FIRST-LOOK images: Stay tuned for more information about Netflix's Jingle Jangle. For now, why not check out some of our: Netflix Film Reviews

★★ Directed by: #FCRabbath Written by: #FCRabbath Starring: #NickLeali, #MollyRatermann, #MichelleFeliciano, #LauraAltair, & #BobMyers Film Review by Connor Slatkoff Sharpe In a post-lockdown world, writer-director F.C. Rabbath’s soon-to-be released feature film The Waiting presents an intriguing view into a paranormal form of isolation: a ghost (played by Molly Ratermann) trapped inside the hotel-room setting of her past suicide. Seen primarily through the eyes of our audience surrogate and lead character Eric (Nick Leali)—a lonely, awkward and inexplicably embarrassment-prone front desk worker at the haunted hotel—what begins as a fascinating concept of supernatural romance and the equally terrifying world of hospitality management, soon dissolves into a series of rushed emotional beats, poorly executed slapstick, and overall painfully expositional dialogue. The main issue with the script is that it doesn’t allow any room whatsoever for subtext from the actors; instead, everything that is thought is immediately stated by the characters in the scene. It’s this reversal of “show don’t tell” which plagues the majority of the feature film. The very first line delivered by Eric is “so [...] how’re you liking online dating?” while he sits across from someone who the audience has just been blatantly informed is our lead’s online date. This information could have been (and arguably already is) demonstrated through the direction, editing, and framing of Eric and the several young women we see him meet throughout the first few minutes of the film. It’s a common-enough form of character development to show our lead’s romantic situation by rushing the audience through a series of “speed dates” at the same location, and while this may be a filmmaking trope, at least it respects its viewers enough to expect them to understand its implications. What is instead given is this same trope, but with an unnecessary “tag line” to accompany it, telling instead of showing the fact that Eric is actively dating without much success. While the majority of the dialogue in The Waiting reflects this lack of trust in its audience’s basic understanding, the script isn’t helped by overall confused performances from the majority of the cast. While it is unfair to critique these actors’ performances on a general level due to the fact that any subtext or subtlety is made redundant by the blatant exposition of the script, characters nevertheless seem to vary so widely in form from one another that they could easily all be performing in different movies. Eric behaves unabashedly cartoonish, playing comedy for comedies’ sake, and refusing to complete any menial task (be it walking, gesturing, or sorting envelopes) in a remotely human way. While this may have been an effective performance style in a completely different film, when paired with his morose and one-note manager Steve (Bob Myers), it makes his character incredibly difficult to associate with, a hindrance to our apparent audience surrogate. The only performance which really comes across as strong and well-suited to the subject material is Ratermann’s portrayal of Elizabeth the ghost, and this could very likely be due to the fact that she doesn’t have any actual lines to deliver throughout the course of the piece. Thanks to this, Ratermann doesn’t need to grapple with the clumsy, explanatory dialogue which Rabbath has penned for the other characters, and is instead able to fully lean into as much subtlety as she is able to convey through her many lingering gazes and smoldering glares. This one strong performance goes to show that without such on-the-nose dialogue, The Waiting had the potential to have been a film with real substance. While Rabbath’s writing and direction similarity lack substance, his work behind the camera as cinematographer for the piece certainly stands out as a high point for the otherwise low-hitting film. With great clarity of image, and strong visual story-telling, Rabbath’s sweeping establishing shots, and beautifully captured unique settings lend a cold, fragile beauty to what is an overall visually attractive movie. However, odd choices in focus and perspective dampen even this positive attribute of the film. For the most part, it seems the film insists on remaining at least partially out of focus for almost all character-centered close ups. While this may well have been a stylized choice to cause the audience to remain ill-at-ease in the presence of our lead characters, in the end it will simply cause watchers to question their choice of optometrist after squinting throughout large portions of the film. In terms of narrative clarity, the pacing and editing of the film are both thoroughly disconnected from the realities of the script. We are told a character leaves his room within thirty seconds of entering, and yet this same character exits the scene in a completely different outfit than he wore upon entry—going from a suit and tie to a forcefully comedic leopard-print robe in such a supposedly short amount of time. Such confusing examples litter the film, causing it to feel more like a collection of individual scenes rather than a succinct and fluid story. While conflict is certainly introduced in the film with the proposed demolition of the hotel and subsequent disappearance of the undead Elizabeth, the manner through which Eric attempts to tackle this problem seems muddled and without purpose, causing him to stumble clumsily through the final act of the movie instead of working purposefully towards his goal. And although The Waiting wraps up with an overall unexpected and genuinely surprising finale, the lead into this climax feels similarly as un-earned and over-explanatory as the rest of the film. Written, directed, shot and edited by Rabbath, this film perfectly demonstrates the importance of collaboration in the film industry. Perhaps, had there been several varied voices involved in the creation of the movie, audiences would be receiving a more polished and accessible feature film, instead of one creator’s unique yet ultimately out of focus vision of this promising premise. #ConnorSlatkoffSharpe

★★★ Directed by #JoshRuben Written by #JoshRuben Starring #JoshRuben #AyaCash #ChrisRedd #RebeccaDrysdale Film Review by Hope Madden Writer’s block—it is a common theme in all writing, especially horror. Think about The Shining, for example. Fred (writer/director/star Josh Ruben) certainly is. And at first, writer’s block is what the writer/director in Ruben leads you to believe Scare Me is all about. Fred takes a cab to a wintry cabin. He tries to dodge questions from his driver, who, like Fred, fancies herself a bit of a writer. A short time later, Fred stares at a laptop screen. He’s not typing. A power outage and a chance encounter with “real writer” Fanny (Aya Cash) lead to an evening of telling scary stories. And just like that stormy night so long ago when Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley out-storied her companions Percy Shelley and Lord Byron, the male ego is more easily wounded than any fictional character. At its best, Scare Me offers an intriguing look inside the mind of privilege. What is it like to be a decent-looking white guy who has to resolve himself to the fact that he actually has no claim to that top spot on the totem pole that he’s always been told is his? At its worst, it’s an overlong bit of self-indulgence. As Fred’s nemesis/love interest(?)/frenemy Fanny, Cash is straightforward, merciless, funny and full of insight—as is Ruben’s script. Scare Me has no time for entitled, lazy writers. For any of the real tensions of the film to work, we have to recognize and, to a degree, empathize with—even root for—Fred. Thanks to a smart script and an eerily recognizable performance, we do. Ruben does an excellent job of wading those familiar waters, sort of likable and loathsome, sympathetic and toxic. Fred is kind of a good guy, or he sees himself as a good guy. Of course, he also sees himself as a writer. The film hits its high (pun intended) when pizza guy Carlo  (SNL’s Chris Redd) joins the storytelling. It’s not quite enough to save a second act that simply goes on for too long. But a bloated midriff doesn’t spoil Scare Me entirely, a savvy piece of storytelling in itself. #HopeMadden

★★★★ Directed by #JulieTaymor Written by #JulieTaymor Starring #JulianneMoore #AliciaVikander #LuluWilson Film Review by Hope Madden “The path up is always a jagged line.” Gloria Steinem always could articulate the struggle toward progress. Filmmaker Julie Taymor certainly understands that sometimes the best way forward is not straight ahead. The daring filmmaker (Across the Universe, Frida, Titus) puts four Glorias on a bus heading nowhere and everywhere to help us see Gloria Steinem, backward and forward. The Steinem we best recognize—trailblazing feminist and human rights advocate of the 60s, 70s and onward—is played by the always excellent Julianne Moore. Wise and just a little weary, Moore’s version brings Steinem’s warm soul to the screen. She’s joined in the role by Alicia Vikander, who plays Steinem in her 20s and 30s; Lulu Wilson as teenaged Gloria; and Ryan Kiera Armstrong, portraying Steinem as a child. Though Vikander stumbles with the flat Ohio accent, each performance establishes something that grows from one era to the next: resolve, openness, vulnerability, courage. Timothy Hutton shines as Steinem’s father, Leo, and Bette Midler commits outright larceny in her scenes as Bella Abzug. A host of minor roles—Dorothy Pitman Hughes (Janelle Monae), Flo Kennedy (Lorraine Toussaint), Wilma Mankiller (Kimberly Guerrero), Dolores Huerta (Monica Sanchez) and more—fill out a picture of early feminism far more vibrant than history sometimes remembers. Taymor’s characteristic flourishes sometimes work well to enrich a tale fit for a legend. At other times, they seem like filler in a film that’s far broader than it is deep. It is exhilarating to watch these pioneering advocates spar and support, dodge and demand, and most of all, speak up. It’s heartbreaking, too. There’s exhausting tragedy in all that promise left unfulfilled, and real terror in the face of what we now stand to actually lose. But a cameo from the legend herself may be enough to reaffirm anyone’s resolve. As she says, “The constitution does not begin with ‘I the President.’ It begins with ‘We the people.’” #HopeMadden

★★★★ Directed by: Thomas Elliott Griffiths Starring Connor Coen and Karly Maguire Short Film Review by Rachel Pullen The Break Film Review Relationships are a thing, you hang out and get naked and die together, but we must admit however comforting it is to have a lifetime companion, sometimes a relationship can lose its spark, and the safety of the same old daily routine can rob us of our passion and drive in life. That's why I regularly trick my partners by dressing up as Bill Clinton and refusing to break character for days at a time. The short film, The Break, welcomes us into the lives of a young couple who are blissful and content in each other’s company, in sync and aware of the other without a spoken word as they share a cigarette, lost in their own worlds. The camping holiday they appear to be on could be an amazing romantic break, or it could be the worst final attempt to salvage a lost love, we never know as neither of the characters lets on, are they so comfortable that they don't need to fill the silence between each other or is it that they have run out of things to say to each other, the audience is left to ponder this. With all this free time and quiet on his hands, our main man finds himself drifting into vivid daydreams of how he and his lady met, an idyllic exchange in a coffee shop, a sly touch of the hand, glances from across the bar. Quickly it flashes back, the pair entwined in their weekend home, with nothing but the sound of the rain to break the silence between them, not until just as we fade to black they both admit that they are asleep, aloud and with no disruptions, these words ring out for what seems like forever. Audiences may take away from the final closing moment of this film the admittance of defeat within their relationship, the painful reality that neither can say aloud that they are, in essence, sleepwalking through their lives together; the spark has gone, neither feel alive, but this could be the point of the film. Are you going to walk away from this with a glass half full or empty, do you see a joyous connection and life partner, or a dead-end to a relationship going nowhere. Clearly, the break is the tip of the iceberg, a deeper story lies just beneath, and we as an audience can see it, but must display the patience and discipline in knowing that it’s slightly out of reach for our eyes. There is nothing startling about this piece, nothing that imposes itself as a film, but its ambiguity, its sense of emptiness and its subject matter that may be too close to home for many, will leave the viewer uncomfortable and questioning. Shot beautifully, with profound attention to the use of colour, we are able to pick up on many emotions and character needs and wants on-screen. Whilst nothing is said, The Break as a short film exposes itself in a discreet way, but one that is right out in the open, for we are given the gift of not being spoonfed by the director, we must make our own mind up about the couple, deciphering body language and tone of voice, just like couples do to one another in real life, there are no clear answers and that is something that is a refreshing change to romantically themed films. #RachelPullen

Starring Frances McDormand, Gay DeForest, and Patricia Grier, based on the book by Jessica Bruder, watch the Nomadland trailer here on UK Film Review. Currently due for cinematic release in the UK in January 2021 (who knows anymore), Nomadland is directed by Chloé Zhao - best known for The Rider, which thoroughly impressed at the 2017 BFI London Film Festival. The plot of Nomadland is described as: a woman in her sixties who, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad. Watch the Nomadland Trailer

★★★★ Stars Directed by: #MarkBrennan Written by: #MarkBrennan Starring: #GaryBeadle, #JessicaChamberlain, #CorrineWicks, #TomButcher Film Review by: Alice McGowan The ‘strangers meeting by chance’ beat is by now so well-established that to use it is to have a certain chunk of the storytelling decisions already made for you. But this works out happily for Squall, whose originality lies in its finer points anyway. Directed and written by Mark Brennan, the film follows Ben (Gary Beadle) and Margaret (Jessica Chamberlain), two lost souls drifting around a corporate hotel bar, who tumble into conversation about their private griefs and cut losses. Their conversations are the kind that can really only happen with strangers, allowed to operate on a vague, metaphysical scale. Yet Ben and Margaret don’t talk in wordy, breathless sentences but in weary understatements. The root of their sadness is not some grand cosmic discontent; it is palpable loss. They’ve both had people they love whipped away, and it is the fact of this shared wound that will allow them to rattle around together for an evening. They go to nightclubs and to all-hours greasy diners and to places that they shouldn’t. There is sweaty dancing under ambient lights. There is plenty of drinking, to stave off sadness. There is dancing again, when such an exercise proves futile. Through all this, it is their togetherness that prevents them from being entirely lost; when one has that faraway look in their eye, the other coaxes them back. Ben is old enough that the memory of his failed marriage has already begun to fade in its intensity. He speaks somewhat mournfully about the state of things but is resigned to the limbo he is stuck in. Margaret is younger and more restless, unused to grief and now in the messy, painful throes of figuring out how to process it. In the schematic storyboards for Squall, Ben and Margaret appear roughly the same age, both in their twenties. I do not know why Ben was aged up, but it richens the story. There is a certain patient perspective that only age allows for, borne of a realisation of the regrettable consistency with which life throws up discouragements. Likewise, there is something about being young that gives one a solemn faith in the pregnancy of life’s promises; a belief that its entire trajectory might be switched by one meaningful action. Ben and Margaret inhabit these two perspectives, albiet never in ways that are reducible to a binary. When they help each other, they do so in ways that are fitting of their age and experience, with all the blind spots and greater wisdoms that each entails. Squall isn’t perfect. Its tone can sometimes feel untidy, drifting to places darker than quite work for the story. There is a shabby joke made at the expense of sex workers that rears its unfortunate head again and again. Yet any discussion of the film’s weaknesses should not dwarf how gentle the intentions of its makers are. Brennan is telling a story that he cares about and it shows. It is also hard to critique the mechanics of a film that is concerned more with making its characters come alive than with doing everything perfectly. That so much of this review has been a discussion of the characters is perhaps proof that it succeeds. Certainly, Ben and Margaret are real enough by the end that Squall comes to feel like a snapshot of the brief intersection of two lives that will stretch indefinitely on. Everything is still deeply uncertain for these two, and Squall is wonderful to behold precisely because it doesn’t give any easy answers. It just looks at them. #AliceMcGowan

★★★★ Directed by: Tim Hewitt Written by: Tim Hewitt Starring: Paul McGann, Owen Brenman Film Review by: Jason Knight Based on the short story by acclaimed English writer Graham Greene, this psychological thriller will bring the audience into the mind of a tormented man. James Craven (McGann) is a successful author who is suffering from writer's block. He lives by himself, enjoys old, black-and-white films and regularly sees a therapist (Brenman) and discusses his issues with him. Not being able to write and plagued by nightmares that involve his wife and daughter, James appears to be loosing his grip on reality. McGann delivers a great performance as a lonely, troubled man, who appears to have suffered a serious tragedy and seems to have hit a brick wall. He is always sad and does not seem to know how to move on with his life. The film dwells deep into the hero's psychological state, pointing out his issues and interests and makes it clear that he is a broken man who is losing his path in life. There are also elements of horror, particularly when James is having nightmares, and there is also quite a jump scare! The mise-en-scene also deserves recognition. The nightmare sections are brief, but they really do send a chill down one's spine as they show James walking by himself in a cemetery at night. The furniture in James's home also provide an insight into the kind of person he is. For instance, there are posters of classic films on the walls, indicating that these are the kind of movies he enjoys. It is worth mentioning that one of the posters is off the 1949 film noir The Third Man, which was written by Graham Greene and is therefore an obvious reference and homage to him. In addition to Greene, the film also pays homage to the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock, by having two of his films, Blackmail (1929) and Psycho (1960), played at the cinema that James attends. The main focus is a troubled person who has bad dreams, and begins to be mixing up reality with fiction. Such plot will likely make the viewer think of Jacob's Ladder (1990) and The Machinist (2004). Overall this short film deserves a lot of praise. McGann's wonderful acting, the suspenseful atmosphere and Graeme Rawson's music are combined and result in an experience worth pursuing. #JasonKnight

Runtime: 83 mins Directed by: Sylas Dall Starring: Mary Madaline Roe, Eden Campbell, Morgan Chandler Grimmfest Feature by: Darren Tilby Synopsis: In 1979, a young girl stumbles upon a possessed tape player. She unknowingly unleashes a demonic entity that haunts her family while slowly dragging the small town of Clarkston to Hell. Grimmfest say: A beautifully realised, pitch-perfect homage to the kinds of teen horror films we all grew up with, this forgoes the tone of post-modern nudge-wink knowingness common to so much retro-styled 80s cine-fetishism in favour of something more purely affectionate. Nostalgic but never sentimental, the film absolutely nails the era it wishes to evoke and will bring back happy memories for even the most hard-hearted among you. The three young leads are all terrific, and the interplay between them sharp and funny, with any undue archness, offset by the easy naturalism of their performances, and while there are plenty of in-jokes for the film buff (a pair of idiot cops called Jason and Kevin is a nice touch), these are never allowed to dominate or detract from the action. Period production design is unobtrusively effective (a lot of it is down to the film's colour palette – it simply LOOKS like something shot in the period when it is set), the music cues are bang-on, and the filmmakers are not at all afraid to kill off likeable and sympathetic characters in quite shocking fashion. And the final, mischievous twist is delightful in its simple, no-nonsense logic. It seems strange to be saying this about a horror film, but prepare to be... charmed. What I'm Expecting: I'd expect plenty of 80s nostalgia from They Reach. Probably less of the splattery, pulpy stuff and more on the Stephen King, coming-of-age horror side of things. I'd like to see plenty of dark humour (Lost Boys-style) and a powerful sense of adventure and wonder, as we saw in films such as The Goonies and Stand by Me. But most important, is the central casting: the three young actors/actresses are by far the most crucial individual aspect of this film, and their performances will be fundamental to its success.

★★ Directed by: #MarijnPoels Written by: #MarijnPoels Starring: #MaddieAkkermans, #PaulHawken, #RosaKoire Film Review by Lucy Clarke The future looks bleak for humanity. After COVID passes, we’re looking at Brexit and a recession. On top of that, there is still the continuing crises of drought, starvation and worldwide poor nutrition. Return to Eden takes us on a journey through various continents and explores what humans can do to fix the problem of desertification. Produced by the climate-denying Canadian based group, Friends of Science, Return to Eden also rejects the idea that humans are to blame for the warming planet. Initially, this documentary focusses on how to improve our world by changing how we farm and produce food instead, and allowing us, by default, to return to paradise. With the obnoxious sticker for Friends of Science in the corner of the screen, it is hard to deny that Marijn Poels’ Return to Eden is unbiased. While this documentary initially interestingly explores how communities can and should change the way that they farm, this film doesn’t have a strong focal point. One minute, we’re in Germany looking at soil, and an hour later, we’re in California, where it is suggested that humans are being pushed into megacities to create vast no-go areas, appropriate for roaming predators. We watch a somewhat grounded documentary – only to be interrupted by a cartoon which makes no narrative sense. As soon as the cartoon flickers onto our screens, the documentary takes a turn for the worst. This documentary flitters between showing new ways of farming to theories disproving climate change. As a result, this film is jumbled at best, and juvenile at worst. The decision to have Marjin Poels host adds to the unfocused nature of this documentary. Think of some great documentarians, from Marcel Ophuls to Louis Theroux. Either the documentarian, like in Ophuls’ case, decides to remain out of the frame and focuses only on the talking heads, or in Theroux’s case, they are an active journalist throughout the film. It is Theroux’s job to ask difficult, uncomfortable and probing questions. Poels fails on both accounts. He is continually in the frame, yet we as an audience haven’t even been properly introduced to him. We have no idea why he is there, what his thesis is or what he’s trying to find out. When Rosa Koire suggests that both 9/11 and climate change are part of a government hoax, Poels doesn’t question it. He certainly doesn’t question her, and these theories presented to the audience as pure fact. Poels never disagrees with his interviewees. His presence feels increasingly redundant, and this documentary is never as rigorous as it could be. Desertification and the future of farming are thought-provoking topics worthy of discussion and documentaries. However, Poels' attempt is messy. This documentary initially seems fairly credible but this is not the investigative journalism it aspires to be. Watch the trailer here:

★★★ Directed by: George Adams Written by: George Adams Starring: Theresa Santiago, Billie D. Merritt, John Tupy, John Ferguson, Peter Anthony Seay Film Review by: Jason Knight It is exciting when someone is about to meet the family of the person they are having a relationship with. What kind of people are the relatives going to turn out to be? Based on the short story: The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, this suspenseful thriller is full of surprises and likely to keep the viewer guessing until the end. Morgan Segal (Merritt) and Roderick Usher (Tupy) are two young college students who are in love with each other. When Roderick returns to his home to be with his ill father, Morgan decides to follow him there unannounced and against Roderick's wishes. Once she arrives at the Usher's enormous mansion, she discovers that things there are...unusual. The property has very limited lighting and the people there, along with Roderick are wearing clothing that appears to belong to a previous century. She then meets her boyfriend's mother (Santiago), who is strict, mean, dominative and appears to be the one in charge here. From then on things go from awkward to extremely weird and sinister! Adams has done a great job in creating suspense. The audience will become intrigued with solving the mystery of the Usher family. As the plot moves forward, there is one revelation after another, making the viewer pick up the clues along the way in order to make sense of the situations. Santiago is the one who steals the show in every scene that she is in. She is an intelligent, strong, sarcastic, manipulative individual, who is strict with manners and will not let anyone argue with her. She truly is a menacing antagonist. And poor Tupy is the unfortunate son who is weak and under her control. Merritt is sympathetic as the well-meaning girlfriend who cares about Roderick and wants to save him from his mother. It should be mentioned that there is plenty of sexual content and some nudity. Just to warn the ones who are offended by it. The film almost feels like a ''haunted house horror movie'', by having the heroine exploring a large, dark house that is filled with secrets and mysterious individuals. And Michael Gordon Shapiro's suspenseful and creepy score certainly gives the film a spooky atmosphere. Additional recognition should be given to the costumes. They are well designed and their presence helps indicate that this is no ordinary household. However, there is a sequence that does not seem to support the film. That would be the scene that is shown during the closing credits. It resembles a music video and to be fair, sounds and looks great. Unfortunately it just appears random and maybe should not be there. That aside, if one is in the mood for a weird tale and likes surprises, then Lady Usher is definitely worth checking out. #JasonKnight

★★★★ Directed and written by #CourtneyDaniels Starring #AnnieCavalero, #MichaelMarcFriedman Indie Film Review by #JackBottomley We all get so used to the cliches of relationship dramas. Be they on the big screen or the small, we know them well. The atypical stories of partner cheats on partner resulting in fiery chaos. The typically lengthy relationship breaking down/ending before a loving sugary picturesque kiss mends it all. Those familiar cracks forming as best-friends-turned-married couple drift hopelessly apart. You get the picture. All this is of course real in many senses but often you sit looking at something and think, “that’s very Hollywood”. So it comes as a welcome surprise that writer/director #CourtneyDaniels’ film Bedroom Story not only feels relatable, honest and realistic but it also has fun with its genre and in fact the nature of the movies. The film sees couple Kim (#AnnieCavalero) and Mark (#MichaelMarcFriedman) 15 years into a healthy marriage, but as both begin to think on the past, present and future, they do so too on their relationship and Kim especially starts to wander down an uncertain but unavoidable path. Bedroom Story is a very refreshing film that strikes you, at first, as though it is going to go some predictable routes but gratifyingly deals instead with very real themes of ageing, familiarity and the hypnotising allure of nostalgia. Kim and Mark are both very likeable and Cavalero and Friedman strike an excellent chemistry together onscreen, which helps immeasurably as the screenplay slowly unfolds from some initial questions the couples ask, or themes they breezily think on or face, to some far deeper dream-like feelings that are coming to pass in their marriage. Unlike most films of this type, one gender or side is welcomingly not chastised over the other, both have feelings, though admittedly it is Kim taken in more by them but it is most pleasing seeing how the film relishes loving strength and the pleasures of connection, over the destructiveness. We often say nostalgia is a hell of a drug and this film really does excellently show how, as we get older, we increasingly think on roads not gone down, dreams unfulfilled, friends of youth and our accomplishments. The compelling nature of the past is something to behold sure but also something to be wary of. In particular, as we pass from young adulthood into that troublesome zone ahead but which still lies before middle age. Such crisis is addressed, as are the dispiriting realities of what writers face today (the attention-stealing advancement of social media, loss of the art to a degree and head against the wall nature of writer’s block) and the aesthetically-driven and compromising nature of getting your work made into film and TV. These sub-themes are as compelling as the romantic beats, and while some raised discussions don’t pan out as strongly, Bedroom Story remarkably pulls it all off intriguingly and warmly, as the two lead actors each excel with the material and Daniels allows it all to breathe out before coming back in. Cavalero is perhaps allowed greater emotional depths, as her ‘80s obsessed feelings mount and she is left wondering what she wants, needs and what it all means, as well as who she wants to be, while Friedman is funny and charming as Mark, who is a bedrock of support, though equally challenged by such things and while temptations loom he is defiant in face of them. And there are even some fun supporting turns by a diverse cast, who all play a well placed part in constructing the entire picture and do a good job adding to the film’s aura of getting us in the mind and heart of the lead couple. The film is set entirely in the bedroom space (well created by #BiancaButti’s cinematography) and uses that setting to develop its ongoing story piece by piece. Even having fun doing so by addressing sex in a natural way, as well as the small but unmissable pleasures that come with love and marriage. Some audiences will connect more to Bedroom Story than others and that is to be expected considering the themes explored. However, the enjoyable, funny and heartfelt way in which this film is directed, written, made and acted, means this is an enjoyable experience for most viewers and one which - with its pop culture inclinations and sly movie adorations - is most pleasing to sit through whether you are single or not! A great film about connection and its meaning, importance and strength. #JackBottomley