list.co.uk/film REVIEWS | FILM
BIOPIC OFFICIAL SECRETS (TBC) 112min ●●●●●
ADVENTURE THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON (TBC) 93min ●●●●● DRAMA BY THE GRACE OF GOD (15) 138min ●●●●●
In 2003, GCHQ translator Katharine Gun leaked a memo she received which contained details of a US surveillance operation targeting UN Security Council members, aimed at securing approval for the invasion of Iraq. Gavin Hood’s Official Secrets is a thoughtful whistleblower drama that forensically replays Gun’s actions and the enormous fallout that almost saw her sent to jail.
Playing Gun is Keira Knightley, who gives a
tightly-wound performance as she agonises over her decision. Alongside her is an excellent cast, led by Matt Smith as Observer journalist Martin Bright, who must authenticate Gun’s anonymous revelations, and Ralph Fiennes as Ben Emmerson, the human rights lawyer brought in to defend Gun once she confesses and is arrested. South African director Hood (Rendition, Eye in the
Sky) takes a daring approach, switching the focus from Gun to Bright to Emmerson as the story unfolds. He tells Gun’s story without sensationalising it and does a credible job of replicating what it’s like to bring a contentious story to print. But, mostly, it’s a damning reminder of the lies that were told in the rush to war. For that reason alone, it has to be one of the most important films of the year. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 18 Oct.
On paper, Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s debut sounds like it’s been churned out via an algorithm that’s been fed a plethora of ‘inspirational’ Sundance screenplays. It’s a road trip movie where two lost men enjoy a Huckleberry Finn-style adventure as they walk, swim, sail and drive from North Carolina to Florida. Thankfully, the sweetness of the central dynamic between Shia LaBeouf’s Tyler and Zak (played by Zack Gottsagen, an actor with Down’s Syndrome, who the filmmakers wrote the story specifically for) propels the narrative along, despite its contrivances.
Zak is stuck in an old folks’ home where he dreams of becoming a wrestler. His idol is The Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church), who he watches repetitively on an old VHS tape. Much to the chagrin of his carer Eleanor (Dakota Johnson, in a clichéd role), Zak sneaks out one night, bumps into crab fisherman Tyler and the two go on the lam.
François Ozon continues his prolific career with one of his best films. His eighteenth feature is also unlike any other he’s made. Already dubbed ‘the French Spotlight’, it shares similarities to Tom McCarthy’s 2015 Oscar-winner about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Ozon offers up a comparably detailed examination, however, the focus is not on investigative reporters, but the victims. There is a real urgency to the story. It begins in
2014 with 40-year-old banking exec Alexandre (Melvil Poupaud), who was molested back in his youth by local priest Father Bernard Preynat (Bernard Verley). Remarkably, still a devout Catholic, this buttoned- up family man decides to take action, confronting Cardinal Barbarin (François Marthouret). Gradually, news of Alexandre’s case reaches other victims, notably atheist François (Denis Ménochet), who is adamant that this story must be exposed in the press.
The cast is filled out with American indie movie Largely, it’s a scrupulously researched procedural
royalty, including Bruce Dern, John Hawkes and Jon Bernthal. But it’s all about the lead pairing. Gottsagen is endearingly funny and LaBeouf once again nails it as an appealing scruffbag. Together, they’re a cockle- warming delight. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ Selected release from Fri 18 Oct. that grips throughout its 138-minute runtime, with occasional flashpoints – a dinner table argument with François’s family, for example – adding to the trauma. What results is a film that, like Spotlight, strikes a significant blow against a disgraced institution. ■ Selected release from Fri 25 Oct.
COMEDY THE DAY SHALL COME (15) 88min ●●●●●
Nine years after the bravery and brilliance of Four Lions, Chris Morris belatedly returns with a transatlantic companion piece that’s both surreal and horrifying. Set in Miami, The Day Shall Come sees the war on terror become an assault on basic human decency as the FBI contrive a man’s downfall. ‘Based on hundreds of true stories’, it gives us a well-researched reality that’s as madcap as a Terry Gilliam fantasy. Charismatic newcomer Marchánt Davis plays Moses, the founder of the ‘Star of Six’, an ailing community farm and mission with a handful of followers. Although he sees himself as a revolutionary, he is deluded in the extreme. For instance, who needs guns when you have a horn that can summon dinosaurs? Hellbent on prioritising convictions over justice and not above
creating terrorists to do it, the FBI (led by Anna Kendrick’s all-too eager beaver and Denis O’Hare’s dangerously desperate boss) have this harmless, mentally ill man in their sights, sending in one of their most inept informers (the excellent Kayvan Novak) to entice Moses into committing a serious crime.
One of Britain’s comedy’s titans, Morris has always been several
steps ahead of his rivals in his ability to recognise the ridiculous and tackle the taboo; by exposing an outrage that’s seldom talked about, his second take on the robustly explored subject of terrorism feels box fresh. Co-written with Jesse Armstrong, the laughs come thick and fast but it’s underpinned with humanity – its sympathies firmly aligned with a seemingly goofball outsider who’s poignantly off his meds. As hilarious as it almost always is, there’s sincerity too as well as twitchiness and tension in a film gearing up to deliver one heck of a gut-punch. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Fri 11 Oct.
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