★★★★ Directed by: #CeciliaVerheyden Written by: #NicoMoolenaar, #BartUytdenhouwen Starring: ##FrankLammers, #EliseSchaap Netflix Film Review by: Emily Davison Ruthless drug worker, Ferry Bouman (Lammers), returns to his hometown of Brabant on a revenge mission after his group are attacked by robbers, only to have his loyalties tested when he finds new love in the beautiful Danielle (Schaap). Ferry (2021) is a Dutch crime drama following the fictional gangster and acts as a prequel film to the popular crime series Undercover (2019). This gritty, slow burn thriller was made available to stream through Netflix from May 14th and makes for an entertaining watch with an effective character study and small bursts of thrilling suspense and action. The dark opening introduces us to Ferry as a child, where we learn of his physically abusive father, which is followed up by snappy and energetic editing as we catch up with Ferry’s involvement in crime and the drug trade. The film stimulates an intriguing mystery when a group of unidentified violent robbers attack the group, with the son of Ferry’s boss, Brink (Huub Stapel), being mortally wounded and setting the rest of the plot’s events in motion as Ferry is sent to avenge his death. Although the narrative is somewhat predictable with Ferry eventually falling for a girl and coming to terms with his bad choices, the journey there is nevertheless effective as great performances and solid direction keep things feeling sharp and engaging. The film orchestrates thrilling sequences of suspense, executed through precise editing and camerawork which make up for the lack of action throughout the middle act. This is by no means a negative, as the slow pacing allows the film to focus on developing Ferry as a sympathetic and likeable lead, as well as his relationship with Danielle. There are also nicely shot sequences which are lighter in tone, such as when Ferry and Danielle take ecstasy together, leading to a hallucinogenic montage with shallow focus and extreme close ups to demonstrate their state of delusion. Frank Lammers delivers a wonderful well rounded performance as Ferry. He has won seven awards in the past for his acting contributions and he manages to balance the threatening, intimidating force of nature with a down to earth, relatable and reserved man very well. His humanity and soft side are gradually revealed when he meets Danielle and rekindles with his past and Elise Schaap captures the sense of the beauty to Ferry’s beast well. There is a powerful scene where he leaves Danielle to return to his boss and he breaks down in tears once he realises he has developed strong feelings for her. There is also a compelling ongoing theme of Ferry fearing he will become like his father, with his drug taking, excessive drinking and tendency to rely on violence threatening to overtake him. Ferry may not be the most original criminal redemption story, but this does not diminish Lammers’ strong performance and character development, or the sharp direction and solid entertainment factor. #EmilyDavison Ferry (2021) Film Trailer:

★★ Directed by: #BenFalcone Written by: #BenFalcone Starring: #MelissaMcCarthy, #OctaviaSpencer, #JasonBateman, #BobbyCannavale Film Review by: Emily Davison In a world where supervillains (known as ‘Miscreants’) are commonplace, two estranged childhood best friends reunite after one devises a treatment that gives them powers to protect their city. Thunder Force (2021) is the newly released superhero action comedy which was recently dropped on Netflix and is directed and written by Ben Falcone, award winning director for his work on Tammy (2014). Both films star his wife Melissa McCarthy in the lead roles, who has been nominated for Best Fantasy Actress in this movie. Although the film has also been nominated for Best Fantasy Movie at the Scream Awards, it has currently been receiving largely negative reviews from audiences and critics alike, with only a dismal twenty four percent on the Rotten Tomatoes score system. The question is: is this film really unwatchable and a waste of an hour forty of your time? Thunder Force begins strongly with a nice comic book style opening delivering slick exposition about the backstory of the city and its characters, a quirky feature which is brought back in the film’s closing credits. It also sets up the girls well with their close friendship quickly but believably established when the two meet as kids after Emily Stanton’s (Spencer) parents are killed by Miscreants and Lydia Berman (McCarthy) defends her from bullies. Unfortunately, once the two have grown up and become estranged from each other, the film becomes a predictable slog that rarely ever picks up with a boring script and plain cookie cutter supervillains. The cinematography is bland and uninteresting, with nothing that particularly stands out as anything special, although the special effects for action sequences are plausible and well done. The film is a generic, conventional superhero movie through and through with nothing new to say, but it is perfectly watchable with crowd pleasing moments such as the display of cool costumes and mildly exciting action with some chuckles here and there. Although comedy is of course subjective to personal taste, the film falls flat in regard to its humour overall, with McCarthy’s improvs coming across as more grating than charming and it is her usual style of humour we have seen many times before. The film employs huge talent with the likes of Octavia Spencer, however her character as the intelligent scientist is uninteresting and it is massive shame that her talents were not put to better use with a richer, more engaging screenplay. She gives a perfectly serviceable performance; as with the rest of the film, there is nothing that really shines here. Thunder Force is by no means a downright awful film as many viewers are claiming it to be, however, the bland and uninspired narrative and production will certainly not knock your socks off. It will probably find an audience somewhere, but for many it will be a forgotten superhero flick that came and went. #EmilyDavison Thunder Force (2021) Film Trailer:

★★★ Directed by: #IvanAyr Written by: #IvanAyr Starring: #SuvinderVicky, #LakshvirSaran Netflix Film Review by: Emily Davison Milestone (2020), or Meel Patthar, is an Indian Hindi-language drama following a lonely, aging and recently widowed truck driver facing the threat of losing the job that has come to define him to a new intern. This understated slow burn is an openly honest and bleak depiction of the existential crisis that almost everyone in the world faces when they feel they are becoming obsolete figures in their workplace and losing any sense of relevance. The film, directed and written by award winning filmmaker Ivan Ayr (known for his acclaimed move Soni (2018), premiered at the 77th Venice International Film Festival in September 2021, where it was nominated for Best Film. It also won two Silver Screen Awards upon its release at the Singapore International Film Festival and Best Asian Feature Film. The film presents an intimate character study through a gritty lens which emphasis realism and the simple mundane activities that plagues everyday life. The cinematography by Angello Faccini is delicately precise and contemplative as we become closely aligned with Ghalib (Suvinder Vicky) and experience his emotional and physical strain as he drives to earn a measly living. The solemn loneliness of the protagonist is captured perfectly by long stretches of silence and long takes with a lack of background score, creating an absorbing atmosphere as characters disappear into the desolate environment. The presentation is similar to that of a documentary style, with a heavy emphasis on authentic human experiences and a dark ambience which very rarely lets up. Not all of life is grim no matter how tough matters get, however, as demonstrated by many beautiful shots in the early morning setting where the sky is a deep red/purple as Ghalib prepares for his next shift with the new intern, Pash (Lakshvir Saran). Even though Vicky and Saran only have a couple of other acting credits, both give good performances and play their roles well. Suvinder Vicky is certainly the standout in the film and his work earned him the Silver Screen Award Best Performance in an Asian feature film. Vicky gives a solemn and nuanced performance which is full of endearing humanity and relatability as we watch him doubt his position in the company he works for. The generation gap between Ghalib and Pash is presented naturally and it is easy to sympathise with both parties. Although a bit too slow in several areas and the dark, gritty tone will not be appealing for many, Milestone is an admirable and engrossing film with rich, compelling themes and a includes a powerhouse performance from its lead. #EmilyDavison Milestone (2021) film trailer:

★★★ Stars Directed by: #DonovanMarsh Written by: #EmileLeuvennink, #MarcellGreeff, #WayneFitzjohn, #DonovanMarsh Starring: #EricaWessels, #HlubiMboya, #MothusiMagano, #BrendonDaniels Film Review by: Alicia Moore “A special crimes investigator forms an unlikely bond with a serial killer to bring down a global child sex trafficking syndicate.” I Am All Girls doesn’t necessarily have a main character focus, following both Jodie Synman (Erica Wessels) who is a crime investigator and her colleague Ntombizonke Bapai (Hlubi Mboya) who works in forensics, but carries herself outside of the law in the shadows. They are both emotionally invested in tracking down the monsters who fuel a global child sex trafficking syndicate but are so in vastly different proportions. The journey in this film is not one for the faint of heart as it delves into a topic so vile and bursts it open by yanking at the seams. Yet, I push even the faint hearted to bare this journey as the horrors of child trafficking aren’t sugarcoated. I Am All Girls may not be a 5 star film from a critic’s perspective, but if it does anything then it brings much needed attention to an underground world of barbarity that is unknowingly cycling around you now as you read these words. At first, I thought the lack of dialogue was a very good writers choice to make to allow the full impact of emotion and gut wrenching moments to hit the viewer. Though, as the film continues, it becomes evident that this might not have been a forwardly smart choice on the writers’ behalf — the writing overall is very weak, not just when it comes to the sparse communication between characters. I Am All Girls is unable to decide if it wants to be a story that depicts triumph in law or mysterious revenge. Not having a direct path to follow in this way leaves the film feeling slightly lost at times, which is again heavily impacted by the very few slices of dialogue that viewers are given. Even so, the dialogue that is shared appears awkward as the writing of such speech is blunt and without much context due to the characters not being able to verbally develop their stance in the story. If the writers (Emile Leuvennink, Marcell Greeff, Wayne Fitzjohn, Donovan Marsh) wanted to maybe focus more on a ‘classic’ revenge storyline, then they had an abundance of opportunities to give characters, Ntombizonke in particular, extremely powerful monologues that reflect the pain and suffering of the topic being presented. Although the script may lack the emotional kick that I was expecting, thankfully the visuals and score make up for most of which that was missing. The cinematography (Trevor Calverley) is stunning, enhancing the atmosphere of each setting to an extent that fully immerses a viewer. This can feel overwhelming at times because of the nature of scenes depicting frail young girls who have been kidnapped and abused, but this is where the desired emotion finally becomes evident in the film. Overwhelming is the perfect feeling to have in this sense and I applaud Calverley for his work. Music by Brendan Jury entrancingly compliments the use of camera to pull in audiences; the eerie and anxiety inducing tracks have the ability to make the heart race. I Am All Girls relies heavily on these two elements and fortunately they do not disappoint. From my viewing experience, the acting is brilliant here — especially with what the cast had to work with in terms of characterisation and development in writing. Hlubi Mboya gives a notably striking performance; her outpour of feeling and reaction to her character’s past trauma holds an incredible level of intensity. Through her eyes you are able to see her pain, almost directly feeling its crushing weight yourself. This character must be undoubtedly difficult to portray because of the torment she carries yet Mboya is simply captivating. I Am All Girls, now streaming on Netflix, may feel a little muddled and unsure of itself at times but it is an important watch for the quite unfiltered look into the darkness and bruising of trafficking through this inky storyline. All in all, I do recommend giving this a watch; mainly because the struggles of the topic involved are from both a legal investigation perspective as well as a victim’s perspective, adding an extra level of intrigue throughout its duration. I’m stating a trigger warning for themes of abuse and sexual violence before you decide to watch, stay safe!

★★★★ Directed by: #WillGluck Starring: #JamesCorden, #RoseByrne, #DomhnallGleeson, #DavidOyelowo, #MargotRobbie, #ElizabethDebicki, #LennieJames, #AimeeHorne and #ColinMoody Film review by: Brian Penn The Peter Rabbit stories so lovingly created by Beatrix Potter are as English as tea, scones and cricket played on a village green. So it’s reassuring that director Will Gluck does a sterling job in the follow up to his first outing with the character in 2018. The principal stars have returned for this thoroughly enjoyable sequel that takes the title character on an exciting ride in the city. Peter (James Corden) is enjoying celebrity status as a character featured in books sold by Bea (Rose Byrne) in her country gift shop. Bea has since married Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson), and adopted Peter and his family as their own. But Thomas is suspicious of Peter’s mischievous ways; unlike his cute and lovable relations cousin Benjamin (Colin Moody), and sisters Mopsy, Flopsy and Cottontail voiced by Elizabeth Debicki, Margot Robbie and Aimee Horn. Smarmy publisher Nigel Basil Jones (David Oyelowo) promises Bea untold wealth if she broadens her books with more Hollywood potential. Nigel gives the rabbits a new persona with Peter dubbed as the ‘the bad seed’. Distraught and misunderstood he wanders off into the city. He encounters the dubious Barnabas (Lennie James) who claims to have known his father. He quickly leads Peter into a life of crime and puts his family in danger. But will Peter work out all the angles before it’s too late? The mix of live action with CGI is often a curious trade-off; and the old adage of never working with [children or] animals still holds even when they’re computer generated. The voicing actors are undoubtedly the stars even though the humans on screen are perfectly fine. There are some great gags delivered with real panache, plus a gleeful dig at the film industry’s current obsession with franchising. Will Gluck wears his influences on a barely disguised sleeve. There are distinct nods to James Bond and the classic heist movie genre. Barnabas is a spin on Fagin and the finest Dickensian legend; and certain scenes are hugely reminiscent of Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. All of which adds to the film’s natural charm and lustre. A great popcorn movie that made me smile and made me laugh; please can I have some more?

Filmmaker Interview by Chris Olson I love catching up with filmmakers who have a can-do attitude, and writer/director Sean Cranston certainly has that. His approach to filmmaking is simply "get it done" regardless of budget constraints or pandemics. So it was an honour to speak with him via this Zoom Interview whereby we chatted about how he gets his indie feature films made, as well as some of his short film work - such as Holiday Spirit. During our filmmaker interview, we largely discussed his indie feature Redville, which is currently available to rent on the streaming service Troma. Check out our video description on YouTube for a link to the film. Enjoy... #ChrisOlson #FilmmakerInterview

★★★★ Directed by: Shaun Rose, Andrea Stangle Written by: Shaun Rose, Andrea Stangle, Bruce Rose Sr. Starring: Shaun Rose, Andrea Stangle, Charles Trainosky Film Review by: Vikas Yadav I have always enjoyed watching the filmmaking process. There is total chaos on the set as a group of hardworking people navigate through commotion to realize a vision. Sometimes, these behind-the-scenes stories are filled with elation. Sometimes, they reveal tragedy and unhappiness. But, in the end, they all are inspiring as everyone gets to enjoy the final creation. Making and Unmaking is one such documentary that offers a view behind a painful filmmaking process that almost broke its director. In Making and Unmaking, director Shaun Rose recollects and shows his old memories, displaying an unsuccessful time in his life and career. Rose remembers his days during 2012-13 where he printed a script with green ink because he didn’t have the black color. We are taken to different locations where the filming of Rose’s first film, Summer Days, would have taken place. One thing to note here is that every location is related to his childhood memories. For instance, there is a place where Rose and his brother used to skateboard and bike while they were growing up. There is a field where he was supposed to shoot a baseball sequence, and it was selected as the director used to spend time with his friends there. All this indicates how personal and subjective the movie-making process can be. There are always hurdles in any creative process. Filmmaking is no exception. It tests both your zeal and your problem-solving skills. Because if you think carefully, a film is like a puzzle in which you have to arrange all the pieces correctly in their particular positions to make everything clear and understandable for the onlookers. At times, you have to manipulate a piece to fit it into the puzzle, like how for Summer Days, Rose had to evoke the feeling of summer during the winter season. Making and Unmaking uncovers the struggles of making a film on a shoestring budget and how it could take a toll on your health. Rose suffered from depression and was deserted by his friends when he needed them the most. His voice is permeated with a frankness that pierces through the documentary and touches our emotions. There is pain and humor in his comments that instantly connect with you, making him your companion. And that is why you feel happy when he narrates his achievements - his film Upstate Story gets selected in film festivals and is showered with awards and praises. Rose’s story proves that hard work always pays off. You just need to be patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

★★★★ Directed by: #AuroraBrachman Written by: #AuroraBrachman Starring: #Lou, #Tenysa, #Hannah & #Logan Film Review by: David Richards This powerfully intimate documentary brings the style of old fashion cinema and the modern wave of social justice into a cataclysmic product showcasing the suppressed emotions of a minority. Using the simplistic technique of interview audio over montage footage, ‘Joychild’ translates the emotional struggles of a child on their journey in discovering their true identity. The child interviewee explores their past and reflect on their experiences when coming to terms with self-identification in coming out to their mother. Brachman’s genius combination of bringing a plain means of filmmaking to an emotionally and socially complex situation offers a unique viewing experience to the audience. Although this is done through the sole interview of one child’s journey, the filmmakers can clearly be noted as using this one voice as a projection of the many. The flow of narrative is laidback and calm which allows the audience to soak in the glorious cinematography and ponder over the sentimental struggle of the spoken word. Standing at nearly six minutes, the length of this short fits its style and narrative perfectly by not dwelling on the subject matter and imagery for too long which could quickly become repetitive. Within the first two acts, the narration doesn’t directly state what the documentary is specifically commenting on, which to some viewers could be confusing. However, it isn’t necessary as the emotions, tone and dialogue heavily insinuates the importance of the subject which seems to be the clear and central theme of this piece. The cinematography is strong as the composition is precise and stylised. The choice of shooting B&W is the correct path and works in the films favour. This is because the grey scale of brightly lit sunny shots exquisitely contrasts the grey tones which perfectly matches the tone of the subject matter, E.g., the use of B&W matches the emotional struggle while the joyful lighting matches the realisation and release of acceptance. Although the protagonists dialogue can be at times difficult to understand, the sound recording is clear and well mixed throughout, adding a calm atmosphere which compliments without interrupting the dialogue. The soundtrack spikes an interesting tone by helping shift the developing narrative to its next act, driving that emotion. This edit provokes the calm demeaner by keeping the pace of cutting on-going and holding the audience’s captivation. This is a perfect example of how not to bore an audience while exhibiting a slow and relaxed film, further adding to its progression. All in all, ‘Joychild’ is a marvellous and honest insight to the struggles of children through their challenging times of finding acceptance for who they are. Although, this piece can be misconceived as bland through its slow pace and B&W format, this would be a massive oversight. what this film truly offers is style, emotion and a perfectly executed production.

★★★ Directed by: #ÉricPinéda Written by: #ÉricPinéda Starring: #JustineAllame, #AlexMesnil & #XavierGojo Film Review by: David Richards Éric Pinéda’s ‘Anna’ strikes intrigue in the mystery of how the plot unfolds. Like most non-linear narratives, this short focusses not on what the climax will become, but how we journey to the climax. This is clearly shown by the opening shot presenting to the audience what, in a linear narrative, would be the last shot of the climax. This is well executed throughout the entirety of the narrative and resembles a similar style and format of Gaspar Noé’s ‘Irreversible’ (2002). ‘Anna’ has a couple of triumphs under its belt, one of chich is the cinematography. Within the opening scene, it is clear that the cinematography is clean and well executed. With the complimenting scenery, cinematographer Alexandre Franchet accomplishes a great contrast in colour as well as capturing the stunning sunlight breaking through the tree canopies. The introducing and key soundtrack leads intrigue to the plot and works well until we break into second act where a cheesy 80’s tone strikes. I’m sure in other circumstances this would work well but in parallel to the crisp modern cinematography seems misaligned. The sound design works well and seems faultless. The productions design can be weak at times with the exception of the realistic blood FX. However, the location choices supress this by tying in well with the on-point cinematography. The most notable and beneficial location is the almost enchanting woods which offers up vibrant green colours which is well matched with the graffitied ruins. The passing through the concrete surroundings of an inner city also adds authenticity to the production. Pinéda’s edit of ‘Anna’ is strong and stands on its own two feet, yet the editorial timing of some cuts can be mis-timed. Although this isn’t necessarily visible nor too impactful to the production’s quality, it simply does not add as much as it possibly could to help push the thriller moments of the narrative and performance. This may be a key example of an edit that is cut well but is almost selfish in doing so. A truly well-executed edit would stand strong in itself as ‘Anna’ does but also compliment other elements of the film such as the direction and performance. The performances at times are weak in moments of dramatized conflict, such as the demise of a character or chasing through the woods. Justine Allames portrayal of Anna works well in most moments. The plot is well structured despite its Non-linear timeline. Pinéda’s well developed script works well with its themes inspired by French auteur Jean-Luc Godard’s in reference to the beginning, middle and end of a narrative “but not necessarily in that order”. It’s a shame this intriguing script is tainted by un-hit marks of drama. This could be put to fault at the not so well executed performances or the slightly miss-timed edit. All in all, ‘Anna’ is a professionally written and produced short thriller which unfortunately fails to fully execute certain elements within the thriller genre. Yet again, I look forward to seeing what these filmmakers may achieve in future productions.

★★ Directed by: #HowardSmith Written by: #RogerLawsonNoons Starring: #ZdenkaKitkova, #NikitaArtjuhhov & #SimonHawkins Film Review by: David Richards ‘The Songs of Natalya Petrova” directed by Howard-Smith is the re-visited take of ‘Avoidance’ which stands at two minutes shorter in length. Smith takes on the mantle of most key roles such as story, photography, editing, sound and music which serves as a prime example of why filmmaking should be a collaborative effort and not a one-man band. This short film, although not to my taste, does however show a true passion of cinema and an admiration for what film could achieve. Despite the serious and dark tones of murder, drug abuse and suicide, the poor filmmaking of ‘The sons or Natalya Petrova’ portray this film as comedic in scenes such as the “drug deal gone wrong”. This unfortunately comes to play from the poor performances and stale shooting style. The director however does have moments of success such as his decision to use black and white. At first it seems as though they transition from colour to black & white to showcase moments of the past, however as we process through the narrative, we discover that in actual fact the colour format switches in moments of trauma and devastation. The critical choice of formatting works to the films advantage in aiding the emotional intentions of the script. The script is well worked and holds a strong sense of family, desperation and trauma which could potentially work better as feature so that the filmmakers could explore each character in greater depth. Unfortunately, the performances are weak. From a plot which clearing represents a string of emotions from the written characters, the actors show little to no emotions failing to draw the audience in. Smith’s cinematography falls flat in moments of colour and sometimes overcompensated with exposure in the monochrome. If compared, the monochrome does stand taller and achieve more than its counterpart. The sound is inconsistent when cutting from one location to another. In addition, with the exception of some voice-over dialogue and score, there seems to be little to no sound design added in post which with bad on location audio is a must. The Locations are not in good taste with the opening scene being shot at a Weatherspoon’s pub as well as other plain and bland locations. The pace of editing within the opening conflict is fast which draws intrigue to the scene while displaying the amount of coverage the filmmakers had from the shoot. Although this works successfully it does somewhat take away from the subtitles and in turn the dialogue, however this could prove to be my own disadvantage for not speaking the Russian spoken language of which this short it primarily spoken. The VFX of Dmitry laying on the tracks with the train incoming is executed perfectly. Overall, ‘The sons of Natalya Petrova’ is not well received with some particularly bad aspects of filmmaking made even worse by the performances. The script and editing helps carry the audience through to the finish. With more hands-on deck, this film could have been greatly improved. Many Thanks to the filmmakers for their time and passion in trying to produce this film.

★★★ Directed by: Rocko Zevenbergen Written by: Rocko Zevenbergen Starring: Estevan Munoz, Sidra Morgan-Montoya, Derek Slade Tucker, Sean Abplanalp Film Review by: Jason Knight A wild ride filled with eccentric characters, outrageous situations and a talking, deformed head. The protagonist in this crazy story is Dood (Munoz), a young punk fan, who after a night at a house party involving drugs and punk music, begins having hallucinations and imagines that he sees and interacts with a horrible-looking head with sharp teeth and an attitude. Poor Dood must try to maintain his sanity, while at the same time avoiding the cops, leading to all sorts of shocking misadventures. This dark comedy horror film utilizes the movie-withing-a-movie technique. The narrative keeps moving between Dood's adventures and the 'real world', in which the film about the sinister head is a movie and its cast and crew discuss their progress and have disagreements regarding what the next step is. The result of this narrative technique is like watching two films. Regarding Dood's story, things are rather bonkers. His hallucinations are often revealed and, apart from the talking head, they involve a pizza with a face, a man's face melting and Dood himself having his body being magically covered with dark liquid. There is plenty of violence and gore too, with people being shot and mutilated. There are also disgusting actions, such as a person vomiting on someone's face. Therefore, this movie is not for the easily-offended. The other story that is supposed to take place in the real world is less hectic, with the main focus being the stubborn director, who refuses to listen to others and change his plans regarding the film. As time goes by, he appears to be going mad. The performances are over-the-top and wacky, creating quite a collection of unconventional and atrocious characters. There are drug users, incompetent cops, a gay police officer who goes on a killing spree and the filmmaker who loses his marbles. The mise-en-scene is interesting, with the clothing looking good and the various creatures (Dood's hallucinations) catching the viewer's attention, particularly the monstrous head that resembles the evil entities from Critters. The special effects and makeup are not convincing, but that does not harm the movie, as it does not take itself seriously. The filmmakers make wonderful use of lighting techniques and the cinematography makes this feature look like it was made during the eighties and so does the entertaining score. The directing features awkward camera angles and the editing is creative. Generally, the film has an 80's B-movie feeling about it. I Need You Dead! is not for everyone and it feels overlong. However, it is a thrilling ride, that pays homage to eighties B-movies and it is a satire on drug addiction. #JasonKnight

★★★ Directed by: #SarinKumar Written by: #SarinKumar Starring: #KiranDev, #Attul, #StevieSunny Film review by: Patrick Foley No matter how old or responsible we become, we always hold a grudge against our childhood tormenters. Reunions in adulthood are often fraught with clenched teeth and withheld grudges as we are all expected to put the past behind us, despite those formative years leaving lasting scars. Whilst we all would like to avoid these awkward moments, the two stars of What The… go to measures that even the most vengeful of us might find extreme. Karthi (Kiran Dev) is blindsided by his friend Kathir (Attul), who requisitions him for a catch-up with an old schoolmate, Rocky (Stevie Sunny). Karthi is in no mood to meet up with Rocky, who bullied him as a kid, but Kathir needs his assistance to network with their old foe in order to secure work in Dubai. Over a few drinks, the trio reminisce over old times. But when Rocky takes a step too far, Karthi decides to stand up for himself. The aftermath leaves the two friends in a sticky situation, which a mysterious cop (Radhakrishnan G) may be able to help them with… A cynical and at-times sinister Indian black comedy, What The… starts out as a heavy, tension-filled drama which lives up to its title as it slides into absurdity towards the conclusion. It is a curious project, which is quite successful at portraying an intense and complex relationship between abuser and abused that would not look out of place in a serious drama or action movie, whilst also delivering some genuine laughs throughout which are firmly in comedy farce territory. But despite succeeding with both ends of the scale, the duality at the film’s heart – which wants to be taken deadly serious one moment before ridiculing itself the next, often feels jarring. The film’s first half in which Karthi and Kathir meet with Rocky, is easily its strongest, and is much heavier on the dramatic side. Director Sarin Kumar effectively builds tension between Rocky and Karthi, gradually closing in on the pair in Rocky’s apartment until audiences will feel claustrophobic as both men get close to snapping. Rocky’s psychological abuse of Karthi is disturbingly realistic, echoing the real abilities of bullies who gaslight their victims. However, as their argument escalates, the film becomes rather contrived as it furthers the story. Plot developments just seem to happen TO the characters, rather than result from their actions. Whilst this is acceptable on occasion, it feels as though the director is hesitant to have his characters act at times. Whereas this is one source of the film’s humour, it would have been much funnier for audiences to laugh at the characters and their actions, rather than purely the crazy situations they end up in. The cast are excellent, and the performances key in executing the far-fetched plot. Kiran Dev and Attul both anchor the film as everymen in way over their heads, both equally sympathetic and amusing. Stevie Sunny deserves special praise as the psychotic Rocky – who has clearly matured only into a more terrifying version of the bully Karthi remembers. Radhakrishnan G’s mysterious policeman is enigmatic and threatening, but his performance suffers from the confusing nature of the film by the time of his introduction. Amusing and original, What The… features great performances and some dark laughs with its absurdity. However, its more serious, and tightly scripted first half points to a superior movie hiding within. Whilst its comedy achieves the key objective of actually being funny, audiences will be left wondering if this tale of scorned schoolmates would have been better off told with a straighter face.