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| Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brien in Love Lies Bleeding Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival |
Love Lies Bleeding, streaming on Netflix now
Queer romance and violence twist together when bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian) stops off at a gym run by Lou (Kristen Stewart) on her way to a contest in Vegas. The pair fall hard and fast but find their incipient romance threatened by the nefarious dealings of Lou’s family particularly her father (Ed Harris, enjoyably menacing). Rose Glass turns up the colours of her pulpy noir to the max, while Clint Mansell's score throbs beneath it. It may have more style than substance but with surface pleasures as glossy as this, it’s hard not to be won over. Plus read what costume designer Olga Mill told us about creating the look for the film.
Babyteeth, streaming now on MUBI
Shannon Murphy stepped with ease from TV work to her debut feature, which won a slew of Australian Academy awards in 2020. Her film takes a refreshingly matter of fact approach to the subject of cancer. Milla (Eliza Scanlen) is 16 and all the usual coming-of-age emotions are being complicated by her chemotherapy. After an encounter with older boy, Moses (Toby Wallace) the pair embark on an unexpected relationship that causes ructions with Milla's mum Anna (Essie Davis) and dad (Ben Mendelsohn). There's a naturalistic feel to the relationships as Murphy allows Milla's personal story from her perspective, with cinematographer Andrew Commis, cleverly employing everything from natural light to neon to subtly shift the mood.
A Private Function, 1.50am, Film4, Wednesday, December 3
Everything about this Alan Bennett-scripted comedy is a treat, from Michael Palin's chiropodist's talk of verrucas to his social-climbing wife Joyce (Maggie Smith) instructing her piano student, "Da Capo, Veronica!". The plot, set in post-war Britain, revolves around a black market pig and quickly descends into farce, as Bennett blends elements of Ealing comedy and slapstick with much edgier stuff that anticipates the likes of The Royle Family. As always with Bennett there's a poignancy underlying the fun, particularly with regard to women's position in society at the time. All this, plus Liz Smith, as Joyce’s ageing and slightly dotty mother, just about stealing every scene she’s in.
This Is England, 9pm, Film4, Thursday, December 4
Jennie Kermode writes: Shane Meadows had directed several features before, but with This Is England achieves a stunning chemistry. A brilliant cast, including a début from the incredible Thomas Turgoose, makes this something truly special. With near perfect period detail, its nostalgic value isn't just from its evocation of Eighties Britain but catching a cavalcade of talents early in their careers. The language isn't mild, nor the other elements, but that all gives it a realism that no level of bowdlerisation would preserve.
You Were Never Really Here, 1.50am Film4, Saturday, December 6
Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love is in cinemas at the moment so there’s never been a better time to also catch up with this viscerally tense thriller from her back catalogue. Joaquim Phoenix stars as a suicidal hitman on the hunt for a missing girl. If the plot sounds rote, fear not, as Ramsay dives into the psychological waters of Joe's past and present at the same time as he is going through the motions of his job. Phoenix has rarely been better than here, damaged and determined, with scenes alongside Joe's mother (Judith Roberts) achieving heartbreaking poignancy. As Ramsay and Phoenix burrow deeper into the psyche of Joe, the mood intensifies – and it is us who find ourselves struggling to breathe.
King Richard, 11.30pm, BBC2, Saturday, December 6
Director Reinaldo Marcus Green and first time feature writer Zach Baylin offer a twist on more traditional biopics by viewing the story of Venus and Serena Williams through the prism of their family. To the fore is Will Smith as the family's patriarch, who was a man with the ultimate plan – that his girls would go down in tennis history. Driven harder than a cross-court volley to help his daughters to succeed, we see the relentless way he set about getting Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton) into the places kids like them seldom reached, coming up against the white establishment along the way. He may be a pushy parent but he has a winning way with it. In addition to the family focus, which sees Aunjanue Ellis in fine form in support as mum Brandi, Marcus Green lets the tension mount on court as Venus faces her toughest match yet.
The Masque Of The Red Death, 2am, Film4, Sunday, December 7
Jennie Kermode writes: Roger Corman, Vincent Price and Edgar Allan Poe – was there ever a trio of artists so well suited to each other? Yes, it’s only a loose adaptation of the latter’s work, but this spectacular visual feast, shot by Nicolas Roeg and loaded with symbolic import, certainly captures the spirit. It’s also highly relevant today, focusing as it does on a cruel prince who barricades himself inside his castle with a collection of sycophantic courtiers to escape a plague which is killing the peasants over whom he has dominion. Holding gaudy revelries and toying with a peasant girl whom he hopes to corrupt, he turns his back on what he takes to be an uncaring God and seeks to ensure his safety and power by devoting himself to Satan. What he doesn’t realise is that Death knows no master. Enlivened by David Lee’s haunting score and spiced with wit, the film unfolds like a Medieval epic, full of mythic weight. Sic transit gloria mundi.
This week’s short selection is homing pigeon documentary Pouters, directed by Paul Fegan who went on to make feature Where You’re Meant To Be
