Latest news with #Hitchcockian
Daily Mirror
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Vera's Brenda Blethyn looks unrecognisable as she bids farewell to iconic role
The 79-year-old actress will debut her new film, Dragonfly, at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August, after it was met with glowing reviews at Tribeca Brenda Blethyn is set to star in the gripping new thriller Dragonfly, a far cry from her iconic role as DCI Vera Stanhope, with the film set to premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August. The movie follows the story of Colleen, played by Andrea Riseborough, who takes it upon herself to care for her elderly neighbour Elise, portrayed by Blethyn, amidst concerns that the professionals are not doing an adequate job. However, it remains to be seen whether Colleen has ulterior motives or if those around her are simply making unfounded judgments. The film boasts an all-star cast, including Jason Watkins as John, Sandra Huggett as Mary, and Lolly Jones as Jane. Having garnered widespread critical acclaim at Tribeca, Dragonfly has already achieved an impressive 92% approval rating, reports the Express. Since her departure from the hit series Vera, the 79 year old actress has gone on to take on a string of exciting new projects, including the highly anticipated historical comedy Fools. Directed by Paul Andrew Williams, Blethyn's latest venture has been hailed as a "stark, fierce and wonderfully acted film" by The Guardian. The Film Stage praised the film, saying: "Williams and his brilliant cast create a film that is equal-parts tender and shocking, turning horror tropes on their head." NYC Movie Guru lauded Blethyn's performance as award-worthy, adding: "What begins as a slow-burning and tender drama with shades of Mike Leigh turns into a dark and gripping Hitchcockian thriller. "Brenda Blethyn and Andrea Riseborough give powerful and Oscar-worthy performances that ground the film in raw authenticity." Brenda's latest role comes almost a year after she was spotted filming her final scenes for Vera in Newcastle. ITV left fans heartbroken when they announced in spring 2024 that the beloved detective drama would conclude this year, following a triumphant 14-year run. The plot summary for Dragonfly is as follows: "Disgusted with the state of care that her elderly neighbour Elsie is receiving, Colleen offers to help for free. "Over tea and through trying moments, the pair become trusted confidants despite their differences. But Colleen's intentions may not be exactly as they seem. As suspicions grow, a shocking act triggers a violent chain reaction that threatens to irreparably alter the lives of both women." Dragonfly will premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August.
The Herald Scotland
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
I entered a world of subversive games and dark sexual politics
The book seems ready to take you into a world of threatening violence akin to the movie Funny Games. In Michael Haneke's Austrian arthouse horror, two strange young men arrive at the holiday home of a perfect young family before all hell breaks loose. The sense of dread mounts as these young heavies return the next day with a pair of older thugs linked to gangsters and politicians. The hoodlums want to know why Rekha is ignoring a local gangster's son who loves her, and believe her father should set her straight. Read More: To make matters worse, Rekha is visiting family in a rural village with no phone or internet connection. Her parents fear something terrible might happen to her, so are soon en-route to the countryside to bring her home to safety. Don't get too caught up in this 'thriller', though. It's just an Hitchcockian MacGuffin - the plot device Shanbhag uses to lure you into his deconstruction of Indian society. The scab which the author really wants to pick at is the tension between India's relentless drive towards modernity versus the rise of an intensely conservative and nationalist form of Hindhu populism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If Harold Pinter was still alive and fancied anatomising this nation of contradictions, Sakina's Kiss is probably how he'd do it. Harold Pinter (Image: PA) Initially, Venkat and Viji seem perfectly matched. They have similar tastes, similar backgrounds. The couple both seem equally modern, despite mocking fellow Indians so influenced by the west that they think 'we can only progress by destroying our own culture'. Indeed, Viji may earn more than her husband, but we can't be sure as she won't tell him what her salary is, and Venkat is our rather unreliable narrator so we're trapped seeing the world from his perspective, and knowing only what he knows. The couple's differences emerge after those strange, threatening Pinteresque men arrive, wounding Venkat's sense of masculinity. We soon discover that Venkat has a markedly conservative streak to his character. He's both submissive towards the women in his life - fearing to talk about issues like feminism - whilst secretly longing to dominate them. Read More: The tensions Shanbhag explores are playing out across the world today as men struggle to come to terms with the loss of power masculinity once conveyed. This fragile male paranoia is found in everything from Trump's MAGA movement to the rise of online misogynist influencers. Rekha, who can sense the patriarchy lurking inside her father, even physically overpowers Venkat at one point when he tries to restrain her. He's jealous of other men who have a better relationship with her, like teachers. Venkat wants to present a liberal veneer to his family, friends and colleagues but inside he's truly and bitterly reactionary. This isn't a reductive novel, though, where liberal women are good and conservative men are bad. There are plenty of times when you pity Venkat. He tries to be decent but he's emotionally clumsy. At one point, his wife - disappointed in another of his clunky attempts at connection - pushes him away when he tries to hold her hand. You feel how much he burns with shame and embarrassment. Any pity for him, however, quickly evaporates when the idea of 'forcing' his wife to hold his hand flashes through his mind. This book is a deft balancing act, at times making you empathise with characters you've no desire to offer empathy to, or prompting you to recoil from characters you've rooted for throughout. Indian cricket match (Image: PA) Venkat was raised in a deeply patriarchal family, where wives and mothers were treated as glorified servants at best. The cocktail of tradition and modernity which Venkat has imbibed has given him a spiritual hangover. He doesn't know who he is - thus all the self-help books he reads. Indeed, Venkat longs to be 'transformed'. Other dominant facets of Modhi's India appear in cameo. Viji talks of the police 'thrashing people to death'. WhatsApp is used as a tool for radicalisation of the masses by both the left and right. The issue of how women dress constantly flows through the book. Patriotism and patriarchy are bedfellows. Venkat is also that most cursed of creatures: torn between tradition and modernity, he attempts to strike a centrist position. Venkat is always both-siding any debate - even when one side is thoroughly repugnant. All sides just need a hearing, he says, blind to the fact that by indulging extremism he legitimises it. Indeed, Venkat is the kind of man who has quietly acquiesced in India's slide towards authoritarianism. There would be no Modhi without the Venkats of India. He's not evil - he's just very self-centred and secretly longs for the power men of the past once wielded. As the book finishes, we find ourselves in the midst of an election. The candidate is a vile sexist. Venkat has been told by his wife and daughter not to vote for him. Who will our anti-hero support? Let's just say, the book doesn't offer much hope of change in India. The title of the novel is perfectly fitting. It's a reference to a line misread in a letter. Thanks to some terrible handwriting one phrase is misconstrued as 'Sakina's kiss'. The book itself is one long play on the notion of misinterpretation: what we think is a thriller, is actually a deeply, political - and at least in India - subversive text. Modhi's culture warriors won't be pleased with Shandbhag's covert satire. The book closes on a distinctly meta note, offering us not an ending but a choice of endings. Like a playful Paul Auster novel, we're encouraged to chose what we'd prefer to happen: not just to the characters, but to the soul of India - a nation in flux, changing every day. Sakina's Kiss by Vivek Shanbhag is out now from Faber in hardback priced £12.99
Daily Record
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Paramount Plus adds 'one of the most thrilling and bone-chilling films' fans have ever seen
Many suggest that it is one of the best horror sequels ever made Paramount Plus has just added a sequel to its horror collection that's being hailed as a 'masterclass' and even 'better than the first' film. A Quiet Place Part II has recently been incorporated into the streaming platform's catalogue. This means that all the titles in the sci-fi horror series released so far are now conveniently available on one service. This includes the original film, its sequel, and the prequel spin-off titled Day One. While the 2021 release was previously accessible on other platforms such as Sky Cinema and even Channel 4 for a limited period, it is now exclusively hosted on Paramount. Fans can stream it by subscribing to the dedicated app of the streaming service or through an add-on subscription via Amazon Prime Video. The film is the second chapter of the series featuring John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. Krasinski also reprised his role behind the camera, directing the sequel after having directed the original. Known for his portrayal of Jim Halpert in the US Office, he also wrote the script himself, having previously shared writing credits with Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, reports Surrey Live. While the film employs flashbacks, the narrative continues from where the first left off in a post-apocalyptic world. Regan (Blunt) and her family discover that their alien predators can be defeated using high-frequency audio. Armed with this newfound knowledge, they embark on a quest to find other survivors. Joining the cast are big names like Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou. The film managed to secure a similarly impressive rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes as its predecessor, scoring 91%. The film garnered acclaim from both critics and audiences, with one reviewer hailing it as "one of the best sequels ever created." Another critic praised John Krasinski's direction, saying: "John Krasinski crafts a masterclass in suspense with Hitchcockian anxiety that would make the master proud." Echoing the sentiment, a fan took to social media to proclaim: "A masterclass in suspense. A Quiet Place II is hands down one of the most thrilling and bone-chilling films that I have ever seen. From start to finish, this movie had me on the edge of my seat, unable to look away even for a second. I would easily give it a terrifying 10 out of 10!". Another enthusiast compared the sequel favourably to a classic, commenting: "In my opinion this is one of the best movie sequels ever made. The second instalment of this series I think is comparable to the movie Aliens by James Cameron. It introduces a lot more action and thrills while remaining faithful to the original and expanding the world. The cast, the story, the directing, the cinematography, the visual effects and the sound design are all incredible. This is also one of the most intense and terrifying movies I've ever seen." The consensus among many was that the sequel surpassed its predecessor. A viewer remarked: "A great sequel to a previous masterpiece of horror. I really never thought that they could top the first one but a Quiet Place 2 is fantastic film!". Echoing the sentiments, a fan concurred: "One of the greatest sequels to an incredible horror/thriller collection. The entire time you're on the edge of your seat with your heart beating as fast as those on screen. There's no way you can watch this movie without being completely invested." A Quiet Place Part II is streaming on Paramount+.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘A Private Life' Review: A Delightfully Paired Jodie Foster and Daniel Auteuil Escape Injury in a Messy but Pleasurable Genre Collision
Caught between sophisticated comedy and silly fluff, between Hitchcockian mystery and zany amateur sleuth caper, A Private Life (Vie Privée) is a lot more fun than it probably deserves to be thanks to the disarming chemistry of its seasoned leads, Jodie Foster and Daniel Auteuil. Rebecca Zlotowski's latest doesn't have the intoxicating sun-kissed sensuality of An Easy Girl or the emotional complexity of Other People's Children, her last two films. This one is too busy careening all over the tonal map for any of that. What it does have is the French director's customary light touch; it's chaos with charm. Foster's French — at least to these ears — sounds impeccable and this is her first feature in the language since 2004's A Very Long Engagement. She jumps into it with a spiky vitality and an unexpected playfulness that buoy the movie as much as Zlotowski's zippy direction. More from The Hollywood Reporter Cate Blanchett, Afghan, Syrian Creators on Fund for Displaced Directors Backing "Surprising Narratives" Kelly Reichardt on 'The Mastermind,' Josh O'Connor and What the '70s Have to Teach Us Today Cannes: Hasan Hadi's 'The President's Cake' Wins Directors' Fortnight Audience Award Her character, Dr. Lilian Steiner, is an American psychoanalyst working out of her home office in Paris. At first glance, she seems like classic Foster material — fiercely intelligent, controlled, professional, a touch guarded. But as Lilian starts unraveling, she becomes impulsive, irrational, emotional, insecure about her work and at times almost ditzy. Coming off her brilliant turn as the haunted, tightly wound police chief in True Detective: Night Country, it's a pleasure to watch Foster loosen up and have fun with a role, getting to exercise comedy chops too seldom tapped in her American projects of recent decades. Just the novelty of watching her act in another language, as a woman in her adopted country long enough to absorb many of the mannerisms yet still markedly different from the locals, is a kick. And when Lilian gets flustered or annoyed and mutters an occasional 'motherfucker' or some other expletive in English, it humanizes her, acknowledging that she doesn't have all the answers. The script, co-written by Anne Berest and Zlotowski, right off the bat throws curveballs at Lilian to inject nagging doubts into her work. She learns that the reason her patient of many years, Paula (Virginie Efira), has missed her last three sessions without canceling is that she committed suicide. She's still digesting that news, asking herself why she saw no red flags, when an angry patient (Noam Morgensztern) bursts in. He aggressively informs Lilian that his many sessions with her to quit smoking were a waste of time and money, but he kicked the habit with just one visit to a hypnotist, freeing him from cigarettes and from her. Lilian makes the mistake of going to Paula's home while family and friends are sitting shiva. She's ordered to leave by grieving widower Simon (Mathieu Amalric), who flies into a rage, shouting that after all the years Lilian had been treating his wife, she should have known something was wrong. Later, he accuses her of over-prescribing antidepressants, leading to the overdose that killed her. Meanwhile, Lilian, who has never been able to cry, starts shedding tears uncontrollably, often without knowing it's happening. She consults her ex-husband Gabriel (Auteuil), an eye doctor whose droll response to seeing her weep for the first time is, 'It suits you.' Lilian seems on better terms with Gaby, as she calls him, than with their adult son Julien (Vincent Lacoste), with whom she's never been close. That emotional block now extends to her infant grandson. Zlotowski inserts a funny montage of patients banging on about their mostly banal issues while Lilian, mortified to appear so unprofessional, dabs at her face with tissues to mop up the almost nonstop waterworks. In a Freudian detour that's arguably the movie's least successfully integrated scene, Lilian tries fixing the tear duct problem by seeing a hypnotist (Sophie Guillemin), who tells her she's in mourning and coaxes the skeptical shrink to return to her mother's womb. Suddenly, the hypnotist is guiding Lilian through a vast red space in another dimension with various doors and stairways. Under hypnosis, Lilian enters a hall where she and Paula are cellists in an orchestra recital in early 1940s occupied France; Julian is one of the uniformed Nazis in the audience and Simon conducts with a baton that becomes a gun. It's like a stoner's take on Truffaut's The Last Metro — enjoyably arch but too loopy to have much relevance beyond the hypnotist's assertion that Lilian and Paula were lovers in a past life. All very Shirley MacLaine. It does, however, stop the weeping, address Lilian's disgust with antisemitism and plant a subliminal hint as to why she was never able to bond with Julian. Not that any of that is clearly articulated. The movie is on more accessible ground back in the real world, where a visit from Paula's pregnant daughter Valérie (Luàna Bajrami) leads Lilian to believe her patient was murdered, either by her daughter or husband. She enlists the help of the amiable Gaby to start tailing them, at the same time listening to her recordings of sessions with Paula for clues. The mostly preposterous mystery thread never acquires much substance despite tossing a lot of balls in the air. Someone breaks into Lilian's apartment and steals the audio file from Paula's final session; suspicions arise concerning an inheritance from a wealthy aunt (screen veteran Aurore Clément, perhaps a nod to Louis Malle's Lacombe, Lucien?); Simon picked up Paula's medication from the pharmacy and possibly tampered with it; and he appears to be leading a double life with another woman and a child tucked away in Chérence, outside Paris. These questions are resolved, more or less, in an anticlimactic wrap-up that yields the relatively meager payoff of Lilian learning to be a better listener and a more accepting mother. But the flimsy plot becomes secondary to the fizz generated every time Foster and Auteuil share a scene — Lilian wired and Gaby supremely chill. They toss badinage back and forth with an ease that rescues the movie, and they exchange looks that point to mutual affection and desire undimmed by divorce. If the messy strands of this genre-blurring film struggle to cohere, the parts that veer toward a remarriage comedy make it enjoyable. A Private Life rolls along at a jaunty pace, frequently prodded by percussive staccato bursts of mononymous composer Rob's whimsical score. The glossy, good-looking production feels like a throwback to French fare from a few decades ago — middlebrow passing for intellectual, mainstream commercial passing for arthouse. But there's a nostalgic appeal to it, boosted by an unlikely middle-aged rom-com dream team in Foster and Auteuil. 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Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Private Life' Review: Fluent in French, Jodie Foster Steers an Upscale, Paris-Set Psychological Thriller
A sophisticated American in Paris, psychiatrist Liliane Steiner has a habit of recording her sessions. Is it because her patients speak French, and she's afraid of missing a thought? (I doubt much eludes Jodie Foster, who plays the almost Hitchcockian character in her first significant French-language role in more than 20 years.) Or is it because Liliane isn't really listening to these people, whose problems all sounds so frivolous, they practically blend together in a torrent of white noise on the soundtrack of 'Private Life'? In Rebecca Zlotowski's sleek but slippery psychological thriller, Liliane is caught off-guard by the news that Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira), a woman who failed to appear for her last three appointments, has in fact committed suicide. Liliane didn't see it coming and now she's rattled, wondering what else she might have missed. Paula's death sends Liliane back to her archives, listening for clues, though she's not likely to find the truth there. More from Variety Guillermo Galoe Unpacks His Insider's Vision of a Family Riven by Its Shanty Town's Demolition in Critics' Week's 'Sleepless City' New York Erotic Tale 'Drunken Noodles' Sells to Taiwan, France and Germany for M-Appeal (EXCLUSIVE) Rebel Wilson Escalates Battle With 'The Deb' Producers in 'Bizarre Outburst of Jealousy' After Cannes Yacht Party In fact, Anne Berest and Zlotowski's playful screenplay suggests that much of what Liliane's patients share with her is a kind of invented reality, in which they appear as the heroes or victims of their own stories for their therapist's benefit. To what extent might they be weaving entire fictions, and how much does she actually know of the lives they lead outside her office? That's an intriguing premise for an old-school psychological mystery, the likes of which Hollywood once made in abundance, before the genre migrated to TV. When Liliane shows up at a memorial ceremony for Paula, she's caught off guard when her late patient's husband (Mathieu Amalric) loses his temper and ejects her from the gathering. Apparently, Paula died of an overdose, taking all the medication Liliane had prescribed at once — though Liliane prefers to think that foul play might have been involved. In theory, she should have to answer to the authorities, although Liliane takes it upon herself to investigate, starting with the recordings. If Liliane were seeing a therapist of her own (as in a scene with an ex-mentor played by Paris-based filmmaker Frederick Wiseman), that professional might call it a case of countertransference: Rather than accept her own responsibility or negligence, Liliane looks for another explanation. But her body is sending contradictory messages. For starters, she can't stop crying. It's not out of sorrow, insists Liliane, but a short circuit of some kind in her tear ducts. Liliane's condition seems especially embarrassing for so stoic a woman, unaccustomed to showing the slightest emotion. Though nothing in 'Private Life' looks banal, the sight of Foster's eyes streaming nonstop ranks among Zlotowski's more striking visuals. Liliane's ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil) is a doctor, so she books an appointment, but the crying continues. So Liliane does something she never thought she would, going to see a hypnotist who'd succeeded where she couldn't (convincing one of her patients to stop smoking) and giving herself over to what she'd always considered a quack procedure. Whatever you make of such alternative methods, hypnosis certainly makes the film more interesting, as it gives Liliane access to a vision in which her patient also appears — a flashback to World War 2-era Paris that looks like something out of a Claude Lelouch movie — with the added twist that they might have been lovers in a past life. Could this explain the affinity Liliane feels toward Paula? And might the sight of Liliane's son Julien (Vincent Lacoste) dressed as an SS officer explain her lifelong coldness toward him? The specter of antisemitism isn't just a passing detail, but an issue of personal significance to Zlotowski, who is Jewish. Here, the director implies that Liliane's vision is no less valid a reality than the one Paula was spinning for her, though you might want to brush up on your Lacanian dream analysis before trying to unpack a sequence that recalls such films as 'Dead Again' and 'Spellbound'). There's a deliciously overripe, almost campy quality to much of 'Private Life' that's expertly balanced by the intense focus of Foster's performance. Liliane always seems sure of herself, even when we the audience are fairly certain she's barking up the wrong tree. Practically every step of her investigation involves overstepping the ethics of her profession, and yet Foster's conviction never wavers. Would it surprise you to learn that the whole experience provides a much-needed form of therapy for Liliane as well? She's become complacent in her profession, and her personal relationships (with Gabriel, Julien and her newborn grandson) are a shambles. Running around like Nancy Drew from one corner of France to the other reignites something in Liliane. And while the ultimate destination somewhat underwhelms, it's a thrill to see Foster navigating a fully bilingual role, while tossing off the kind of snide remarks only an expat could feel toward the French — a tiny glimpse into Foster's private life, perhaps. Best of Variety The Best Albums of the Decade
