Author: Bouquets & Brickbats

Badgers

07/08/26

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Malaika Kegode is the storyteller and we, she tells us – gently persuasive – are Meles, a young woman, struggling to make our mark as a podcaster. Our mother looms large: not only is she a famous TV journalist, she’s also dying of corticobasal degeneration (and no, Kegode sighs, a long walk won’t help). We move home, our emotions a mixture of resentment and relief. It’s good to escape the daily hustle and London rents, but it’s hard to be back in our childhood bedroom, aimless and under-occupied, fearing our mother’s death.

So, when we hear about the mysterious disappearance of a local musician, ten years ago, little wonder that we grasp the opportunity to investigate. A true-crime podcast might just be the thing to finally impress Mum. So off we go, into the woods, to visit an old crone called Dora Brock, who freely shares her tales of secret songs and magical badgers, unaware we’re using her…

Badgers is a harmonious hybrid, Jakabol’s eclectic score perfectly complementing Kegode’s beguiling narration. Rebecca Wood’s set design is ingenious, its colour palette stark, all black, white and red; musicians Joe Williams and Beth Roberts sit in a glass box, centre-stage, a theatre within a theatre, part cage, part display case. It’s very techie, with flickering screens and distorted voices (video by Christopher Harrisson and sound by Jack Drewry), and tonally as slippery as the shape-shifting badger-humans at its heart, switching seamlessly from contemporary online vernacular to fairy tale to folk horror. It’s this last element that allows Mike Gunning and Natalia Chan’s lighting design to shine (sorry), ramping up the jump scares and other-worldliness. And then there’s Kegode again, speaking softly, bringing us back down to earth, helping us to accept Meles’ troubled reality.

If the sound levels are a little off at first, so that I struggle to hear Kegode over the music, this is soon rectified, and I leave the theatre still wearing Meles’ skin, still caught up in her life. Directed by Jenny Davies, this is a spellbinding production, weaving us into its fabric and leaving us utterly disarmed.

4.8 stars

Susan Singfield

Water Colour

07/08/26

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Winner of the St Andrews Playwriting Award 2025, Milly Sweeney’s Water Colour focuses on the lives of two very different young people, who both go through bouts of depression. If that sounds off-putting, please don’t be misled, because this is an invigorating slice of theatre that moves kinetically through its rapidly-evolving story, cutting back and forth between the two characters, who move restlessly around Natalie Fern’s ingenious set design, which will eventually reveal some secrets.

Esme (Molly Geddes) is in her final year at the Glasgow College of Art and it only remains for her to submit one more painting in order to graduate. But she somehow feels unable to stir herself to undertake that final picture. Locked up alone in her student flat, friendless and far away from the nurturing powers of her mother, she is beginning to fall into a dark, enveloping world where she can no longer function. 

Harris (Ryan J Mackay) would seem her polar opposite, a cheeky lad from the schemes, who has just moved into a flat with his best pal. He’s recently secured regular work as a dishwasher at a posh city restaurant, ruled over by a glowering Head Chef of the Gordon Ramsey persuasion. Harris is happy-go-lucky and ready to adapt to just about any situation.

But Harris and Esme are destined to cross paths one dark night, when Harris is simply wandering home from work and Esme has come to the end of her tether. Their interaction ignites a series of dramatic changes…

Director Sally Reid keeps the pace up to full throttle as the pair interact, while movement director Steve Laude-Russell ensures that the unfolding story is kept in restless motion throughout. Ross Brown’s sound design lends the piece an eerie, dreamlike quality and both performers are at the top of their game in their respective guises, handling their lead roles and a string of supporting characters with aplomb. I am genuinely thrown by a late-stage revelation as middle-class Esme finds therapy and heads towards redemption, while working-class Harris, unable to afford private health care, seems destined to plunge in the opposite direction. In the final section I find myself holding my breath as everything goes haywire.

It’s easy to see what caught the St Andrews’ judges’ eyes, and the heartfelt ovation from this audience is proof enough that Water Colour exerts a powerful hold. It’s an utterly compelling script and this fabulous production plays to its strengths. I for one can’t wait to see what Milly Sweeney comes up with next.

4.5 Stars

Philip Caveney

Supposing:

07/08/26

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

TravFest starts off strong this year with Zinnie Harris’s magical-realist new play, Supposing:, a blend of mythology, contemporary politics and overt theatricality.

Sally (Nicole Cooper) has fallen down a hole. In literal terms, it’s just a small crater in a road outside a theatre, and she’s not seriously hurt. Metaphorically, however, it’s so much more, not least a portal for a Greek chorus, who promptly take up residence inside her head. Awkward. As if that weren’t enough, she’s also been cursed with the ability to see some very specific aspects of the future…

Sally’s husband, Rich (Richard Conlon), doesn’t believe in her newfound prophesying skills. He thinks she’s suffering from depression – again – or maybe it’s the menopause? Either way, he has absolutely no intention of popping next door to warn their racist neighbour that she has an undiagnosed medical condition, however urgently Sally insists.

It’s not just their marriage that’s under strain. The outside world is a pressure-pot too. The town’s hotels are being used to house immigrants and there are right-wing protesters gathering outside. Sally’s internal chorus never lets up its refrain: Trump, Reform, the climate crisis. Madness seems like a legitimate response.

Cooper’s performance is impressive, at first clipped and precise, then – as Sally plummets ever-deeper down the rabbit-hole – excessive, even flamboyant. Conlon provides an excellent foil, a study in baffled defensiveness and disappointment. Deftly directed by Harris, Supposing: is a timely exploration of our post-truth society, albeit one that poses more questions than it answers about how to navigate the shifting sands.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, don’t hesitate to buy your tickets. You don’t have to be Cassandra to see that this well-crafted, thought-provoking production is sure to be a hit.

4.7 stars

Susan Singfield

The Wolf of Poyais

06/08/26

Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh

Thom Tuck, first seen by B&B as Scaramouche Jones at 2015’s Fringe, is an accomplished storyteller who knows how to spin an eccentric yarn with absolute authority. In the case of this show, he employs all his considerable skills as he steps into the skin (and knee breeches) of Gregor MacGregor, a 19th century Scottish adventurer, the self-styled Wolf of Poyais. Do you know Poyais? Gorgeous little place in Central America! Fabulous climate, wonderful mineral reserves and not a mosquito in sight. Only… don’t try looking for it, because MacGregor made it up.

Along with quite a few other elements of his life.

As we’ve often remarked, the most unlikely stories are always the ones that turn out to be true and such is the case here. MacGregor started off pretty much on the level in the early 1800s by being commissioned into the British army. Though he took part in the Peninsular War and latterly the Venezuelan War of Independence, he managed to rise through the ranks without actually getting involved in much of the fighting. And when he returned to England, he came back with the news that King George Frederic Augustus had appointed him Cazique of Poyais – and, shortly thereafter, he started selling shares in the place to gullible would-be settlers. This could have been a lark – if only so many of his investors hadn’t died when they arrived in a place that didn’t exist. Annoyingly, around fifty of them survived and returned to tell what happened to them. Not that they blamed MacGregor of course…

Tuck strides boldly out onto the stage to address his audience of potential investors. With a minimum of props, he personifies the titular character as a self-aggrandising braggart with not one iota of conscience, a man who makes no secret of the fact that he is the only person in the world he cares about. He also jumps into several other characters along the way. The scene where he and his wife dance with each other is a masterclass in comic timing – and I can’t suppress a gasp of astonishment when, with the slightest flick of his hair, he transforms into Captain Thomas Strangeway, the supposed author of a guidebook to Poyais.

I love too a last minute twist where the story is brought bang up-to-date, reminding us that snake-oil salesman are still plying their trade and occupying the very highest positions of authority.

This is a masterful production and interested parties who would like to know even more about the exploits of Mr MacGregor should be aware that there’s a podcast that goes with it – and the opportunity to download the opening episode for anyone who visits the show. Get in!

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney

Buggers

06/08/26

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh (Upstairs)

A wise man once remarked that ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.’ The same could be said of your first day at the Fringe. We book a particular show (this year it’s the pithily titled Buggers) and in we trot, fully prepared to be either entertained or horrified. Happily, this year the gods are smiling on us, because this play offers an encouraging opening salvo for the next three weeks of madness.

Artist and muse. It’s a familiar theme but Alistair Hall’s unflinching script treats its chosen subject with candour and vivacity. Francis (Hall) and George (Peter Clements) have just bumped into each other in a London pub. The year is 1963 and now, back at Francis’s gaff, the two of them embark on a night of booze-fuelled sex and pill-popping. Francis seems extremely sure of himself but the less experienced George, a petty criminal, needs to be encouraged to let his hair down. At first, he maintains that he doesn’t know Francis is an artist – quite a successful one as it happens – but later, Francis manages to get him to admit that he had known – and that, from now on, George must tell him no more lies.

Because Francis wants George to stay a bit longer – and what’s more, he’d like to do some paintings of him…

Of course, as the pieces fall into place we realise that these are Francis Bacon and George Dyer – and that, as their relationship develops across the years, it will result in the creation of a whole series of harrowing and visceral portraits – and a tragedy that will haunt Francis for the rest of his life.

Built around two extraordinary performances and tightly directed by Alice Wordsworth, Buggers is a powerful and eviscerating study of the pleasures and pitfalls of sexual attraction. It casts its gaze on the different ways in which ill-matched lovers can both empower and ultimately destroy each other. The simple staging has the two performers literally splashing about in a tin bathtub, whilst taking regular mouthfuls of whatever it is they’ve filled the bath with (I hope they’ve had their jags!). I should perhaps add a warning for those of a photosensitive nature – there are a couple of brief but very intense sequences featuring strobe lighting. You have been warned.

We leave the production feeling we’ve made a great choice for the start of Fringe 26, with this clever, acerbic treatise on class, art and the abuse of power.

4.4 stars

Philip Caveney

A Tupperware of Ashes

04/08/26

National Theatre at Home

The onslaught of the Edinburgh Fringe looms just on the near horizon, but before it all kicks off, there’s still a chance (thanks to Brenda and her NT at Home subscription) to catch up with something we have missed earlier. The listing that first catches my eye is 2024’s A Tupperware of Ashes, a play by Tanika Gupta – but Susan has noticed something else she really wants to watch. Can we possibly cover them both?

Yes, we can.

The central character of this drama is Queenie (Meera Syal), an ambitious Michelin-starred chef and matriarch, with three children, from whom she demands complete dedication. Kamala (Natalie Dew) and Gopal (Marc Elliott) are both highly successful in their respective professions, while oldest boy, schoolteacher Raj (Raj Barjaj) lacks focus (at least in Queenie’s opinion) and doesn’t seem to have much in the way of ambition, for which she openly criticises him. But the three of them accept that their mother has her own way of handling life. Woe betide anybody who tries to make her change her ways.

But the siblings – together with Queenie’s closest friend, Indrani (Shobna Gulati) – are  becoming increasingly worried about their mother’s recent behaviour. Why does she keep mentioning other (non-existent) branches of her restaurant, supposedly based around the world? Why does she fly into rages at the slightest provocation? And why does she sometimes talk about her late husband, Ameet (Zubin Varla), as though he’s still around, ready to come strolling along at any moment.

The answer is supplied by Doctor Young (Stephen Fewell, as the first of a whole series of authority figures). Queenie, it turns out, is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and is beginning the long, terrifying decline into dementia. As everyone watches, appalled, she begins to act and behave in ways she never has before. And, as she opts to spend more time with each of her children, they begin to realise the enormity of what is happening to their mother… and they struggle to deal with it.

Those of you who are thinking of King Lear are certainly on the right lines (Lost Lear, seen at last year’s Fringe, also mined a similar premise to great effect). Syal offers a powerful and compelling performance in a central role that features equal parts humour and tragedy – and just occasionally she utters something that directly relates to Shakespeare’s classic. When caught up in the extremes of her condition, Queenie’s observations are utterly heartbreaking and, as ever, when watching a situation like this, I’m drawn back to my own mother’s ten year battle with dementia.

Pooja Gal handles the directorial reins with great precision, aided and abetted by Rosa Maggiora’s dreamy set design and composer Nitin Sawney’s ethereal compositions. Varla is wonderful as Ameet, wandering confidently into real situations, visible only to Queenie as he makes wry observations about the chaos unfolding around him.

If there’s an issue here it’s simply that Syal is so magnetic a personality that the play’s coda (where the siblings struggle to organise the titular scattering of her ashes in the River Ganges) misses her presence so much that the ending feels oddly anticlimactic, a problem accentuated by the fact that we’ve already witnessed what feels suspiciously like the perfect conclusion a good twenty minutes earlier. 

But it’s a small issue in what is, overall, an accomplished and thought-provoking drama – and how wonderful it is to have it ready to watch at the touch of a button.

4.7 stars

Philip Caveney

Ballet Shoes

04/08/26

National Theatre at Home

We’re visiting my mum and, when she reveals she’s taken out a subscription to NT at Home, we know exactly what we’ll be doing this evening. We start scrolling through the options – and then Ballet Shoes catches my eye.

Wait, what? It’s already played two sold-out runs in its South Bank location? I’d 100% have travelled to London for this if I’d known it was on. How have I missed it? I’m usually all over theatre news, but this one has completely passed me by.

Neither Mum nor Phil is particularly keen; there are lots of other plays they’d rather see. But my enthusiasm is so fervent, I don’t think they can bear to disappoint me. They agree to give it a go. And – spoiler alert – they are both mightily impressed.

Because this is an impressive production. Kendall Feaver’s adaptation of Noel Streatfeild’s much-loved novel is exemplary, knowing exactly which ideas to heighten (and which to dispense with) to retain the heart and spirit of the book. Likewise, director Katy Rudd maintains a lively pace, expertly interweaving theatrical spectacle with more naturalistic storytelling.

For those not in the know, Streatfeild’s best-known children’s story tells the tale of three young orphans, Pauline (Grace Saif), Petrova (Yanexi Enriquez) and Posy (Daisy Sequerra). Rescued from various corners of the globe by an eccentric explorer known as ‘Great Uncle Matthew’ (Justin Salinger), they are thrust on his adopted niece, Sylvia (Pearl Mackie), who has been living a quiet life in GUM’s London home, drawing pictures of the relics he brings back from his travels. But these latest curios take a whole lot more looking after than the usual fossils…

When GUM goes AWOL and stops sending money for his wards, Sylvia and nursemaid Nana (Jenny Galloway) are at their wits’ end. They need to find a way to make some money. One answer is obvious: their shabby Cromwell Road house is enormous; they can take in lodgers! And, once the paying guests are safely ensconced, another opportunity presents itself. Their tenant, Theo Dane (Nadine Higgin), is a teacher at The Children’s Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. If the girls attend this school, they’ll be able to work and help out with the household bills.

Multi-roling Salinger perfectly embodies Madame Fidolia, the formidable Russian ballerina-turned-headmistress, who immediately notices Posy’s dancing potential, singling her out for one-to-one lessons. This plot point leads to some truly beautiful solo ballet from Sequerra, while the children’s other performances – in Alice in Wonderland and an experimental production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream – allow choreographer Ellen Kane to create a gleeful extravaganza. No chance to dazzle is missed, as Petrova’s obsession with all-things mechanical is actualised by lodger Jai (Sid Sagar)’s stunning prop car, designed by Frankie Bradshaw.

I can’t think of a single way this glorious production could be improved. It’s lively, engaging and exciting, a perfect piece of family entertainment. And a message from Phil: you don’t have to know the novel to revel in this fabulous show.

5 stars

Susan Singfield

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

31/07/26

Cineworld, Edinburgh

The Odyssey may have stopped a lot of cinematic vessels from making it safely to shore, but Ol’ Webhead is back in town and nothing is big enough to halt the new Spider-Man from having his er… Brand New Day – even if, instead of IMAX, he’s had to settle for Screen X and 4D Real 3D. Me, I’m happy to watch it on a standard screen. There are a whole lot of Marvel products that I have enjoyed in the cinema, but Spidey is the only one I keep coming back for – and I’m really not alone. At the showing I attend there’s a veritable crowd of cinema-goers eagerly awaiting their next fix.

As a teenager in the 1960s, I adored the comics of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko – and, in 2002, I went along to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man at my local multiplex and fell in love with the character (as portrayed by Tobey Maguire) all over again. And through all the following iterations, I’ve returned for another helping, always finding new things to enjoy. Andrew Garfield? Yeah, okay, his two films were darker than what had gone before, but still perfectly watchable. And then, in 2016’s Homecoming, Tom Holland stepped confidently into the role, shepherding the series fully into the MCU and I was hooked once more. Lest we forget, somewhere in the midst of all this, there were two Spiderverse animations that were nothing short of masterpieces, but which existed alongside Holland’s films without causing a ripple. We were told that Holland’s contributions would be limited to a trilogy – but No Way Home left the story on such a cliffhanger it was clear there would have to be more.

Brand New Day finds Spidey in uncertain territory. Yes, he’s now been accepted as New York City’s friendly neighbourhood superhero and, between him and Detective Jean De Wolff (Liza Colón-Zayas), the city streets are being systematically scoured of criminals. But, as chronicled in No Way Home, a pesky mind-wipe by Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has added a new complication. Both Peter’s girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya), and his best buddy, Ned (Jacob Lees), have completely forgotten he even exists. He feels totally alone – and to make things worse, he’s also going through a major change in his DNA, the arachnid side of his personality growing in power and threatening to completely overcome him. And that web fluid he used to shoot from specially designed gadgets? It’s now squirting directly from his wrists – sometimes at very inopportune moments!

What’s more, a new threat is beginning to assert its influence on New York City – an invisible being that is able to leap from one unsuspecting victim to another in order to achieve its mysterious goals…

There is so much packed into this film that, even with a running time of 2 hours and 25 minutes, it seems to positively race by. (Some may argue that it could be cut back to two hours, but I would not want to be the one to decide which scenes should be considered expendable.) The characterisations of the key players have never been so astutely drawn. Nor has there been such emotional depth: there’s a real tone of sadness and regret in the early scenes, as Peter observes his former friends from a distance, as he suffers in silence.

Though several key MCU characters are afforded obligatory guest appearances – Florence Pugh’s Black Widow, Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner – none of them is allowed to overstay their welcome. Indeed, John Bernthal’s Frank Castle makes a particularly welcome addition to the story, forming an unlikely alliance with Peter, as the two former adversaries join forces to take on the aforementioned mysterious presence (I won’t reveal who or what this is, but it’s well worth the wait to find out).

Of course, there must also be action set-pieces in a film like this. New director Destin Daniel Cretton and cinematographer Brett Pawlak do not disappoint, amping up the visual flourishes with absolute control and ensuring that every single shot looks ravishing. The way the journey of the invisible ‘presence’ is shown is breathtaking, achieved simply with perfectly-timed choreography (you’ll need to see it for that line to make sense). Furthermore, an extended battle between Spidey and a whole team of red-garbed, sword-wielding martial artists is frankly jaw-dropping, one of the most accomplished special effects sequences I’ve ever seen.

What else can I tell you? Brand New Day somehow manages to locate the teenage kid lurking deep within me and offer him things that he still – after all these years – finds genuinely enthralling. Those who insist on stubbornly remaining in their seats for the inevitable post-credit sequence should be warned that this time out it simply amounts to a brief video game image and a promise that ‘Spider-Man will return.’

Don’t know about you, but I’m already looking forward to it.

4.7 stars

Philip Caveney

On the Sea

30/07/26

Filmhouse, Edinburgh

In the immediate wake of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, new cinema releases have been in somewhat short supply. Most studios have chosen to give the screens a hard pass for a couple of weeks while the general population battles to secure themselves any empty seats in an IMAX screening.

As the title suggests, On the Sea shares one important component with the story of Odysseus – it does feature a sea voyage at one point – but, in terms of scale, writer/director Helen Walsh’s sombre tale, set in present day Ynys Môn (Anglesey) really couldn’t be any less epic. This is an intensely-focused story of love, desire and – ultimately – tragedy.

It’s the tale of Jack (Barry Ward), a mussel harvester who has been plying his back-breaking trade for many years. Working alongside his bullish brother, Dyfan (Celyn Jones), he’s managed to carve out a decent living for himself, his wife, Maggie (Liz White), and his teenage son, Tom (Henry Lawfull), selling on his harvests to high-end restaurants.

But not everything is running to plan. Jack is currently in remission from cancer and knows all-too well that it could return at any point. Meanwhile, Tom really isn’t keen on the thought of a life spent scrabbling in the mud for crustaceans and is clearly more interested in running around with a rough crowd of trouble makers. He’s also spending a lot of time with his girlfriend, Lois (Leisa Gwenllian, star of recent Welsh language hit, Effi O Blaenau – though it must be said that she is given far less to do here).

After an incident when the elderly owner of a trawler is injured by Tom’s new friends, Jack steps in to look after the old man and is afforded the opportunity to (quite literally) venture out into new waters. He also strikes up a friendship with young hired hand, Daniel (Lorne MacFadyen), one that quickly and unexpectedly ignites into a full-blown love affair…

This simple but powerful film captures the look and feel of a small Welsh fishing community in intricate detail. Every frame of Sam Goldie’s cinematography amplifies the bleak, unforgiving nature of the landscape, while Felix Rösch’s ethereal soundtrack appears to find its inspiration in the excesses of the weather. Watching Jack and his team work through the hours dredging mussels from the shallows makes me feel like I’m working alongside them.

The performances are terrific, particularly from Ward and MacFadyen as the central duo, both of them bound by the power of their mutual passion. White is impressive too, as Maggie reacts with understandable shock to the implosion of her marriage, yet manages somehow to remain steadfast and gracious.

Those who’ve had had their fill of bombastic special effects and are looking for something more subtle will find much to enjoy in this deceptively simple story. And, as a North Walian myself, I’m delighted to see my fellow Gogs beginning to make their mark on the big screen.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

The Odyssey

18/07/26

Cineworld, Edinburgh

‘See it on the biggest screen possible.’

Advice we’ve often given and something we had every intention of following ourselves in the case of Sir Christopher Nolan’s latest release. But, for the first time ever, finding an empty seat in an IMAX screening in Edinburgh proves impossible – unless we’re prepared to sit in the very front row. (Done that once, never again.) This development is simultaneously annoying and wonderfully heartening. Perhaps that much-rumoured resurgence in cinema attendance, fuelled by the likes of Obsession and Backrooms, is actually gathering momentum. Or is it just Nolan’s astute handling of the movie’s advertising, coupled with the Oscar success of Oppenheimer that has led to this stampede for tickets?

Whatever the reason, we decide to book in for a standard screening. We’ll revisit in IMAX sometime in the near future. Providing it’s any good, of course. Despite widespread critical acclaim, the online vitriol poured on the film by people who haven’t actually seen it yet means that this one has much to prove. And happily, it passes every test with flying colours.

We all know The Odyssey, of course. Homer’s epic poem is still the bane of many young students’ lives as they are obliged to read their way through its meandering stanzas, which focus on the twenty year ordeal of its central character, Odysseus (played here rather wonderfully by Matt Damon). Our hero, forced for the first decade to play a key role in the siege of Troy, then has to spend the next ten trying to find his way back to Ithaca, where his faithful wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and his loyal son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), still await his return.

But to get to them, Odysseus and his crew must take on all manner of obstacles: the giant cyclops, Polythemus (Bill Irwin); the powerful witch, Circe (Samantha Morton); the Lotus-dispensing Calypso (Charlize Theron); and, most egregious of all, the Ocean – which, because Odysseus has annoyed Poseidon, is determined to send them all to a watery grave.

With a running time just short of three hours, this could be a ponderous affair but Nolan (who also adapted the screenplay from the original poem) employs an ingenious non-sequential approach, cutting effortlessly back and forth across the passing years to ensure that no particular sequence overstays its welcome. What’s more, even though most of the situations are familiar from earlier versions of the story (the 1954 Ulysses starring Kirk Douglas springs to mind, as do several of the films featuring the work of stop-motion genius Ray Harryhausen), Nolan always manages to put a different spin on proceedings.

Of course, a tale as packed as this one is sure to have its more memorable sections. The scene where Odysseus and his men are locked in a cave with the aforementioned Polythemus is a particular standout, as is Circe’s transformation of Odysseus’s crew into swine. She uses a hands-on approach like a potter moulding clay, the sequence employing old-school practical effects that recall the work of the legendary Rick Baker.

And if you’re a fan of an enormous climactic dust-up, well, I don’t think you’ll be left feeling short-changed.

The cast is stellar with many big names popping up in minor roles. Robert Pattinson proves once again that he is a terrific actor as the oily, scheming Antinous and all hail to John Leguizamo as the ever-faithful Eumaeous. Much has been made of the casting of Elliot Page as Sinon and Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, with incensed commentators complaining about ‘authenticity’ as though this is a historical piece rather than a slice of weird fantasy, but both actors give strong performances that more than justify their casting. Oh, and by the way, those American accents serve as a commentary on the current world order, which – when you think about it – makes a lot of sense.

Perhaps the most original addition here is the clarification of just how much two decades of havoc have taken their toll on the central character. In the film’s final section, as Odysseus recalls the cruelty and bloodshed visited upon the people of Troy, this feels increasingly like the recollections of a man suffering from PTSD, finally emerging from a lotus-induced fog and forced to confront the pain his decisions have inflicted on those who followed him.

Make no mistake, this is a superb film: assured, inventive and directed by a man at the very top of his game. I haven’t always loved Nolan’s films but this may just be his masterpiece. Buckle in and get those IMAX seats booked… if you can find them.

5 stars

Philip Caveney