Film

Train Dreams

03/01/26

Netflix

Adapted from Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella of the same name, Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams is set in the Pacific Northwest during the first half of the last century. More character study than story, this beautifully-contrived film proves a difficult watch.

Idaho orphan Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) is born in poverty, destined to a hard-scrabble life. An itinerant worker, he toils uncomplainingly, felling trees to make way for the expansion of the American railroads. He is watchful and taciturn, but nonetheless forms strong bonds with his fellow loggers. These include Arn Peeples (William H Macy), a sagacious old man concerned about deforestation, and Fu Sheng (Alfred Hsing), shockingly murdered in a racist attack by his colleagues – while Robert silently looks on.

The only glimmer of cheer in Robert’s life is Gladys (Felicity Jones). For a brief period, they enjoy a happy marriage, buying an acre of land, building a cabin, having a baby. But they’re poor, and Robert’s work takes him away from home, so he’s not with Gladys when a forest fire sweeps the region, taking everything – and everyone – he cares about.

From hereon in, Robert becomes even more introverted. It’s as if he’s frozen in time, living hermit-like in his rebuilt cabin, haunted by dreams, flashbacks and premonitions. His occasional brushes with the outside world are jarring: the twentieth century’s brash progression at odds with his pioneer lifestyle. While he’s stuck in the past, stubbornly homesteading, other people are buying motor cars, going to the cinema, landing on the moon.

Edgerton’s performance is undeniably impressive, albeit in an understated, muted way. Here is a man who expects hardship and bears his pain in silence – all of which Edgerton communicates effectively through very little dialogue. Adolpho Veloso’s cinematography is admirable too: the Washington vistas are both beautiful and bleak, the perfect backdrop to Grainier’s grief.

But this is a depressing piece of cinema, with barely any lighter moments to alleviate the misery: no redemption; no hope. It’s clever and moving and has excited much interest from the Awards Academy – but it’s not an enjoyable ride.

3.6 stars

Susan Singfield

Song Sung Blue

02/01/26

Cineworld, Edinburgh

It’s a fact universally acknowledged that the most unlikely film plots are those based on true stories. Take the tale of Mike and Claire Sardina for example, whose adventures have already made it to the screen in Greg Kohs’ 2008 documentary (also called Song Sung Blue). Writer/director Craig Brewer spotted its potential as a feature film and has adapted it into a heartwarming – and occasionally heartbreaking – feature. And should some of the events portrayed here raise your eyebrows, well, it only takes a quick Google search to establish that all this really did happen.

We first meet Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) in the early noughties as he performs an appealing song and chat routine… at his local AA meeting. He’s not had a drink for twenty years, but still considers himself an alcoholic. Divorced from his wife, he plies a precarious trade as a mechanic and makes a few dollars on the side performing songs in tribute acts to various rock stars – though he resists a powerful impulse to impersonate his idol, Neil Diamond, whom he feels he could never do justice to.

At a tribute night organised by his Buddy Holly-worshipping pal, Mark (Michael Imperioli), Mike sets eyes upon Claire (Kate Hudson), who is performing as Patsy Kline and there’s an immediate attraction between them. It isn’t long before they are dating and Claire soon persuades Mike to pursue those Neil Diamond ambitions, offering backing vocals and keyboards in support. Very soon after that, the two of them are married and their act, Lightning and Thunder, is having a lot of success in their native Milwaukee. But as their musical career soars like a meteor, something darker is waiting in the wings…

Song Sung Blue is an appealing story that easily sweeps me up and keeps me hooked throughout. It could so easily be unbearably mawkish but Brewer handles the material with great skill, so that what comes through is a genuine warmth and a sense of community, particularly from the various other tribute acts, who work alongside the central duo to ensure their success. Of course, it’s no surprise that Jackman can sing up a storm but Hudson is something of a revelation in this department, her distinctive, slightly husky vocals nailing every song with aplomb.

It’s lovely to watch the couple’s relationship enduring through the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and there’s also a winning sub plot in which Claire’s daughter, Rachel (Ella Anderson) and Mike’s daughter, Angelina (King Princess), develop a supportive friendship. Claire’s young son, Dana (Hudson Hensley), also makes a big impression simply by expressing open enthusiasm for everything his parents do and documenting much of what happens on his video camera.

If the first half is mostly joyful stuff, the second moves ever deeper into tragedy and I spend the latter stages of Song Sung Blue dreading what fresh disaster is going to assail the Sardinas next. I’m not ashamed to say that I watch some of the film’s scenes through a fog of tears.

And for those of you wondering, ‘Do I have to be a Neil Diamond fan to appreciate this?’ I can only point out that I would never class myself as a devotee, but I still have a lovely time with the film. And I come out singing Sweet Caroline.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney

Marty Supreme

01/01/2026

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Our first film of 2026 was supposed to be our last film of 2025. But we were in North Wales where, for some inexplicable reason, Marty Supreme simply wasn’t yet available in cinemas and we were obliged to watch The Housemaid instead. So obviously, when it came time to start the process anew, there was only one logical choice.

It’s clear from the opening scenes that Josh Safdie’s frenetic odyssey about ambitious young table tennis player, Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet), is going to be something very special. The titular character is loosely based on a real-life ping pong star, the late Marty Reisman – though whether the man who inspired this story was the swaggering, single-minded, motor-mouthed huckster portrayed here is up for debate. 

Certainly, many of the incidents portrayed in the script – co-written by Safdie and Ronald Bronstein – echo real life events, though the filmmakers are quick to point out that it’s all fictional.

When we first encounter Marty, he’s grudgingly working at his Uncle Murray’s shoe shop in New York City. This is solely to fund his upcoming journey to England, where he’ll be competing in the 1952 World Table Tennis Championship. He’s also enjoying a clandestine affair with Rachel (Odessa A’zion), an unhappily-married woman who works in the shop next door, and whom Marty soon manages to impregnate. In fact, we actually witness this biological process over the film’s opening credits.

Once at the championships, Marty hooks up with former movie actress, Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow). He sees her as a possible source of funding for his future endeavours and, after a swift telephone seduction, he enjoys a quick dalliance with her. Her husband is wealthy industrialist Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’ Leary), a manufacturer of fountain pens.

Meanwhile, as the ping pong tournament progresses, Marty easily vanquishes all the opposing players until, in the final, he’s matched against Japanese player, Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi). The newcomer’s idiosyncratic style of play utterly throws Marty. He loses the match and is obliged to return to America humiliated – but his determination to win turns into an overwhelming obsession…

To label Marty Supreme as ‘a film about table tennis’ would be something of an understatement. Yes, it is that – and the many sequences that depict the sport are undeniably gripping – but it’s also a multi-faceted examination of ambition, greed and the almost pathological need to win at all costs. Chalamet has always been an accomplished actor but here he delivers a performance of such staggering intensity, it just might be the one that finally steers him in the direction of that coveted Oscar podium.

I also want to mention production designer Jack Fisk, who came out of retirement for this film, and captures the dark squalor of 1950s America with exceptional skill. A technical Oscar for his work would also seem a likely fit.

As for the director, anyone who saw Uncut Gems – which Safdie co-directed with his brother, Benny – will know that he has a penchant for ramping up anxiety to almost unbearable levels. That quality is certainly very much in evidence here as the film careers from one stress-inducing set piece to the next, barely allowing me time to draw breath. The movie is also packed with legions of oddball characters who surge onto the screen, capture my interest and just as swiftly vanish. The film is sometimes weird, occasionally startling and always heart-stoppingly brilliant.

If the self-aggrandising Marty isn’t the kind of character who usually inspires a viewer’s allegiance (he’s self-centred and utterly convinced of his own talent), Safdie is wise enough to surround him with even more despicable people, chief among them oily fat-cat Rockwell, who, at one point, takes the greatest pleasure in humiliating Marty for the entertainment of his friends. The result is that I’m always rooting for our antihero, even when I’m horrified at the depths he’s prepared to sink to.

This is quite simply a gobsmacking film – and I have no doubts whatsoever that it’s destined to feature in our ‘best of’ list for 2026. Make sure you catch it where it belongs, on the biggest screen you can find.

5 stars

Philip Caveney

Film Bouquets 2025

2025 has been a rewarding year for cinema-goers, with enough great movies to make it especially difficult to narrow our list down to just twelve favourites. But here they are in the order that we watched them. As ever, we invite you to pitch in with your comments.

Better Man

“A fabulous piece of filmmaking that effortlessly oversteps the relative simplicity of its subject to create something genuinely spectacular…”

The Brutalist

“Has plenty to say about the creative process and nails perfectly the powerful seduction that success offers to any artist – the fateful allure of patronage and its unpalatable compromises.”

Flow

“The word ‘masterpiece’ is overused but this groundbreaking animation by Latvian director Glints Zilbalodis is so accomplished, it’s all too easy to see why it was handed an Oscar.

Hallow Road

“Hallow Road ticks all the boxes, amping up the suspense with every passing mile, until I am almost breathless with anxiety…”

28 Years Later

“There are elements of folk horror woven into the script and the eerie atmosphere is beautifully accentuated by the music of the Young Fathers and the use of an old recording of Rudyard Kipling’s militaristic poem, Boots…”

The Ballad of Wallis Island

“A warm, gentle hug of a film, one that takes a long look at the subject of relationships and the many ways in which memories can still affect people long after an initial attraction has gone…”

Weapons

“An absolute smorgasbord of delights, by turns poignant, tense, bloody and, in its later stretches, darkly comic…”

Frankenstein

“Packed with sumptuous locations and thrilling action set-pieces, that have it hurtling through its lengthy running time…”

One Battle After Another

“Even the car chase is given a mesmerising makeover, as vehicles glide silently through a shimmering waterfall of desert roads like some kind of LSD-induced hallucination…”

Sorry, Baby

“Film-making of the highest order, assured and nuanced, highlighting the myriad moments that mark Agnes’s darkest hours as well as their recovery…”

Die, My Love

“This unflinching study of a woman’s postpartum psychological breakdown is as compelling as it is harrowing – and Jennifer Lawrence is frankly wonderful in the lead role…”

Bugonia

“The film’s true triumph is only revealed in a final extended sequence, where Lanthimos brings all the different strands of the story together to create a shattering, thought-provoking conclusion…”

Philip Caveney & Susan Singfield

Sunset Boulevard

21/12/25

Filmhouse, Edinburgh

Hard on the heels of seeing one Billy Wilder masterpiece, The Apartment, comes an opportunity to see another, his 1950 film, Sunset Boulevard. I’m eager to watch it, as I haven’t seen it since I viewed it on TV in my youth. Whereas The Apartment looks forward to the new permissive era of the 1960s, this one takes its inspiration from the movies of the silent years, and the vast sea-changes that came in 1927, when Al Jolson became the first actor to talk onscreen in The Jazz Singer.

While the silent era has been revisited in a more lighthearted manner in movies like Singin’ in the Rain, Wilder casts a more meditative light on the previously-bankable stars suddenly left stranded by arrival of the talkies.

The movie is narrated by Joe Gillis (William Holden), a once promising young screenwriter, now struggling to make his way in the highly-competitive world of 50s Hollywood and quickly running out of options. Trying to evade some guys who are attempting to repossess his car, he pulls into the garage of a crumbling Hollywood mansion, assuming that the place is abandoned. But here he meets up with faded silent-movie megastar, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) and her devoted butler, Max (Erich Von Stroheim). When Norma learns that Joe is a writer, she immediately invites him to stay in the guest room, telling him that she’s working on a screenplay of Salome, which she plans to star in when she makes her “return” (for some reason, she hates the term “comeback”). Joe realises she hasn’t a hope in hell of getting the movie financed, but he needs somewhere to kick his heels, so he reluctantly takes her up on her offer and agrees to help her write the script.

But as the days pass, he becomes her constant companion, and he starts to appreciate the full depths of her obsession – and realises that walking away from this situation isn’t going to be as straightforward as he initially supposed…

Of course, Wilder is writing about the same studio system that he himself progressed through, and his sharp, witty screenplay (co-written with Charles Brackett and DM Marshman Jnr) has about it the utter veracity of lived experience. Swanson had actually been a silent-movie star back in the day and exerts an extraordinary screen presence, portraying her possessive, vulnerable and ultimately-tragic character with consummate skill. Von Stroheim, meanwhile, was himself an influential director of silent films. There are also cameos from other real stars, like Cecil B DeMille and (very briefly) Buster Keaton. Holden, of course, is just embarking on his own long and monumental screen career and he makes the perfect foil, calm and measured despite all the madness that surrounds him.

The film’s final scene is one of the most enduring in movie history, as Norma Desmond takes her final prowl down a staircase for the camera and prepares for her close-up, so caught up in her own fantasy, that all the surrounding cops and news reporters somehow become her acolytes.

Sometimes, you return to a classic film after a long absence and wonder what all the fuss was about. But Sunset Boulevard is still a powerful and bitterly-spiced cinematic confection, as fresh and hard-hitting as it was all those years ago – and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to see it on the big screen.

5 stars

Philip Caveney

The Apartment

19/12/25

Filmhouse, Edinburgh

It’s the last day of term: I’ve taught my final drama class before the holidays, and I’m ready to wind down. Fortuitously, the Filmhouse has chosen this evening for a members’ free screening of one of Philip’s favourite Christmas movies, The Apartment. Although we arrive early, the foyer is already buzzing, people queuing amiably for the complementary mulled wine and mince pies that are being served. It smells delicious but, as we’re both tee-total, I’m gluten-free and Philip would rather starve than eat dried fruit, we don’t bother joining the line. Instead we head on upstairs to secure ourselves some decent seats.

When it comes to iconic festive movies, I’ve got a bad track record. I didn’t see 1992’s A Muppet Christmas Carol until 2019, but that 27-year lull pales into insignificance compared to the 65 years that have lapsed since Billy Wilder directed (and co-wrote) The Apartment. So I’m excited to finally catch up with this film that Philip is so enamoured of – and what a treat to see it on the big screen in an immaculate 4K restoration.

A study in toxic masculinity, where powerful middle-aged men exploit vulnerable young women, and the only way for anyone to get ahead in the workplace is to submit to the demands of their narcissistic bosses, this feels like a very contemporary tale. Indeed, if it weren’t for the monochrome cinematography, the 1960s fashions and the rolodexes on the office workers’ desks, this could easily pass for a #MeToo-inspired drama. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…

It’s Christmas-time in New York City, and CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a lowly clerk with just one advantage: he has managed to secure a reasonably-priced apartment in a sought-after location near Central Park. When his supervisors learn where he lives, they promise him promotion… so long as he lets them use his conveniently-situated abode to conduct their extra-marital affairs. Cue comedic mayhem as CC struggles to maintain control of an overfull schedule, often forced to kill time lurking outside his own home as he waits for the lovers to leave. As if that weren’t enough, he also has to endure his neighbours’ disapproval: they think he’s some sort of Lothario, entertaining a parade of women. Still, if it means he can get on at work, then it’s worth it, right? And anyway, he doesn’t know how to refuse…

But then CC strikes up a friendship with lift attendant Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) and his priorities begin to shift. When he learns that she’s having an affair with the odious manager, Mr Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), he’s devastated, but their warm relationship endures – and, in the end, their mutual affection saves them both.

It’s a beautiful film: at once funny and heartwarming, bleak and hopeful. Wilder and co-writer IAL Diamond’s script is vivacious and witty, and Lemmon and MacLaine are both dazzling in their roles, their naïvety and powerlessness so utterly appealing that I want them to flourish from the moment I see them on screen. Meanwhile, MacMurray makes an excellent villain, all surface charm and barely-concealed self-interest. Convincingly drawn, this is a perfect study of human nature – with an ultimately life-affirming and seasonally-appropriate message.

Merry Christmas! And don’t forget the fruitcake.

5 stars

Susan Singfield

Relay

15/12/25

Amazon Prime

The latest film to be handed a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ theatrical release is this intriguing espionage thriller from David McKenzie. While it’s clearly not the kind of feature that’s destined to pack ’em in at the cineplex, it’s nonetheless brilliantly realised – and, while it starts in a relatively laidback fashion, it steadily builds to a powerful climax with a sucker-punch twist that I just don’t see coming.

Ash (Riz Ahmed) spends his days as a fixer, mediating between whistle-blowers and the big companies about which they have damning evidence. Obviously, such organisations are rich beyond the dreams of avarice and stand to lose a lot of money if the truth ever gets out, so they are willing to spend big bucks having those problem ex-employees ‘removed’. 

In order to help his clients, Ash uses a telecommunications device designed for deaf people, which means that he and his customers never speak face-to-face or even directly on the telephone. The calls between them are transcribed and delivered by a team of complete strangers, who never store any of the information they are asked to deliver, making it virtually untraceable.

When Ash is approached by Sarah (Lily James), who has stolen some documents from her former employers, a major research institute, she tells him the company has been covering up the side-effects of genetically-modified wheat, which has led to the deaths of countless people. Sarah also reveals that, having taken the documents, she’s now had second thoughts about it and wants to return them without fear of recrimination.

Ash takes on Sarah’s case and promises to keep her safe until he can give her the all-clear. But a highly-skilled (and heavily-armed) team of ruthless investigators has been assigned to the situation and they begin to trace Ash’s movements. As they close in on him, it becomes a game of cat and mouse – and there’s a further complication when Ash finds himself beginning to fall in love with his client…

On paper, this doesn’t sound particularly pulse-pounding, but the combination of Justin Piasecki’s intriguing script and Mackenzie’s taut direction ensures that the cinematic pot is kept bubbling throughout. While it may start at a gentle simmer, events incrementally rise to boiling point until, in the film’s latter stages, we are hurled into breathless chase territory. 

Ahmed is always an interesting performer, while James is also impressive in the kind of role she’s not previously explored. There are plenty of other characters featured in Relay but it’s essentially a two-hander. Anyone like me looking to catch up with films they’ve recently missed at the cinema will find this on Amazon Prime, where it’s waiting to be watched at the touch of a button.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney

Oh. What. Fun.

15/12/25

Amazon Prime Video

Honestly, we’re not the target audience for Michael Showalter’s Oh. What. Fun. There are lots of lovely people out there who just revel in a Christmas movie – but we’re not them. Still, as reviewers, it falls to us to watch as wide a range as possible, and – as it’s charting well on Amazon Prime – we feel we really ought to give this one a go. Also, Chloë Grace Moretz is in it, and we’ve liked everything else she’s done. So that’s how we find ourselves snuggled up under a blanket watching a festive film on a Monday afternoon, the very model of the cosy winter aesthetic we usually reject (because summer and sunshine are just better, right?).

Anyway. This is basically Home Alone in reverse. Every year, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) puts vast amounts of effort into creating the perfect middle-class American Christmas for her husband, Nick (Denis Leary), and their grown-up family. The trouble is, her kids (Felicity Jones, Dominic Sessa and Moretz respectively) kind of resent the pressure she puts on them: they don’t want to feel obliged to come ‘home’ every year, exaggerating their appreciation for all those extra, unasked-for flourishes Claire insists on. It’s the opposite of relaxing, the antithesis of fun.

Needy Claire isn’t happy either. She desperately wants one of her kids to nominate her as a ‘Zazzy Tims Christmas Mom’ so that she can win a ticket to a recording of her favourite TV show, hosted by her role model, Zazzy (Eva Longoria). But of course, Channing (Jones), Sammy (Sessa) and Taylor (Moretz) fail to respond to her many hints, so it seems a trip to California is not on the cards…

…until Christmas Eve, when Claire’s entire family – husband, kids, partners, grandkids – fail to notice that she’s not with them at the theatre for the So You Think You Can Dance tour, which she arranged (and paid for) as an extra surprise. Alone and forgotten in an empty house, Claire decides it’s time to do something for herself. And off she heads to Hollywood.

If it’s nuance you’re after, this is not the film for you. There’s no subtlety at all: everything is laid on with the proverbial trowel, from Taylor’s over-the-top rudeness towards Channing’s well-meaning husband, Doug (Jason Schwartzman), to the unfiltered bitchiness of Claire’s ‘perfect’ neighbour, Jeanne (Joan Chen). What’s more, it’s hard to feel much sympathy for Claire, with her massive McMansion and basically decent kin. There’s never any real jeopardy or heartbreak here.

Oh. What. Fun. hasn’t changed my feelings about Christmas films, but it’s not a bad movie. In fact, it’s very watchable. So why not pour yourself a glass of mulled wine, switch on the fairy lights and enjoy a bit of lighthearted… well… fun.

3 stars

Susan Singfield

Fackham Hall

14/12/25

Cineworld, Edinburgh

I’ve never fallen under the spell of Downton Abbey (even though I loved Gosford Park, the film that spawned it), so I’m more than happy to see the franchise lampooned – and that’s pretty much the motivation behind Fackham Hall. Based by an idea by comedian Jimmy Carr and his brother Patrick (and adapted by three other writers), this sprightly tale thunders along at full gallop, flinging out a whole deluge of jokes, sight gags and historical references as it proceeds. Anyone who’s come to this expecting subtlety has clearly come to the wrong place, but that’s not a criticism. I enjoy the experience and, if a joke occasionally falls flat, well it’s reassuring to know that there’ll be another one along in the blink of an eye.

The titular hall is the ancestral home of Lord and Lady Davenport (Damian Lewis and Katherine Waterston). They have two daughters, Poppy (Emma Laird) and Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), and – in the time-honoured tradition of the upper classes – Poppy is due to marry her first cousin, the odious Archibald (Tom Felton), in order to keep their stately home in the family. But on the big day, Poppy simply cannot bring herself to do it – which inevitably puts a lot of pressure on Rose to step up and take one for the team.

But then handsome and homeless young pickpocket, Eric (Ben Radcliffe), is selected to deliver an urgent message to Lord Davenport and, on the way there, he and Rose cross paths. While this is unfortunate in one way – she’s at the wheel of a car and he’s on a bicycle – once they’ve set eyes on each other, it’s clear that romance is their destiny. But if Rose decides to be with Eric, what will happen to their family estate?

And then a key character is murdered – and the plot begins to thicken.

The recent reboot of The Naked Gun seems to have reignited the public’s taste for a decent spoof and, on that level, Fackham Hall doesn’t disappoint. I spend the film’s duration alternately chuckling, groaning and occasionally guffawing out loud at the film’s smörgåsbord of comic offerings. (The sight gags arrive so relentlessly, I’m actually in danger of missing some of them.)

Director Jim O’Hanlon keeps the pot bubbling nicely and the production is blessed with a cast of excellent actors, who appreciate that the secret of a spoof is to play everything absolutely straight. Anna Maxwell-Martin is great as the ruthless housekeeper, Mrs McCallister, and I love Tim McMullen’s deadpan performance as the butler, Cyril, who also doubles as a prototype AI assistant. Carr has a couple of funny cameos as a short-sighted vicar who specialises in making every sermon a series of tortuous misunderstandings. And I’m delighted by one of the Davenport’s house guests in particular: JRR Tolkien, who is working on what will become his best-known book, finding inspiration in the strangest places…

The big ‘reveal’ at the end will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody but, really, in something like this the usual rules of criticism feel somewhat superfluous. Some Downton diehards might clutch their pearls in outrage, but I have a lot of fun with this and no doubt many others – from both upstairs and downstairs – will find plenty to enjoy.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

Wicked: For Good

06/12/25

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Despite being dazzling, bold and unashamedly in-your-face, Wicked: For Good somehow manages to fall flat. Perhaps the problem lies in the year-long gap between the two parts of this story; it’s like a glass of champagne that’s been left out too long and lost its fizz.

That said, in many ways I prefer this second act (which I’m refusing to call a sequel, because it isn’t: the story arc spans both films, and neither stands alone). At least there’s a resolution here, and I enjoy the creative ways the storyline feeds into The Wizard of Oz. Narratively, For Good – directed by Jon M Chu – is stronger than Wicked, but as a musical? I’m no aficionado, but even I can tell there’s only one real banger in this show (Defying Gravity), and it isn’t reprised here. As a result, the big song and dance numbers, even with Christopher Scott’s sumptuous choreography and the cast’s impressive vocals, just aren’t very memorable.

We catch up with Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) after their erstwhile friendship has been well and truly shattered by the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). Neither young woman is exactly happy about the way the duo uses propaganda and misinformation to control the citizens of Oz but, while Glinda opts for a pragmatic, ‘if-you-can’t-beat-’em-join-’em’ approach, Elphaba favours revolution, exposing the truth at any cost. Each feels betrayed by the other…

The two leads are magnificent: perfectly cast and with crackling on-screen chemistry. Their combined talent is beyond formidable, and the strongest scenes are those where they’re together. But they’re let down by a histrionic script (by Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox and Gregory Maguire), where emotions are always dialled up to eleven, and unrequited love is enough of an excuse to destroy a realm. It’s all very teenage – and all very one-note. Nessa (Marissa Bode) fares especially badly, her death-by-Kansas-farmhouse so fudged that you wouldn’t know what had happened if you weren’t familiar with the tale.

There’s plenty to admire here: the production values are second-to-none, and the world-building is exquisite. I just think that it would have been better to make one excellent three-hour film rather than two quite good ones, whose combined five hours add up to less than the sum of their parts.

If you’ve already seen Wicked, then you’ll need to watch For Good to see how it all turns out. It’s not dreadful (there are certainly worse ways to spend a winter afternoon). But is it worth all the money and the hype? You’ll have to decide for yourself if you want to follow the yellow brick road back to Oz.

3.5 stars

Susan Singfield