★★★ Directed by: #SteveConnor Starring: #RobTalbot and #JuliaFlorimo Short Film Review by: #RachelPullen The internet is fun right? You can Google stuff then use that information to make people think you are smart, you can order anything you want right to your front door without getting of your lazy butt and you can watch all sorts of weird, wild and interesting things on the world of webcams. Have you ever wondered what other people do with their time on the internet? What kind if freaky stuff do they indulge in? And how many people are watching it too? This is the main drive behind Steve Connor’s #shortfilm Room Mates, the story of a lonely man called Henry (played by Rob Talbot) who decides to order a lady of the internet to engage with him in the real world, helping him to act out one of his desires. The two engage in a strange warehouse, a neutral meeting ground where they can conduct their affair, a dark and uninviting environment that in all honesty is not the most visually stimulating, rather it feels a tad staged and disconnecting, perhaps this is the idea behind it, as Room Mates is a character-driven piece of cinema. Julia Florimo who plays Agnetha brings an interesting approach to the role, bossy and dismissive of Henry, we can’t decided whether she really want to be there or not, We are filled with the impression that she has done this all before, or maybe she wants to get home to watch the Masterchef marathon on TV ...don’t we all Agnetha, don’t we all. Room Mates leads us into a world of mistrust, we are led to believe that this meeting has a sinister edge to it, and you would be a liar if you didn’t make the jump to thinking she was prostitute, and if you didn’t then clearly you are a less perverted person than me...but you would be right. This tale brings an interesting climax to the strong relationship that has developed between the pair, and without giving too much away, although all the clues are right there for you to guess yourself, the ending is one which brings a pleasant surprise. This short film is worth a watch, dissecting our expectation as to what occurs between a man and woman when they are alone, when they have developed relationships on the internet, and what we will do to make our desires a reality.

Directed by: #DomenicoDamianoMunno Written by: #JoyceL. Starring: #DomenicoDamianoMunno and #ValentinaBronzi Film Review by: #AnnieVincent #SignificanceQuest seemed promising at first: the write-up suggested I would be treated to a deep psychological thriller that explored one boy's journey towards extremism, fuelled by a 'fragile psyche' and residence in western society. This was a film that was topical, I thought. This was a film which could be extremely powerful. It was not. In fact, I think the film is actually quite dangerous. Primarily because the short medium isn't really going to do justice to any kind of psychological thriller, and especially not one which hopes to convey a young boy's computer obsession and an argument with a girl 'ten years later' as fair motivation for watching extremist videos online and purchasing chemicals to build a bomb. Because of this flimsy premise, the entire film is unrealistic and frankly a bit worrying in that it may come to the attention of vulnerable teens. The film doesn't do justice to what is a weighty and troubling phenomenon that is deeply psychological and rooted in so much more than teenage angst, as seems to be portrayed here. There are production elements that are worthy of some note. The use of white noise, modem start-up sounds and blue-screen lighting do create a dark and sinister set for our characters and indeed the sound effects put the viewer on edge instantly. This continues throughout the seven minute run time and neatly mirrors the psychological frustration the character is meant to show, but again we meet a stumbling block as the scripting and characterisation are weak. #Munno attempts to convey a troubled mind in the character of Walter, but with no time to explore this character's past he has very little to work with and must strike up the psychological instability of, essentially, a madman in the space of a single phone-call with a girl, whom he apparently hasn't had contact with for some years. It is all just too implausible and audience's aren't likely to buy into this character's psyche at all. #SignificanceQuest clearly had grand ideas, but they haven’t materialised and in place of what might have been a topical and thought-provoking film, we are delivered an ill-informed and reactionary melodrama which calls into question the responsibility of the film industry.

Who are you and what is the Walthamstow Smartphone Film Festival? Walthamstow Smartphone Film Festival is a night of #shortfilms that have been created using a smartphone or similar device. It is part of a larger project called Last Frame Club, which started in the borough of Waltham Forest back in April. Our aim is to provide affordable filmmaking workshops and screen films, predominantly documentary, from and about underrepresented people. The festival will be a night of screenings, discussion panels and networking to encourage those already working in film and those just starting out to come together to appreciate digital storytelling and to help make #filmmaking more accessible. What are the benefits of running a film festival where the submissions are all filmed on a smartphone? Film equipment is often expensive and requires a real skill to operate. Smartphones are accessible, affordable and most people are comfortable operating one. We wanted to show audiences that some really exciting stuff is being created on a device that we carry around with us almost all of the time! Our aim is to encourage the audience to leave thinking 'I could have a go at that' and go out and shoot something. Whether that's a #documentary, music video or even #animation - we'll be showcasing all kinds of styles at the festival to show how creative you can be with little equipment. We hope that events like this show the audience that if there's a story that needs telling, they might already have the means to tell it. What are the challenges of running a film festival? There's a lot...We run an annual documentary film festival too which takes up to 9 months of the year to organise. So time is a big challenge - there's never enough! Also selecting and programming films is a difficult task that requires a lot of patience. Getting the balance of a programme right and showcasing a varied mix of styles takes time and thought. We also get more films than we can show so inevitably you reject good films, which is always a shame. What advice do you have for filmmakers looking to submit? Pay attention to your sound! We can't stress this enough. We've had to reject great stories purely on the basis that the sound is inaudible. Bad sound is impossible for audiences to sit through. Look at the requirements of the festival you are submitting to - lots of filmmakers send incomplete submissions that are missing important information. Don't assume a festival will chase you down for your film, especially the larger ones - there's a lot of competition out there! Treat it a bit like a job application - what makes you and your film stand out in the crowd? Finally, make something you care about and put your own mark on it. Don't just recycle stories and ideas. If you feel strongly about something, show it. Is there anything special audiences can look forward to at the next event? We're pretty excited to see the results of a smartphone workshop we held with our friends at Rainbow Collective. Students were given just 3 weeks from completing the workshop to go out and shoot a documentary on their phone about women in their community. Most had no prior filmmaking experience and we hope the results encourage others to go make their own films too. There's also some great filmmakers, writers and festival programmers on the jury that will be in attendance to chat all things film! Which filmmaker would you most like to see submit a film shot on a smartphone? This is difficult...Perhaps Agnes Varda? We would love to see older filmmakers submit smartphone films. Where can people find more information? All of the info for this event and others can be found on our website - https://www.lastframeclub.com but please do give us a follow on social media for more frequent updates (Facebook & Twitter) What would you say if you were a dolphin? I'd ask if you had a release form for this interview, as all good documentarians would. Find out more about the Walthamstow Smartphone Film Fest.

★★★★ Directed by: #MichaelBenton, #AlejandroEspinoza Written by: #MichaelBenton, #AlejandroEspinoza Starring: #DanielBaldock, #DoyleReynolds Film Review by: #DarrenTilby Directors Michael Benton and Alejandro Espinoza craft a surprisingly melancholic examination of one man’s struggle against his own shortcomings as he attempts to re-enter the workplace. Facing off against himself in a mirror, Johnny (Daniel Baldock) prepares for his interview. Full of bluster and self-assurance, Johnny initially comes across as a deeply unlikeable person; an impression that's all but solidified when he begins waving a knife and gun around and shouting into the mirror in an intimidating and threatening manner. It's fair to say, Johnny Colorado doesn't make the best first impression. Early on during Johnny's interview – where he also conducts himself with very little decorum – it becomes clear he was never going to get the job. And it's from here the tenor of the film takes a welcome turn to the lugubrious. Daniel Baldock delivers a memorable performance as the titular Johnny Colorado; a man with his fair share of personal demons. Alcoholism and drug addiction go some way to explaining Johnny's erratic behaviour earlier in the film. But what makes this the stand-out performance it is, is how proficiently Baldock is able to delve into Johnny's inner self. At his core, Johnny is a fundamentally flawed but completely relatable and sympathetic person; who hides his personal problems and insecurities behind a mask of bravado. Subtle nuances in the character belie his front and whisper promises of something deeper: indeed, there's a lot to ponder with Baldock's excellent performance. The majority of the film details Johnny's interview, an interview I'm not entirely certain actually took place. Allow me to explain. During his interview with Mr Reynolds (played by Doyle Reynolds), Johnny spurts out a few seemingly misplaced and random utterances; things like, “Oh yeah, I'm an alcoholic.” There are a few similar outbursts, and they don't make sense in the context of what's happening. They're easy to miss and even easier to dismiss as badly placed pieces of dialogue. But to me they seemed more like self-confessions; almost like Johnny had been playing out the interview in his head. Seemingly imagining how it might go and how he might approach questions asked of him, and in the process, had been forced to face his own shortcomings and anxieties; of which there are many. And in the end, I'm not entirely sure he even went through with it; having decided instead it was pointless to even try as nerves got the better of him. How the hell did I end up sympathising with Johnny Colorado? My first thought as the film’s credits rolled. Johnny Colorado is a film which, taken at face value, could easily be dismissed as crass, self-assured and nasty; much like the man himself. However, if you look hard enough you'll discover Johnny Colorado (again, like the man) is a surprisingly deep and tender film at heart. A testament to some excellent narrative and character writing from Michael Benton and Alejandro Espinoza, as well as a subtle and carefully crafted central performance from Daniel Baldock.

★★★★ Directed by: #TinatinEmiridze Starring: #AnastasiaChanturaia, #VakhtangZoidze Short Film Review by: #TomGriffiths Where does one begin with Lacrimosa, the #shortfilm named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final piece of work? Tinatin Emiridze’s directs an unsettling yet somehow peaceful film that very much honours the craft of cinema as a piece of artwork in itself. There is no dialogue throughout, only lingering images of two people that ask the audience to study and interpret them for themselves - through their composition and lighting, these sitting moments almost feel like paintings in themselves. Nothing is spoon fed here to the viewers of Lacrimosa, and it leaves questions to be asked long after the credits have rolled. Emiridze and Director of Photography Giga Gabriel Jobava do an immense job of escorting the audience's eyes throughout the frame, utilizing smooth and measured camera movement through open settings whilst choosing to really take control of their audiences vision with pull focuses and extreme close-ups of the art centrepiece that is prominent throughout the film. These deep and textured frames are intercut beautifully over Mozart’s Lacrimosa, providing the audience with moments of not just a visual art, but a multi-dimensional artistic experience. Although Jobava does a good job at controlling the frame, the mise-en-scene falters at points which sometimes render the image one dimensional, particularly the scene at the dinner table. However, despite this particular scene, production designer Anano Dolidze did well to build a setting that, although felt almost eerily empty, also felt like a separate character within itself. Throughout the vast majority of Lacrimosa, we are not brought into these characters lives personally but are merely observers looking from the outside in, and although this distance offers us the chance to interpret the situation that these two characters are in for ourselves, it also deprives us of connecting with them on an emotional level. This detachment affects the experience for the viewer as ultimately, yes, we do have questions to ask once the credits rolled, but do we really care about the characters or the story? Obviously this will vary for each individual viewer, however, it is a brave risk that Lacrimosa has decided to take. This film is an impressive homage to both Mozart and the language of cinema. The director has a unique and interesting vision which calls viewers of Lacrimosa into question on a deeper level. The subtle but effective physical performances by Anastasia Chanturaia and Vakhtang Zoidze speak louder than any dialogue could have and Tinatin Emiridze directs Giga Gabriel Jobava’s lens to paint an intriguing, weird, yet wonderful motion picture.

★★★★★ Directed by: Daniel Michalos Starring: Friederike Hammer, Nils Wiegand & Christiane Nothofer Short Film Review by: Chris Olson Filmmaking is at its best when humanity gets shaken to its core. Films that dare to tackle the most formidable of topics should be given our full attention, especially when the calibre is as high as it is in Daniel Michalos’s latest endeavour. Atmospheric and soaking with emotional depth, short film Sternenkind is about the journey of Julia (Friekerike Hammer) and her partner Hannes (Nils Wiegand) after they find out their baby-to-be will sadly not make it to term due to a lethal illness. There is an isolated senselessness to Michalos’s short film that captures the chaotic nature of the plight these characters find themselves gripped by. Furthermore Sternenkind contains a bleak cinematic landscape riddled with emotive signposts that captures the anguished, tumultuous atmosphere of the story with immense results. Every frame seems to have been carefully chosen as an accompaniment to the tapestry of this tragic sequence. The use of colour is notable in this short; with the middle section of the film in black and white, versus the colour that bookends the beginning and end, painfully reflecting the arduous chapter in this couple’s life. This aesthetic choice is jolting at first, but manages to create a fantastic depth to the story which unfolds, as the couple suffer internally as much as the foetus does. When the couple ditch their city life for the countryside in order to gain some respite from the inevitably invasive surroundings that comes with being an expectant couple, the sparseness of the landscape is pierced by Julia’s growing turmoil and rage. She bursts into a field after blistering through a forest, revealing the wildness of her emotions against the natural elements which control her. The performances are fantastic, especially Hammer. She occupies the screen with a compelling presence whilst delivering an inescapably difficult turn. Wiegand is also excellent as the film’s counterweight - the ineffective aloofness to Julia’s bubbling grief. Not for the faint hearted, Sternenkind is a short film that is heavy in all the right places. The movie is a truly great achievement that should be lauded for its bold storytelling and fierce filmmaking. More Short Film Reviews can be found this way. #Shortfilmreviews #ChrisOlson #ShortFilms #Drama #BlackandWhite

★★★★★ Directed by: Will Nash Written by: Will Nash Starring: Amy Doyle and Matthew Castle Short Film Review by: Hannah Sayer Lady is a funny and informative exploration of “ladette” culture. The phenomenon was popular in the 90s and subverted societal norms of how a woman should act. Lady’s eponymous protagonist delights in doing her own thing and living life by her own rules. Will Nash’s short film was shot entirely on Kodak Super 8mm and this creates a quirky and unique aesthetic which adds to the film’s excellent execution. The short film is set in South East London and follows the character of Lady, played brilliantly by Amy Doyle, as she goes about her life swearing, binge drinking, eating what she wants and doing what she wants while not caring what anyone else thinks of her. To quote Lady herself talking about the women who call themselves “ladettes”: “Basically, we gave zero fucks”. Talking directly to the camera, Lady recites a monologue throughout the duration of the short film which gives a brief overview of this “ladette” culture. This monologue highlights its height of popularity in the 90s, how the term began to be demonised by the media as woman began to intrude on traditionally male-dominated spaces and how feminism today has become more political. It also touches on how it is still relevant today through having evolved and that it is still a form of female empowerment. Filming using Super 8mm adds an experimental feel to Lady which suits the tone of the work extremely well. The aesthetic of the past and of home videos through the use of film adds a nostalgic element and is another way in which the film looks back at the 90s and the height of “ladette” culture. The whole look of the film gives it an even greater edge and enables Lady to capture London and this topic through a unique visual perspective. Amy Doyle is brilliant in her role as Lady and she carries the short film with charm and wit. One of the best examples of how well she embodies the role is shown in the sequence of Lady eating near the end of the film where she doesn’t care how messy she is. The film’s character development is excellent considering its brief running time. Lady is a fully-formed character which further reinforces how well-conceived this short film is. Lady is an excellent short film with an engaging message, a wonderful lead performance and a great overall aesthetic. The film’s final moments leave a lasting impression through its abrupt ending, which is spot on in depicting this destabilisation of the traditional view of what a lady should be. Watch the official movie trailer for Lady below. #Lady #WillNash #AmyDoyle #MatthewCastle #ShortFilmReviews #Super8mm #HannahSayer #MovieTrailers

★★★★ Directed by Jack Levy Starring John Tueart, Helen Lewis, Jack Pybus, Roisin Mccosker, Steve Connolly, Charlie Fallows Short Film Review by Jack Bottomley Fandom is a curious thing, so often it is passionate, so often it is fun but every now and again a fanbase can fracture into something obsessive and truly distressing. Especially in today’s age of social media, we see pop star followings turning really quite nasty or loyal followers becoming a bit too “loyal” for their own good. Yes indeed fandom is a strange thing and it is a fine line that separates extreme followings from cult-like devotion. This notion is what lies in waiting like a malicious snake stalking its audience, within writer/director Jack Levy’s impressive short film Nick. The film starts off relatively simple, with a set up that will be relatable to many a viewer, as couple John (John Tueart) and Rebecca (Helen Lewis) are waiting for two friends outside a venue. The stage poet they are going to see is highly spoken of by their friends but the two are unsure what to expect, however they soon find that this poetry evening is not what it seems. “They seem relatively normal” John says of the audience entering the venue as he and Rebecca are waiting for their friends to show, this simple line rings through your psyche once the film gets going and it does indeed get going! The atmosphere is built expertly from an early stage and the film reminded me greatly of Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, with the worn venue setting being an early indicator that this is no simple poetry recitation on stage, it is something altogether darker and dodgier. Like Gareth Evans’ “Safe Haven” segment in V/H/S/2, this film ramps up the intensity only to go a bit nuts in its final stretch and for a just over 10-minute feature, this film is unsettling, lingering and truly atmospheric, as a result of the intense and almost sweatily focused camerawork and Chris Walton’s eerie score composition. Like the aforementioned films, this delves into a cultist or mob mentality mindset, as it expresses its themes of control and the aura that an indoctrinator can exude and it all feels frighteningly relevant in our age of celebrity, Trump and viral stardom, why would a group not succumb to the ideologies of a false prophet if he was presented as your best friend? The performances help anchor this idea, with the extras working in unison to blend scarily into the film’s unsettling backdrop and tone, however the lead performances are really impressive as they help this dark vibe work all the more. Both Tueart and Lewis feel natural and human, not nasty people, just a very understandable duo out of their comfort zone and seeing them forced into some dark mindsets by a brainwashed mass feels genuinely upsetting and both actors really express this, with the final twist especially coming like a hammer blow. Also a standout is Jack Pybus as the title character Nick, the man on stage who appears warm and innocent but comes to be far more than just a jovial chap in a hat. Nick is a remarkably tense little watch and a very incredibly constructed film about timely and dark subjects. I hope to see more from Levy, as he is a skilled writer/director and his cast are brilliant here. Nick is well worth seeking out and don’t worry you will have a good time...or else! #Horror #PsychologicalDrama #ShortFilmReviews #ShortFilms #JackBottomley #JackLevy #JohnTueart #HelenLewis #JackPybus #RoisinMccosker #SteveConnolly #CharlieFallows

★★ Directed by #DavidYates Written by #JKRowling Starring #EddieRedmayne #JohnnyDepp #KatherineWaterston #EzraMiller #ZoeKravitz Film Review by #HopeMadden People really miss Harry Potter. Maybe they miss the romantic notion of outsiders among outsiders, or the oh-so-earnest world of good versus evil. J.K. Rowling enchanted a generation with a densely populated world of magic and mayhem and an awful lot of people long to go back. So many, in fact, that they will mostly settle for the sloppy bastard Fantastic Beast series. It is still Rowling’s words, after all—the author pens the screenplays, inviting us back into that wizarding world, albeit about a generation or two earlier. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald picks up six months after its blandly likeable predecessor, 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Odd duck Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is banned from international travel by the Ministry of Magic. Grindewald (Johnny Depp) is in prison. Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller)—who conveniently survived what was clearly his death in the previous effort—wants to know who he is and where he belongs. The second installment opens well, offering more vitality, thrill and sinister mayhem than you’ll find in its predecessor’s full 133 minutes. Redmayne is as adorable as last time. Depp brings something seductively sinister to the role. And Rowling’s clear distaste for leaders who bang the drum for racial supremacy and fear mongering is both understandable and nicely executed. David Yates returns to direct his sixth Potter-verse flick. He finds opportunities for the visual flourish that was the only true strength of the first Fantastic Beasts film, but manages far stronger narrative momentum this time around. All of which really only leads to the frustration of realizing at the 134-minute mark that this film doesn’t end. In fact, the last scene is basically the beginning of the movie. The 130- minutes previous basically amounts to exposition that sets up the next film. Which is funny, since the previous entire film amounts to little more than a preface to an actual narrative. Characters are quirky, wardrobe is glorious, Ezra Miller broods well—all of which is a lot of what we’ve already seen. What Grindewald doesn’t offer is anything new, or any reason to care. Watch the official movie trailer below.

★★★★ Directed by #AliAbbasi Written by #AliAbbasi Starring #EvaMelander #EeroMilanoff Film Review by #HopeMadden Sometimes knowing yourself means embracing the beast within. Sometimes it means making peace with the beast without. For Tina—well, let’s just say Tina’s got a lot going on right now. Eva Melander is Tina, a woman resigned to the solitary existence of an outsider. Her “chromosomal malady” has left her unbecoming to most of the people in her Danish border town, but it’s also gifted her with senses that allow her to notice criminals by the way they smell. Those senses are thrown, though, by a stranger (Eero Milonoff) who makes her feel, for the first time in her life, that she’s not alone. Border director/co-writer Ali Abbasi has more in mind than your typical Ugly Duckling tale, though. He mines John Ajvide Lindqvist’s (Let the Right One In) short story of outsider love and Nordic folklore for ideas of radicalization, empowerment, gender fluidity and feminine rage. The result is both a sincere crime thriller and a magical fantasy. A perfect meshing of Michael Pearce’s 2017 indie Beast and Alex van Warmerdam’s dark 2013 folk tale Borgman, Border still manages to be entirely its own creature. Melander is a force of nature under impressive prosthetics. Her fearless performance, one that requires an arc that feels simultaneously backward and progressive, guarantees that no matter the bracing images or ugly narrative, you will not look away. You won’t be able to. Milonoff also impresses, as does a cast of support players blessed with an unusual and fittingly untidy storyline. There are moments in Border that should have felt silly while others could easily have tipped into lurid territory, but they never do. Abbasi’s respect for his characters keeps even the most outlandish scenes on track. He boasts an impressive aptitude for blending a fantastical fairy tale nature with the realism of a thriller without ever losing one thread for the other. The result is a film quite unlike anything else, one offering layer upon provocative, messy layer and Abbasi feels no compulsion to tidy up. Instead, he leaves you with a lot to think through thanks to one unyieldingly original film.

★★★★ Directed by #JoelEdgerton Written by #JoelEdgerton Starring #LucasHedges #NicoleKidman #JoelEdgerton #RussellCrowe Film Review by #GeorgeWolf I don't know if Lucas Hedges and Timothee Chalamet are up on tennis history, but lately they've had a nice little Borg/McEnroe thing going. Close in both age and film credits, the last few years have seen them serve and volley with increasingly impressive performances. Just weeks after Chalamet's astounding turn in Beautiful Boy, Hedges joins him as a likely Oscar nominee with an intensely intimate performance in Boy Erased, a touching and vital account of one young man's trip through "conversion therapy." Based on Garrard Conley's 2016 memoir, it's a film that also solidifies Joel Edgerton's skills as both an actor and filmmaker, one able to balance a complicated, troubling subject with grace and understanding. Hedges channels Conley as Jared Eamons, an Arkansas high school senior struggling with his sexual identity. Already in the Bible Belt, Jared feels even more pressure to conform from his father's (a terrific Russel Crowe) status as a pastor and soon-to-be ordained minister in the local Baptist church. Once Jared is forced to admit his feelings for men, church elders recommend a conversion therapy program led by Mr. Sykes (Edgerton). Amid flashbacks to Jared's path toward confessing his feelings, Hedges makes all the confusion feel heart-breakingly real. Jared, facing a strictly conservative community and the chance his parents may disown him, enters The Refuge Program with a sincere commitment to become the person everyone else wants him to be. There is a quiet war stirring in Jared as he takes his "moral inventory", and Hedges is able to make him a sympathetic soul screaming for release via a restrained, beautifully insightful turn. Edgerton, who also wrote the screenplay, shows us Jared's eyes being opened through gradual episodes that resist any urge to demonize. Small choices, such as the way he frames a prayer circle at the dinner table or one wonderful scene between Jared and his family doctor (the always welcome Cherry Jones) show Edgerton's respect for the fragility of reminding us that beyond the rhetoric of hot button issues are real lives being lived. Jared's father and mother (Nicole Kidman, also award-worthy) are not portrayed as villains, but rather as parents making choices based on the information they had at the time. The ways that both the information and the parents change acknowledges the religion/science debate without soapboxes, keeping the film's viewpoint wisely intimate. It is precisely this intimacy that fuels the film's resonance, as one family's story becomes a vessel for greater understanding. That's no small achievement, and Boy Erased is no small triumph.

★★★★ Directed by #SteveMcQueen Written by #SteveMcQueen and #GillianFlynn Starring #ViolaDavis #MichelleRodriguez #ElizabethDebicki #LiamNeeson #DanielKaluuya #ColinFarrell #BrianTyreeHenry Film Review by #HopeMadden There are few films I have been more geeked to see than Widows. Co-writer/director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Shame) and co-writer Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Sharp Objects) update a British miniseries from the ‘80s about a heist. Wait, Steve McQueen made a heist movie? A filmmaker so punishing you watch a little Lars von Trier to lighten the mood? He totally made a heist movie. It is a layered, deeply cynical, wildly faceted take on politics, organized crime, familial grief and the plight of a powerless woman. So, OK, maybe not your run-of-the-mill Liam Neeson flick. But Liam Neeson is in it. Neeson is Harry Rawlings, top man in a group of criminals who hit vaults around Chicago. This last hit went south, though, and the bad men he fleeced need that cash back. Poor Mrs. Rawlings (Viola Davis, glorious as is her way), is handed the bill. McQueen has not made an Oceans 11. Widows is not fun. It is smart, riveting entertainment, though. McQueen’s Chicago landscape is peopled mainly with folks desperately in need of a change: the criminal trying to get into politics (Brian Tyree Henry), the career politician with daddy issues (Colin Farrell), but mostly the widows of Harry’s crew (Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki), all left as cash-strapped as Mrs. Rawlings. It does not pay to marry a criminal. Every member of the enormous ensemble runs with the opportunities this script allows, no matter how much or how little their screen time. Daniel Kaluuya relishes every sadistic moment he has as an enforcer, while Jacki Weaver establishes one character’s entire history with her two fascinating minutes onscreen. But it’s Viola Davis who anchors the film. She is the grieving heart and the survivor’s mind that gives Widows its center and its momentum. She wastes nothing, never forgetting or allowing us to forget the grim reality of her situation. There is a heist, don’t get me wrong. There are double crosses, flying bullets, car chases, explosions—genre prerequisites that feel like new toys for the super-serious director. McQueen proves a versatile a filmmaker, though he has certainly left his own distinctive mark on the action flick.