Saltburn (2023)
Director: Emerald Fennell
Screenwriter: Emerald Fennell
Starring: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan

With the release of her debut feature film Promising Young Woman in 2020, Emerald Fennell established herself as one of the most exciting directors working today. Her candy-pop infused, #MeToo-inspired revenge thriller provoked challenging discussions and introduced the world to Fennell’s fresh voice and unique talents. With her sophomore effort Saltburn, can lightning strike twice?

The film opens at the beginning of the 2006/07 academic year as Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) enrols at Oxford University. Though Ollie struggles to make friends at first – hilariously summed up in the trailer by Ewan Mitchell’s great line “Did you know there was a college Christmas party tonight? NFI, me and you. Not fucking invited” – he quickly finds himself under the wing of charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Before long, Catton invites Ollie to stay with him over the summer at his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, Saltburn.

The title card of the picture finds itself scribbled across the film’s 4:3 frame, like the graffiti you’d find sprawled over an old school textbook. Immediately, with this simple design choice, Fennell sums up the schoolboy immaturity of many of the characters; they think the world revolves around them but really their problems are the sort of issues you’d find on the playground, and they hold onto their grudges forever. What makes it so terrifying, as their placement as the elite in society shows, is that these are the people who hold power. The ones that make the rules for everyone else yet don’t abide by them (a very funny karaoke scene in the film seems to poke fun at a very real example of this in recent British politics), the kind of people who don’t need to worry financially. There is maybe even something to be said about the latter point with regard to the film’s setting in 2007, right before the climax of the 2007–2008 financial crisis. 

Making up this abhorrent and aberrant family are an unforgettable cast of characters made up of the airhead family patriarch Sir James (Richard E. Grant), the oblivious family matriarch Elsbeth (Rosamund Pike), Felix, his siren-like sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) and their cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe), a particularly mischievous jester-like character that entertains the whole family. Oh, and let’s not forget the ludicrously melancholic “Poor Dear” Pamela (Carey Mulligan). All of whom are portrayed wonderfully by each respective actor, often delivering hilarious comedic performances with such an immense depth to them that not only do they make us laugh but they offer a scarily accurate portrayal of the type of people we allow to control our world.

The loathsome behaviour and elitist thinking of each character is introduced very early on. This is perhaps best exemplified by Oliver’s first meeting with his tutor, in which he is essentially mocked for having completed the summer reading, rather than celebrated for his hard work. All the while Farleigh, who is twenty minutes late, gains the respect of the tutor due to his family name and the power that it holds. In this world, status beats out hard work every time. Equally so, the first time Oliver and Felix officially meet, Felix’s bike has a puncture and Oliver offers him his bike so that he can make it to class even though it is clear that Felix really wasn’t doing much to even attempt to fix his bike. Felix was raised to believe that all of life’s problems would be solved for him. 

In spite of all this, Oliver can’t help but to find himself seduced by their lavish lifestyles, just as we can’t help but to be tempted by the Catton family, leading to both us and Oliver finding ourselves entangled in their web. It is in the way that the film is shot that allows Fennell to seduce us so easily. Shooting the stately home as though it were a fetish object, Fennell captures the alluring nature of such a home in the most perfect way that it becomes clear why anybody who enters would never wish to leave again. 

Saltburn doesn’t produce a product that simply delivers a message of the evils of privileged high society, but instead delivers them as fully fleshed out humans of both good and bad doing. Just as Felix may be a spoilt brat he is also by far the most understanding of the family and the one who is constantly generous to Oliver for little reason other than genuine kindness. Jacob Elordi captures this in his layered performance as Felix, bringing a charm and charisma to the character as well as a childish nature.

Instead, Saltburn shows the evils of desire and the lengths that many will go to in order to get what they want. In the game that is Saltburn, everybody wants something and they are all playing against each other to get it. It’s like ‘Succession‘ for the ‘Skins’ generation.

Though it is certainly an ensemble piece and one in which each performer must be nothing short of brilliant in order to make the world of the movie work, the story really rests on the shoulders of lead actor Barry Keoghan. He, along with Fennell’s wonderful direction, brings Saltburn to life. As the film progresses and it is Oliver who becomes the desirable object, things begin to get interesting and Keoghan’s portrayal of this journey is nothing short of spectacular. Not only does he capture the growth and progression of his character with precision, but with each new scene he brings something a little different, making Oliver’s evolution all that more interesting. Come the end of the film, once Oliver has transformed into his final form, it is clear that what we have just witnessed is a special performance that will linger in the mind for years to come.

Deciding which of Fennell’s two feature films is better will inevitably come down to a matter of taste. For some, one message will hit harder than the other, but for others the pacing and structure will leave a lasting impact. It all comes down to the individual. What is clear, however, is that Emerald Fennell is one of the most exciting directors working today and Saltburn marks the second successive masterpiece in her short but impactful career.

Saltburn is a seductive odyssey of lust, desire and betrayal that plays out like a Shakespearean episode of ‘Skins’, with a slight dash of ‘Succession’. Perhaps just as importantly, it does for Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor” what Promising Young Woman did for Paris Hilton’s “Stars Are Blind”. Emerald Fennell has done it again.

Score: 23/24

The winners of the 76th EE BAFTA Film Awards (2023) were announced from the Southbank Centre in London, England on Sunday 19th February, with All Quiet on the Western Front and The Banshees of Inisherin taking home the evening’s major awards.

In a ceremony presented to those live in attendance by BAFTA-nominated actor Richard E. Grant, and co-hosted by beloved British television presenter Allison Hammond, a total of twenty awards were handed to what the British Academy of Film and Television Arts decided were the greatest feats in filmmaking from 2022.

All Quiet on the Western Front beat early favourite and British/Irish film The Banshees of Inisherin to the Best Film and Best Director awards, earning recognition in seven categories also including Film Not In the English Language and Adapted Screenplay. The Banshees of Inisherin, meanwhile, was recognised as the Outstanding British Film, earning further recognition in the Supporting Actor and Original Screenplay categories.

The ceremony itself was presented at a fairly fast pace, the broadcast of the awards beginning later than the ceremony itself and using its tape delay to catch up to live proceedings for the last three awards: Actor, Actress, Best Film.

Richard E. Grant was endearing in his duty as host, offering laughs here and there, his most memorable moment coming whilst choking up at the In Memoriam portion of the ceremony. Live musical performances were provided by BAFTA-winning actress Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), who performed a medley in tribute to empowered women on screen, and British musician Little Simz, whose performance of “Heart on Fire” has already been widely praised.

Iconic costume designer Sandy Powell (Gangs of New York, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Favourite) was honoured with the British Academy of Film and Television’s annual BAFTA Fellowship, an award handed to those whose careers have been immensely impactful to the British film industry. Her acceptance speech, championing those in the film industry beyond the glitz and glamour of the on-screen roles, was of admirable intent.

In the only award of the night chosen by the public, Emily star Emma Mackey won the EE BAFTA Rising Star award, the actress earning the public’s favour over fellow ‘Sex Education’ actress Aimee Lou Wood (Living), Good Luck to You, Leo Grande actor Daryl McCormack, Naomi Ackie and Sheila Atim.

The full list of winners for the 76th BAFTA Film Awards (2023):

Best Film – All Quiet On the Western Front
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Tár

Outstanding British Film – The Banshees of Inisherin
Aftersun
Brian and Charles
Empire of Light
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Living
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical
See How They Run
The Swimmers
The Wonder

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer – Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)
George Oakley, Hélène Sifre (Blue Jean)
Marie Lidén (Electric Malady)
Katy Brand (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande)
Maia Kenworthy (Rebellion)

Film Not In the English Language – All Quiet On the Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Corsage
Decision To Leave
The Quiet Girl

Documentary – Navalny
All That Breathes
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Fire of Love
Moonage Daydream

Animated Film – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
Turning Red

Director – Edward Berger (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Park Chan-Wook (Decision To Leave)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Todd Field (Tár)
Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King)

Original Screenplay – Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)
Todd Field (Tár)
Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness)

Adapted Screenplay – Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Kazuo Ishiguro (Living)
Colm Bairéad (The Quiet Girl)
Rebecca Lenkiewicz (She Said)
Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale)

Leading Actress – Cate Blanchett (Tár)
Viola Davis (The Woman King)
Danielle Deadwyler (Till)
Ana De Armas (Blonde)
Emma Thompson (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande)
Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Leading Actor – Austin Butler (Elvis)
Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
Daryl McCormack (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande)
Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
Bill Nighy (Living)

Supporting Actress – Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Hong Chau (The Whale)
Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness)
Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Carey Mulligan (She Said)

Supporting Actor – Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)
Albrecht Schuch (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Michael Ward (Empire of Light)

Casting – Nikki Barrett, Denise Chamlan (Elvis)
Lucy Pardee (Aftersun)
Simone Bär (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Sarah Halley Finn (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Pauline Hansson (Triangle of Sadness)

Cinematography – James Friend (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Greig Fraser (The Batman)
Mandy Walker (Elvis)
Roger Deakins (Empire of Light)
Claudio Miranda (Top Gun: Maverick)

Editing – Paul Rogers (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Sven Budelmann (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Jonathan Redmond, Matt Villa (Elvis)
Eddie Hamilton (Top Gun: Maverick)

Costume Design – Catherine Martin (Elvis)
Lisy Christi (All Quiet On the Western Front)
J.R. Hawbaker, Albert Wolsky (Amsterdam)
Mary Zophres (Babylon)
Jenny Beavan (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris)

Make Up & Hair – Elvis
All Quiet On the Western Front
The Batman
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical
The Whale

Production Design – Babylon
All Quiet On the Western Front
The Batman
Elvis
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Original Score – Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet On the Western Front)
Justin Hurwitz (Babylon)
Carter Burwell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Son Lux (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Alexandre Desplat (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)

Sound – All Quiet On the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
Elvis
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick

Special Visual Effects – Avatar: The Way of Water
All Quiet On the Western Front
The Batman
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Top Gun: Maverick

British Short Animation – The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse
Middle Watch
Your Mountain Is Waiting

British Short Film – An Irish Goodbye
The Ballad of Olive Morris
Bazigaga
Bus Girl
A Drifting Up

EE Rising Star – Emma Mackey
Aimee Lou Wood
Daryl McCormack
Naomi Ackie
Sheila Atim

BAFTA Fellowship – Sandy Powell

Our society’s growing disparity in wealth and the current era’s consideration of gender dynamics and political power struggles has brought cinema about mental health into the mainstream, some of the year’s greatest films openly exploring depression and issues of the mind in more intricate ways than any English language cinema has for a long time. Our context has also caused a number of films celebrating the heroes of our everyday to come to the fore, many of 2022’s most talked about movies highlighting how life is lived in its smaller moments, even the year’s biggest biopics and most action-filled extravaganzas embracing the importance of being happy with one’s self, being the truest version of one’s self.

Perhaps as a direct response to global lockdowns and all the isolation and fear that came with them, we have also seen films about comradery and relationships dominate much of the year’s best cinema. Excitingly, this grounded purpose has pushed some of the year’s most action-filled blockbuster-type movies directly into the Best Films 2022 discussion, the yearslong struggle of studio blockbusters attempting to infiltrate the annual lists of critically praised films and awards nominees finally over. And still, cinema marches on with more diverse filmmakers making a wider variety of films to be exhibited exclusively on the big screen. This year alone, a Scottish independent film broke the hearts of all who saw it, a young ethnically diverse directorial duo captured our current day conveniences and struggles perhaps better than anyone else, a woman from an underrepresented part of the United Kingdom told a universal tale with timely importance, and another found self-actualisation as a filmmaker with of all things a sequel.

Cinema is evolving away from its shared experience roots and towards a more individual, brand-specific type of consumerism, but the quality of filmmaking remains so outstanding from so many – so truthful and hearty and filled with purpose. In this Movie List from The Film Magazine, I will present to you the films that best captured our current moment, that delved most deeply into their subject, that enhanced and evolved the form beyond what it had ever been before, and achieved things artistically that should be remembered for decades. These are the 10 Best Films 2022.

Follow me @JoeTFM on Twitter.

10. Elvis

Elvis Review

Far more than a regular biopic of a famed figure, Baz Luhrmann’s best-ever film Elvis reached into the heart of what made rock ‘n’ roll superstar Elvis Presley so beloved and for a few hours invited everyone to experience it. It was the film of the year in terms of sheer sex appeal, Austin Butler being unrecognisable and absolutely terrific in his presentation of the King, and Luhrmann managing even more so to orchestrate the circumstances necessary to truly feel the grasp of one of popular culture’s most significant and recognisable figures.

Luhrmann’s authorial approach was one dripping with passion, and he highlighted the year-topping costume design and some of the best lighting around through perhaps the best example of rhythmic filmmaking to enter the mainstream in 2022. It wasn’t that the Elvis script took the narrative to unexpected places or re-evaluated the legendary figure as anything other than his star persona (like other films tried and failed to do with other celebrities in 2022), but as a piece of cinema it was incomparable in its ability to transport you to another time and place; you could almost click your fingers to the rhythm of the edit.

You can’t help but to root for Elvis in this film when witnessing the control others had over his career, and the pressures he fought from government agencies. Luhrmann uses this to create moments of pure elation as you see Presley revolt at key moments, wagging his pinkie finger when told not to move at all, or singing one of his classics for television instead of the pre-determined list of Christmas songs. As you see him overcome the anxieties of being labelled a criminal or being told he’s a sell out, he comes to be seen as more of a revolutionary, a man who shook up the status quo of our culture and left us forever in the shadow of his impact.

Whether a fan of Elvis or not, this film does more than any before it to explain exactly why so many people loved him, and makes it impossible to reject his impact, his legacy and his talent; this is one of the great biopics of any figure from western popular culture.

9. Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick Review

Do you remember how movies used to feel when you were a kid? How they were massive, spectacular, awe-inspiring, inspirational? This is it. Top Gun: Maverick is lightning in a bottle, movie magic the likes of which we haven’t seen for years, the most significant blockbuster of our time.

Tom Cruise has long been championing the cinema experience – he pleaded with us to get our butts back in seats when the pandemic lockdowns began to be lifted, and asked that we change the settings on our televisions so we can watch films as they were intended to be seen. He has, quite literally many times at this point, put his life on the line for the best possible shot, simply to give us all the once-in-a-lifetime experience that only cinema can offer. With Top Gun: Maverick he has done all that and more, his nostalgia-tinted thrill ride of an action movie on one hand a tribute to the great blockbusters of years gone by and on the other hand a lesson to other filmmakers and studios on what blockbuster cinema can be moving forward. Top Gun: Maverick feels real – probably because so much of it is (the actors were in the airplanes after all) – and it exhilarates all the more for it, highlighting how so many other films are lacking in stakes, in that feeling of velocity, in that special something we didn’t even realise we were missing until now.

It isn’t a tremendously well-written movie, but it doesn’t have to be. This film excels in all the ways that cinema can, and that we all wish it would do so more often. It looks fantastic, like it has to be seen on the big screen, and it feels immersive. None of the characters are developed all that well, but they fulfil a purpose, and the story beats that are there aren’t layered on top of each other like in just about every other big budget action film, they’re spread out and made to feel significant. Here, the atmosphere is one of nostalgia and togetherness, there’s a loving tribute to Val Kilmer following his battle with cancer that seems to indicate a togetherness behind the scenes that transcends the film itself, and every character has minor interactions with others that make the universe feel lived in.

Post-pandemic, in an increasingly individualised society, Top Gun: Maverick has a hopeful message of togetherness, is a film that celebrates comradery on the screen and was designed to be watched in public with other people. More than just an action movie, or a great blockbuster, it is a powerful and significant entry into the canon of cinema that has come at just the right time for the theatrical experience, for spectacle-driven cinema, and for each of us.

Recommended for you: Top Gun: Maverick Is in Love with Companionship, Familiarity

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Director: Martin McDonagh
Screenwriter: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan, Pat Shortt, Gary Lydon, David Pearse, Sheila Flitton, Bríd Ní Neachtain

Writer-director Martin McDonagh is well known for his darkly humorous ruminations on life. His work across the three feature films prior to his latest release has seemed like an exercise in how dark his stories can be, and how flawed and problematic his characters can get, whilst still making each of us laugh and cry. The filmmaker, known primarily as a playwright prior to his directorial debut in 2008, deserves plaudits for consistently opening up topics less discussed in the modern cinematic sphere of bland but widely enjoyed vehicles created more to protect investments and underwrite failed business ventures than to pursue any kind of human truth. The Banshees of Inisherin, McDonagh’s fourth feature film, is presented with all of what we’ve come to expect from this filmmaker’s unique filmic voice, this time the barrel of his lens pointed directly at the relationship between masculinity and mental health. This isn’t as jaw-droppingly funny as In Bruges, nor as universally accessible as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, yet it may be the best Martin McDonagh film released to date.

Foregoing the confines of a direct-to-awards-season story like that of his 7-time Oscar-nominated film Three Billboards, McDonagh returns to what he knows and presents most effectively: men talking to and about men. Colin Farrell stars as a proud nice guy who lives for the simple pleasures, with his In Bruges cohort Brendan Gleeson starring as his less-than-impressed artist friend looking for more from his life than meaningless interactions with his “boring” friend. Living in a small community on the island of Inisherin just off the coast of civil war-era Ireland in the 1920s, there’s not much to do besides spend time with one another, and so one man’s choice to terminate a friendship comes with a series of consequences that are at once farcical and deeply upsetting.

McDonagh’s writing is, as always, sharp and witty at a surface-level glance, the laughs barrelling from scene to scene once the film establishes its tone in the first act. His work with dialogue is particularly strong, the two-time Best Screenplay BAFTA winner showcasing his ability to express a wide range of character emotions through the withdrawn language of your typical man’s man. As was the case with In Bruges particularly, there is so much to be said between the lines that each actor reads, though the lines sure are poetic in their own idiosyncratic ways. Beneath the surface, at a structural level, The Banshees of Inisherin plays as dark as any McDonagh film, and is perhaps even more haunting. It’s as if the island itself is plagued by understated manisms, the very real consequences of refusing to talk or to seek help hanging over every scene. As one man’s hurt is passed to the next, we witness the men and women fall under a cloak of darkness. Pain, McDonagh suggests, is contagious.

It’s a story as operatic as any put to screen in the past ten years, its almost inevitable escalation of tragic personal events playing like a small town, small issues version of Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, only with more personality. To present such a story with so many moments to laugh at really is a brave filmmaking choice, albeit one McDonagh takes time and time again, and to do so effectively is to cast the correct actors. Perhaps that’s why McDonagh turned to regulars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson to shoulder the vast majority of the responsibility.

Colin Farrell is having a particularly memorable year, his contributions to both The Batman and After Yang have been positively received, but Banshees is no doubt his most layered and outstanding piece of acting in 2022. As simple but nice Pádraic Súilleabháin, he excels in earning puppy dog-eyed sympathy, his comic physicality escalating the laughs but always leaning just the right side of cartoonish. He’s a stellar marksman, perhaps the only one capable of bringing this character to life in such a believable way, and under the guidance of his director he finds someone worth rooting for. His is a character arc wrought with sadness, and the weight of that sadness certainly comes to bear in each element of his performance. His soft voice is replaced with a drone, his worried expressions with blank glass-eyed stares, his nervously lifted shoulders with a wide gate. It is Colin Farrell’s film on the screen, his steady hand guiding us through the depths of McDonagh’s work. 

Brendan Gleeson as Colm is similarly as effective, though less present. His eyes tell the whole story, though at moments he brings you close as he motions to speak but no words come out. He is big, strong, and seemingly at one with himself, but he is played as if unsure, and is no doubt lonely, gifting us our most poignant interaction with the relationship between mental health and masculinity.

Other cast members are effective for lighting up scenes with titbits of comedy to latch onto and identify with, but it’s in the dual performances of Kerry Condon as Pádraic’s sister Siobhan and Barry Keoghan as the town’s police officer’s son Dominic that confirm the outstanding quality of this ensemble. Condon, as Siobhan, seems strong and capable if not uncomfortable, but as the film rolls on we see her struggle with her loneliness, responsibility and all that the town’s men bring into her life. Keoghan has a more dynamic arc, his character rapidly receding from boisterous comic relief to perhaps the darkest of them all, the actor fusing his character with signs of trauma even as he plays up to the laughs, the maturity of his performance certainly worth a mountain of plaudits. 

The Banshees of Inisherin is an ensemble hit for McDonagh, then – another film in his relatively short catalogue that showcases his talent as a director of actors. With dialogue this strong and a story so deeply rooted in its intentions to unpack serious and dark topics, McDonagh’s ability to develop such an exceptional level of performances from his cast expresses his outstanding abilities across the board. Were Banshees to be more outgoing in its cinematographic style as In Bruges was, or as quick to take off narratively as Seven Psychopaths was, perhaps we would be discussing the next audience-pleasing indie box office hit. As it is, The Banshees of Inisherin is stronger for its lack of these things, both the almost photographic style of cinematography and slow-burn narrative providing the most moving result. This isn’t cinema that will wow in every screengrab or provide a dopamine-hitting sensory overload, it’s meaningful, moving cinema that speaks a truth about masculinity and depression that few filmmakers have been able to so succinctly thread into their work.

The Banshees of Inisherin is an operatic screen fable that needs to be experienced. To those willing to surrender to its intentions, to read more deeply into its presentation than to simply enjoy its jokes, this Martin McDonagh film will strike you as meaningful, artistic and powerful. This is the type of film that will bleed into the darker parts of your brain and take up residence there, committing you to deeper questions about yourself and your relationship to your mental health.

Score: 23/24

Eternals (2021)
Director: Chloé Zhao
Screenwriters: Chloé Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, Kaz Firpo
Starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Barry Keoghan, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Kumail Nanjiani 

9th July 2021. The release of Black Widow. Marvel’s first feature length entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU’s) Phase Four – as well as the first Marvel movie released on the big screen in over two years. After the release of Black Widow, Marvel Studios did not keep fans waiting for their next offering, with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings coming only two months later. Now, two months after Shang-Chi, we have Chloé Zhao’s Eternals. This long-awaited 2021 release marks the first time that a director with an Oscar to their name (for Directing and Best Picture) has directed an entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing an air of “legitimacy” to the MCU for any nay-sayers of the behemoth Marvel Studios. 

Similar to Shang-Chi, Eternals introduces fans to a whole new world and a whole new set of Marvel characters: the Eternals; a group of ten immortals who have lived on earth for over 7,000 years, protecting the planet from Deviants and watching over the progression of the human race. With so much backstory to tell and so many characters to introduce, one could not be blamed for any concern surrounding the execution of this famous comic book group. Thankfully, the sheer volume of information needed to portray the Eternals has been duly noted by the studio, with Zhao’s follow-up to Nomadland running at 2 hours and 37 minutes; an unprecedented runtime in the MCU given that the four Avengers films and Captain America: Civil War are the only previous MCU movies to surpass 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Introducing one new character to a franchise can be a challenging task, let alone introducing ten all at once, but Eternals manages it handily. Of course not every character is given equal screen time or character development, but each new hero is given their own conflict that allows us to care for and about them. Standouts are Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos, Angelina Jolie’s Thena, Gemma Chan’s Sersi, Barry Keoghan’s Druig and Richard Madden’s Ikaris; all of whom are given excellent character arcs throughout the film, with Madden’s Ikaris being especially brilliant. Ikaris may have one of the best arcs in any MCU flick, with Richard Madden bringing depth and humanity to his otherworldly character.

As much as the new characters are some of the largest strengths of Eternals, there is also one character who may be one of the Marvel series’ worst: Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo. He has his moments, but for the most part Nanjiani brings nothing but annoyance and frustration when he is on screen, and will prove to be the cause of many eye rolls. It isn’t Nanjiani’s fault that he is constantly saddled with the most insipid roles Hollywood has to offer – he can be good, it is just that no one seems to know how to write for the guy. It’s an unfortunate but noticeable misstep for a picture with otherwise great characters.

In spite of this misstep, the overall gathering of these ten characters creates a wonderful message of diversity. Eternals feels like a celebration of the human race, no matter what shape, size or colour they may come in. The diversity of the casting itself more than does this on its own, but so do the differences between each hero. Whether it be the heroes’ opinions, genders, ages, sexual orientations or skin colour. Eternals celebrates the differences in all of us – those differences that connect each of us as humans and yet make us unique from one another. No better is this shown than through the costumes – a dazzling collection for each member of the Eternals, each coming with distinct patterns and colours, and all of which are simply gorgeous to look at. We may have a frontrunner for best costume design at the Oscars.

Given that the action-packed blockbusters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe could not be stylistically further away from director Chloé Zhao’s previous work, it is understandable why some would be concerned about her stepping behind the camera for such an important entry into many peoples’ favourite big screen universe. Whether there have been differences or not, one thing is clear: Zhao was famously quoted as saying “Even though sometimes it might seem like the opposite is true, I have always found goodness in the people I met, everywhere I went in the world”, and this message remains as clear as ever in Eternals. Though the styles may not seem as though they should work together, it is this overriding message that allows Zhao to slip into the director’s chair on a Marvel movie so easily and with such little conflict of ideals.  

It is primarily the Oscar-winning director’s sensibility as a filmmaker that brings so much weight and maturity to this late 2021 release. Perhaps more than most movies within the MCU, Eternals aims to tackle existential questions about religion, our collective and individual purposes, and our own mortality. This is of course photographed in the beautiful style that Zhao’s Nomadland was lauded for, with the production wasting no opportunity to best show off the costumes, CG, choreography and sets (whether they be the city of Babylon or the Aztec Empire). Even in the action sequences – a new aspect of the filmmaking process to the ordinarily more stoic director – Zhao thrives, ensuring that stakes are always attached to the world-ending battles of these ever-powerful beings. Far too often in Hollywood blockbusters there is no doubt in your mind that the good guys will come out on top and that everyone will live happily ever after, relieving all tension there could possibly be in any given action sequence. Marvel is no exception to this, with the likes of Black Widow and Captain Marvel being standouts due to their placements as prequels, but Eternals will successfully make you worry, and it does feel unpredictable.

With Eternals, Chloé Zhao proves that she really can do anything. Transitioning comfortably into the world of blockbuster filmmaking and proving that she is one of the best directors working today, Zhao and Marvel, against all odds, have collaborated to create a beautiful film and a wonderful celebration of life on planet Earth. If you believe that superhero pictures are getting stale, then Eternals is the movie to prove you wrong: this is one of the best films of 2021 and one of the best films to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

22/24

Calm with Horses (2019)
Director: Nick Rowland
Screenwriter: Joe Murtagh
Starring: Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan, Niamh Algar, David Wilmot, Ned Dennehy, Anthony Welsh, Liam Carney, Kiljan Moroney

Very reminiscent of the early work of Ben Wheatley (Down Terrace), Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher) and John Michael McDonagh (The Guard), but with a voice entirely its own, Calm with Horses hits you like a haymaker. Opportunities to experience 2020 cinema may be limited for now, but incredible indies are still out there to enjoy, and after debuting at a number of film festivals Calm with Horses is now available to stream across the UK and Ireland.

Retired boxer Douglas “Arm” Armstrong (Cosmo Jarvis) has to balance a life as an enforcer for the Devers, a family of rural Irish gangsters, with supporting his ex-partner Ursula (Niamh Algar) and their autistic son Jack (Kiljan Moroney). Arm is set to be tested by his employers and will have to question his morals and priorities in life as his choices are brought into stark relief.

The film opens with a startlingly brutal sight; Arm making a visit to an acquaintance, who he proceeds to beat within an inch of his life, the victim not seeming surprised or willing to even attempt to defend himself, the sequence punctuated with shuddering jump cuts. This is Fannigan (Liam Carney), who has made the grave mistake of attempting to rape the youngest member of the Dever clan while drunk at a house party. Fannigan will prove to be a key figure in Arm’s future with the Devers.

Cosmo Jarvis’ central performance is painfully conflicted and provides the film with its anchor. A blunt instrument with a gentle heart, we see the real, playful and affectionate Arm when he spends some quality time with Jack, as challenging as the boy’s behavior is (especially in unfamiliar environments with too much sensory stimulation). Niamh Algar gives as good as she gets as Arm’s ex Ursula, seeing right through his front as an emotionless instrument of organised crime. She gets the line of the film when over lunch she observes “You remind me of yourself sometimes. I miss you”. Arm once had potential, drive and a future but was forced into another lifestyle by tragic circumstance, and Ursula remembers the man he once was, presumably the man she fell in love and had a child with, a man she hopes may one day return.

Arm is a good man exploited by those who know exactly which of his buttons to press. Following a similar role in The Guard, David Wilmot effortlessly slips into the role of another imposing gangster, Hector Dever, the brains of their operation, but Ned Dennehy as his psychotic brother Paudi makes him look positively cuddly in comparison. What is more surprising is how well Barry Keoghan convinces as a wannabe hard-man Dymphna, the heir apparent of the Dever clan. He throws his family name around town, knowing full well nobody can touch him, and if they do, Arm will be the least of their worries. He is Arm’s friend going way back but has been manipulating him for his own ends for years. Whether peer pressuring Arm to indulge in cocaine with him or flatly ignoring his friend’s plea to be allowed to drop Jack off with family before embarking on their latest shady mission, Dymphna may well be the most despicable, irredeemable character in the film.

Arm is in a self-destructive tailspin. Previously with so much promise as an athlete, he has ended up doing bad things for bad people, even if he does them for the right reasons – to support his estranged family. His innocence at doing what he’s told without question takes a steadily darker turn as his actions progress from stealing a TV from a victim to give to his son as a sign of his love, to those that inadvertently bring his family directly into harm’s way. Arm is down a rabbit hole with little hope of escape.

The film looks stunning throughout, the vast expanse of verdant Irish countryside captured by Piers McGrail’s camera proving itself a deceptively beautiful stage for crime and family strife. The film is also awash with Benjamin John Power’s atmospheric and moody electronic score, enriching and heightening every fraught emotion brought to the screen.

Calm with Horses hits hard and leaves you reeling, and the craft on display is superb, especially for a feature debut. But it is the connection you feel with a group of compellingly flawed characters that stays with you. With everything gong on in Arm’s life, his family never far from his mind and his future now so uncertain, how many of us would do any different than he does to ensure his son is provided for?

21/24