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Anaconda

07/01/26

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Christmas 2025 was a pretty fertile period for the cinema, with opportunities to catch plenty of decent offerings and, provided you picked carefully, there was not a turkey in sight. The first days of the New Year were likewise blessed, but eventually a viewer’s luck runs out. I still believe that Anaconda has a decent premise at its heart but, for a whole variety of reasons, it fails to make for satisfying viewing.

Ron Griffin (Paul Rudd) and Doug McCallister (Jack Black) both feel they have made wrong career moves. Ron always felt he was destined to be a movie star but, apart from a few fleeting cameos in various TV shows, he’s failed to make the big time. Doug maintains he is working as a film director – if you count wedding videos as movies – but he also fondly remembers his teenage years, when he and Ron recorded their own no-budget horror movies, making their own props and using their friends as actors. At Doug’s birthday get-together, Ron casually announces that he has managed to obtain the rights to Anaconda – the 1997 movie that was their favourite watch on VHS.

One drunken conversation later, and Ron has managed to persuade his old flame, Claire (Thandiwe Newton), and his hapless pal, Kenny (Steve Zahn), to flex their credit cards and accompany him to Brazil to shoot a reboot. But can they possibly persuade Doug to drop everything and join them as the film’s director? Hey, do giant reptiles live in the jungle? Well, they do of course and, in a brief pre-credit sequence, we’ve already witnessed what happens to people who stand around under trees muttering questions like, ‘What was that noise?’

To be fair, the set-up is decently handled by director Tom Gormican, who co-wrote the script with Kevin Etten. But once in Brazil, he seems unsure which direction to take with the resulting story and throws in a whole bunch of distractions. There’s a young local woman, Ana (Daniela Melchior), who is being pursued by armed men, though for quite a while we’re not entirely sure what they’re after her for. And why she would undertake to pretend to be the captain of a ship and ferry the film crew upriver is anybody’s guess.

Then there’s local snake ‘expert’ Carlos (Selton Mello) who actually owns a decent-sized pet snake and has somehow been brought onto the team as reptile-wrangler – but we’re not troubled with the details of how this came to be.

And of course there’s the titular giant snake, glimpsed only fleetingly at first, but becoming less convincing every time we set eyes on him.

The end result is that the comedy isn’t quite as sharp as it needs to be, while the action sequences are ponderous and unconvincing. Most damning of all, the scenes that (I think) are designed to be scary, really don’t generate enough tension to make me suspend my disbelief. The plot thickens when it turns out that there’s another, bigger crew in the vicinity who really are shooting an Anaconda reboot. This gives Gormican the chance to include a couple of celebrity cameos from Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez, who, veteran movie fans may remember, starred in the original.

Look, I don’t want to be mean about this, because clearly it was never intended to be anything but a silly bungle in the jungle and I guess, in the end, that’s exactly what you get. And let’s face it, the original film isn’t remembered as being a cinematic masterpiece either. But no matter how slight the central premise, a film needs to convince – and sadly this one fails on that score.

2.8 stars

Philip Caveney

Sentimental Value

05/01/26

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier reunites with his muse, Renate Reinsve (with whom he made the brilliant The Worst Person in the World), in this affecting tale set mostly within the family home of the Borg family in Oslo. Reinsve plays Nora, an acclaimed theatre actress, who – when we first encounter her – is about to step onstage for the opening night of her latest production. She suffers a sudden, terrifying bout of stage fright and has to enlist fellow actor, Jakob (Anders Danielsen Lie), to slap her face in order to get her to venture out onto the boards.

Nora’s younger sister, Agnes (Inga Ibsdottir Lilleaas), has a much less turbulent life. She’s happily married and has a teenage son, Erik (Øyvind Hesjedal Loven), who seems to share a special bond with Nora. After the death of their mother, Sissel, the sisters are preparing their childhood home for sale, but they are somewhat perturbed to discover that it still belongs to their father, celebrated film director Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård). Since splitting up with Sissel, he has kept a wary distance from his daughters, seeing them only occasionally.

They are dismayed when he turns up out of the blue, with plans to use the house as the set for a new film, based around the wartime exploits of his mother, Karin, who was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement and who committed suicide in one of the rooms. Nora is horrified when Gustav announces that he would like her to play the film’s protagonist and she refuses to even entertain the idea.

Then, whilst attending a film festival, Gustav meets American movie star Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning), whom he manages to persuade to take on the role – which also helps him secure financial backing from Netflix. Rachel travels to Norway to visit the house and starts to prepare, but it soon becomes apparent that she might not be the right fit for a part that was originally created with Nora in mind…

This handsome production shimmers like a precious jewel thanks to the brilliant cinematography of Kasper Tuxen – and the performances are uniformly spot-on. Skarsgård handles his role with particular aplomb, a man beset by the changes of time and struggling to stay in control of a project that seems to elude him at every turn. He and Reinsve make superb antagonists, he totally unable to convey the love he has for her in any conventional sense, she stubbornly resistant to his overtures, unable to countenance them, no matter how hard he pushes her.

Agnes too is conflicted. In her childhood, she had a small but important role in one of Gustav’s early films but, when her father mentions a plan to employ young Erik in a similar way, she doesn’t know how to react. And Rachel – well, suffice to say that Fanning, who so often finds herself in roles that offer her very little to do, acquits herself brilliantly here as it gradually begins to dawn on Rachel that she has wandered into an impossible situation.

There are many moments of deep sadness but, perhaps ironically, it’s the scene were Agnes confesses her undying affection for her older sister that finally coaxes the tears from my eyes. I love too a coda where the house – itself an integral character in this powerful but nuanced story – appears to be undergoing a makeover.

But then the camera pulls back, to reveal something entirely different.

Sentimental Value has been nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar and I for one feel it would make a very deserving winner.

4.8 stars

Philip Caveney

Wake Up Dead Man : A Kives Out Mystery

04/01/26

Netflix

Early January is traditionally a time for catching up with those films we didn’t manage to see at the cinema. Wake Up Dead Man, Rian Johnson’s third entry in the Knives Out franchise, has been sitting patiently on Netflix for quite some time, but I’ll confess that I haven’t been in a great hurry to tick it off the list, not having been as enchanted by the two previous instalments as many others. So it’s perhaps inevitable that I enjoy this one more than its predecessors, mostly because of its caustic sense of humour.

Catholic priest, Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’ Connor), is hastily despatched to a rural parish in upstate New York. A former boxer, he has punched out an obnoxious fellow priest in an argument and now needs to keep a low profile. He’s clearly come to the wrong place. The parish is run by Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), who runs Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude in a dictatorial fashion, though his fire and brimstone approach to sermonsing means that his congregation grows ever sparser.

So perhaps it’s little wonder that it’s Wicks who is mysteriously murdered and Duplenticy who appears the most likely culprit. But of course, after a decent interval, along comes ‘the world’s greatest detective’, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), to investigate a story that has more twists and turns than a snake on a bed of itching powder…

All the usual suspects are in place, portrayed by a starry cast of A-listers, this time including Glenn Close, Andrew Scott, Jeremy Renner and Cailee Spainey. I have fun trying to come up with possible solutions to the central mystery even if the story grows ever more unlikely as it progresses. In this endeavour I’m only partially successful – I spot some possibilities but apply them to the wrong suspect. I also think I spy a sizeable plot-hole in there, but perhaps I’m being too picky. I’m suitably entertained by the snarky, anti-Catholic digs and the anti-Trump snipes sprinkled through proceedings .

Will there be more Knives Out films? I hope so. Because, for my money, this is the best of the series so far.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

The Housemaid

28/12/25

Strand Cinema, Rhyl

It’s the dying days of 2025 and, mostly due to an apparent absence of Marty Supreme in Wales, we plump for The Housemaid as our post-Christmas watch. Directed by Paul Feig and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine (from Freida McFadden’s 2022 novel), The Housemaid is a twisty-turny sado-thriller, where everything’s dialled up to 11 and any hint of subtlety has gone straight through the nearest attic window. This isn’t necessarily a criticism, so much as an observation.

Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney) is desperately seeking employment. Ten years into a fifteen-year prison sentence (it’s a long time before we find out what she actually did to get there), she’s been released on good behaviour and is now living in her car and finding work where she can. When she lands an interview as housemaid at the swanky residence of the Winchester family, she’s desperate to get the job, though her expectations are understandably low.

Her potential employer, Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried), seems like the perfect easygoing boss, though Nina’s daughter Cerce (Indiana Elle) gives every indication of being a sour little grump-bucket. Nina’s husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), on the other hand, seems like a regular saint: handsome, ripped and blessed with a perfect grin. But no sooner has Millie landed the job of her dreams than Nina starts to reveal a very different side to her personality. She’s prone to flying into angry fits and taking every opportunity to make Millie look bad in front of her friends.

And then the first of several major plot twists occurs and it becomes clear that nothing in this scenario is quite as straightforward as it initially appears…

Okay, so The Housemaid isn’t destined to win any prizes for nuance, preferring instead to keep upping the ante at every opportunity, joyfully ramping up the anxiety, the sadism and the nasty injury detail. (Delicate viewers may feel compelled to look away at key moments.) The central trio offer colourful interpretations of their roles, with Seyfried in particular revelling with relish in Nina’s unfettered gear changes, and just about managing to stop herself from chewing the scenery.

If some of the story’s later developments test my credulity, well, at least I’m never bored and – as the film thunders into its final furlong – I find myself laughing out loud at its absurdities. Rhyl’s new Strand Cinema offers customers a choice of five crystal-sharp screens with clean, loud Dolby stereo and plenty of legroom. Those looking to blow away the post-prandial fug of too much Xmas excess, may find this to be just the ticket.

3.5 stars

Philip Caveney

Beyond Monet/Van Gogh

23/12/25

Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh

Beyond Monet: The Immersive Experience offers visitors the chance to see “Monet like they’ve never seen him before.” This isn’t quite true for us though: we’ve been to the Carrières des Lumières in Provençe about a dozen times, and – unsurprisingly – many of those exhibitions have focused on the famous impressionist’s work, particularly those pieces that depict the area. So, although we’re keen to see what this travelling showcase has to offer, we don’t really expect images projected onto the interior walls of the Royal Highland Centre – where we went to get our Covid jags – to wow us in the same way as they do in the disused quarry beneath Les Baux’s castle.

We’re pleasantly surprised. Despite the conference-venue vibes of the building, the immersive experience has been so cleverly curated that we soon forget where we are. What we lose in size and majesty, we gain in subtle animation and a clear visual narrative. Beyond Monet is showing ‘in rep’ with Beyond Van Gogh and, in all honesty, we’d have chosen to see Vincent if we could have made the dates work. That didn’t pan out, so we’ve settled for Claude – and we’re delighted with the result.

We already knew we loved Van Gogh, but we’ve tended to dismiss Monet as a bit too pretty, a bit too safe. But under Mathieu St-Arnaud’s creative direction, we see just how transgressive the artist really was, not only for the ‘unfinished’ look of his art, but also in his obsession with painting the same scene over and over, in order to capture it in different weathers, different lights. Seeing the various giant iterations of the Haystacks and the Houses of Parliament – sometimes side by side, sometimes layered over one another – really helps to illustrate his aim of capturing his immediate sensory reaction to a particular scene.

The Waterfall Room, which we enter first, gives us an eight-minute ‘starter’, where we stand, enraptured by the fleeting impressions (sorry!) of what is coming up, with glimpses of Monet’s paintings projected onto the walls and floor. In the Infinity Room next door, people are sitting on benches and cushions, settling in for the ‘main course’ – which runs on a thirty-five minute loop. Combined with Jean-Sébastien Côté’s hypnotic soundtrack, the hallucinatory imagery wraps itself around us, creating an intense auditory and visual experience that keeps us entranced for the whole running time.

Finally, we enter the Reflection Room, which has been mocked up on one side to look like the Giverny gardens, while the other features Van Gogh’s starry night skies looming over a field of giant sunflower sculptures. Like all the best desserts, it’s fun and light – and gives us an opportunity to take a selfie or two.

If it’s showing near you, I highly recommend you visit this extraordinary exhibition – and take the chance to see Claude Monet in an entirely new… ahem… light.

4.5 stars

Susan Singfield

Being Charlie

18/12/25

Amazon Prime

The recent murders of film director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were tragic to say the very least. Reiner followed his own director father, Carl, into the world of entertainment, initially as an actor and latterly as a director, responsible for some of the most-loved films of the 1980s. His debut offering, This is Spinal Tap, is still perhaps my all-time favourite comedy and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Even if the long awaited sequel, The End Continues, wasn’t a patch on the original – how could it ever hope to be? – it was nevertheless warm, affectionate and highly enjoyable.

The news that the Reiners were killed by their son, Nick, was a chilling addition to an already horrible situation. I was, like many of Rob Reiner’s fans, appalled and bewildered by what happened. In the ensuing news investigation, I learned something that I had previously been unaware of: in 2015, Rob and Nick collaborated on a film project called Being Charlie, a drama based around their shared experiences of Nick’s addiction. Somehow, I had completely missed it. It only took a brief search to establish that the film is right there on Amazon Prime and – completist that I am – I decided I needed to see it.

Charlie (Nick Robinson) has just turned eighteen and he celebrates by walking out of the youth rehab centre he’s been based in for a while. As an afterthought, he heaves a large stone through the stained glass window of the church where it’s based and then thumbs a lift from a passing motorist. During a brief stopover at the driver’s home, he steals some of the drugs the man’s terminally-ill mother takes for cancer. 

Charlie, as you will no doubt have gathered, is completely out of control. He hooks up with his best friend, Adam (Devon Bostik), and the pair of them head straight to Adam’s place to get seriously off their heads. Mission accomplished, they drive to Charlie’s swish family home in Los Angeles, where he is confronted by his parents, David (Cary Elwes) and Liseanne (Susan Misner), who have come to the ends of their respective tethers and are more than ready to stage an intervention. David is currently running for the post of state governor and cannot afford any more bad publicity. Charlie must make a choice: enrol at an adult rehab centre or go to prison in Utah for damaging that window.

Charlie reluctantly accepts the former option but, once installed in his new home, under the watchful eye of the straight-talking Travis (Common), he hooks up with the rebellious Eva (Morgan Saylor) and it quickly becomes apparent that, while the two of them are passionate about each other, their relationship is mutually destructive.

What’s immediately evident in Being Charlie is that Rob gives his son free rein to express himself. The witty script, co-written by Nick and Matt Elisofon, explore the lead character’s mind set, his volatility, his doomed attempts to exert any measure of self-control. If his antics are sometimes loathsome, it’s made clear that he cannot change them, that he is a helpless victim of his own crazed impulses. Robinson is a charming and likeable actor, and makes me root for Charlie even when he does heinous things.

David, the character who most closely represents Rob, at first comes across as a callous jerk, determined to follow the ‘tough love’ route, because that’s the advice he’s been given by every expert he’s consulted. It’s only later in the story that his genuine love for his son – and his determination to do his best by him – finally comes across. But it’s also apparent that he’s in an impossible situation and vulnerable to whatever wild notion Charlie comes up with next.

Of course, in light of what happened between Rob and Nick in real life, the film’s conclusion makes for even more heartbreaking viewing. As it stands, it serves to shed some light on a situation that would eventually have devastating consequences. If, like me, you missed it on first release, here’s your chance to catch up – but be warned, it’s not an easy watch.

4 stars

Philip Caveney 

Eternity

12/12/25

Cineworld, Edinburgh

The festive season is upon us so what better time to release a charming, romantic comedy about, er… death? That’s Eternity’s central premise, but hey, don’t let it put you off.

In the film’s opening scenes, we join elderly couple, Larry (Barry Primus) and Joan (Betty Buckley), as they drive to a gender reveal party, bickering all the way there. What they haven’t revealed to their family members is that Joan is in the final stages of cancer and only has a short time left to live. But, ironically, it’s Larry who receives notice of an urgent appointment with his own mortality, thanks to getting a pesky pretzel stuck in his throat.

He suddenly finds himself on board a train as it arrives at ‘The Junction,’ a stopping-off place on the journey to Eternity. Larry (now played by Miles Teller) has been transformed to his younger self, able to do squats without pain, but understandably confused as to his current situation. Luckily, he’s been assigned an ‘Afterlife Co-ordinator’ called Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and, when Larry explains that his wife will be joining him any time now, Anna arranges special dispensation for him to wait for her. 

In the meantime, Anna advises Larry to browse all the many brochures on offer in order to choose an Eternity that will be suitable for him and Joan. There are lots of different settings to choose from, ranging from different types of scenery to what can only be described as niche worlds. But Anna warns Larry that once a destination has been chosen, it cannot be changed – no matter what.

Soon enough, Joan arrives (looking uncannily like Elizabeth Olsen), and Larry is waiting eagerly to greet her. Unfortunately, so is Luke (Callum Turner), her first husband, who was killed in the Korean war. And he’s been waiting for more than sixty years to be reunited with her… which is awkward, to say the very least.

There’s lots to like about Eternity, not least its depiction of the afterlife, which has the general look and feel of a glossy holiday marketing exhibition, with representatives of the various destinations eager to sign up the recently deceased. I find myself laughing out loud at the absurdity of some of the concepts that prospective customers are offered. Germany in the 1930s but with 100% less Nazis? What’s not to like? And I love the ‘Archives’ where the dead can visit key scenes from their past, all of them presented as low-budget stage adaptations of the actual events.

The performances from the three leads are engaging and there’s some sparky interplay between Randolph’s Anna and Luke’s Afterlife Co-ordinator, Ryan (John Early). If I have slight reservations, it’s with the script, co-written by Patrick Cunnane and director David Freyne, which in its final stretches appears to bend some of the rules that it’s previously taken great pains to establish. But hey, it’s no deal- breaker. This is overall a thoughtful and engaging story with a pervading sense of melancholy.

If it occasionally invites comparisons with classics like Powell and Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death, well, that’s no bad thing either. Those seeking something a bit different this Christmas should find plenty here to keep them hooked. Just don’t take pretzels as your snack of choice.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney

She Rides Shotgun

29/11/25

Prime Video

Now and then (and more increasingly in these troubled times) a film deserving of a theatrical release finds itself unceremoniously shunted straight onto streaming. She Rides Shotgun is one such production. While it doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, this tautly-paced action thriller has all the ingredients required to keep a viewer hooked to the final frame, not least impressive performances from Taron Egerton and newcomer, Ana Sophia Heger.

10-year-old Polly Huff (Heger) is waiting patiently outside her school in Los Angeles (though the film is mostly shot in and around Alberquerque), fully expecting to be picked up by her mom. She’s understandably bewildered when her estranged father, Nate (Egerton), turns up at the wheel of a stolen vehicle and bundles her into the passenger seat. Polly knows that Nate has only recently been released from prison and is also aware that her mother has moved on with her life and now has a new partner. 

But once installed in a seedy motel room, Polly overhears a television news report informing her that both her mom and stepdad have been murdered, and that Nate is the main suspect for the crime. What’s more, the killings have been linked to a white supremacist movement called Aryan Steel.

Before Polly quite knows what’s happening, Nate is cutting and dying her hair and preparing to take her off on a desperate run for the Mexican border.

As I said, She Rides Shotgun doesn’t have the most original premise – indeed, with those New Mexico locations and that evocative title, it feels suspiciously like a contemporary Western – but director Nick Rowland ensures that the unfolding events are seen through Polly’s POV, and he somehow manages to imbue the resulting mix of gun fights, punch-ups and car chases with enough verve to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Events get more complicated when it transpires that nearly every police officer the duo encounter on their travels is linked to the aforementioned Aryan Steel. It’s hard to know who they can trust – though Detective John Park (Rob Yang) seems the likeliest contender for that role – and he says he has a plan that can secure their future…

Egerton (looking like he’s ingested a mountain of protein shakes since his last screen outing and sporting a ripped physique that’s seemingly carved from granite) manages to convey a father’s desperate need to protect his daughter. Heger’s performance is extraordinary, her evident vulnerability bringing me close to tears, especially at the film’s heartbreaking conclusion.

So, job done: this is well worth catching, even if those vast desert landscapes do deserve to be seen on a much bigger screen.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney

Inside No. 9: Stage/Fright

27/11/25

Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh

I’m rarely excited to see theatre inspired by television but I was keen to secure tickets for Inside No. 9 as soon as this tour was announced. Like so many others, I’ve been an avid fan of Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton ever since I first saw them (along with Mark Gatiss) in 1999’s The League of Gentlemen. And, more recently, No. 9 has been one of the few television series I’ve watched avidly, through all nine of its seasons, marvelling at the sheer ingenuity of these two men, who are masters of the tricky art of horror comedy.

It’s clear that they have many other faithful followers because the capacious Playhouse is a complete sell-out tonight. The audience is somewhat restless so the opening sketch, in which we are confronted by rows of theatre seats looking straight back at us, is an inspired choice, while the subject – the ways in which noisy audience members can incur the wrath of somebody trying to watch a play – is doubly so. And even if a large section of the first act is overly-familiar – based around the classic TV episode Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room – well, that’s only like your favourite rock band smashing out some of their established hits before introducing you to their new material.

In the second act, the duo, assisted by a sizeable cast, do exactly that. What initially appears to be a group of characters enacting a delicious slice of grand guignol theatre in a Victorian asylum is revealed to be… ah, but that would be telling. Like so much of their output, Shearsmith and Pemberton have woven elements of surprise into the piece and it would be a crime to reveal too much. Suffice to say that this extended sketch utilises cinematic elements, somehow blending the two distinct disciplines of theatre and film into one satisfying whole. While there’s much here that is deliciously, darkly funny, there are also moments of extreme tension and some genuinely effective jump-scares.

A word of warning: don’t be like those members of tonight’s audience who leap up from their seats the moment the house lights come up and race for the exits – because there’s more to come and you don’t want to miss the further revelations that unfold.

This is yet another assured collaboration from the gruesome twosome. Where will Shearsmith and Pemberton venture next? Your guess is as good as mine, but wherever it is, bring it on! I’m keen to see whatever they’ve got up their sleeves.

4.6 stars

Philip Caveney

Sisu: Road to Revenge

23/11/25

Cineworld, Edinburgh

I missed Sisu on its first release, but caught up with it on streaming some time later. It was easy to see why it was such a hit in its native Finland and why so many people had raved about it. This simple, action adventure in which a near-silent old man single-handedly despatched an entire battalion of Nazis in ever-more inventive ways was a thoroughly decent watch. And who doesn’t want to see Nazis get their comeuppance?

But of course, Sisu’s success meant that there would be the inevitable sequel. And what’s left to say?

Writer/director Jalmari Helander has fallen back on the age-old technique of telling the same story again but making it bigger, louder and even more unbelievable. He’s switched out those pesky Nazis for some caricatured Russians and thrown in a George Miller-esque vehicle chase and an aerial sequence for good measure. Plus some very big explosions.

It’s 1946, the war is done and dusted, and Helander’s silent hero, Aatami (Jorma Tormilla), has decided to nip across the newly-instigated border to take his old home apart plank by plank so he can transport it back to a new location, where he plans to rebuild it… as you do.

But when a top-rank KGB officer hears what’s happening, he releases imprisoned Red Army leader Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang) and instructs him to go in pursuit of Aatami and.. ahem… finnish him off. Draganov is, of course, the man who killed Aatami’s wife and two children, utilising the unusual method of cutting them to bits with a spade, something he’s so proud of he mentions it twice.

All this information is imparted in the film’s opening fifteen minutes and the rest of it (aside from a short coda) is devoted to the ensuing mayhem as Aatami slaughters what feels like the entire male population of Russia with a series of increasingly outlandish improvised weapons. This is a man capable of turning a paper handkerchief into something with the killing potential of an AK47. While I’m happy to suspend my disbelief to a certain level, I have to draw the line at watching him deflect an approaching fighter plane with a length of roof timber, or propelling a train along a track at super speed simply by igniting the rocket it’s carrying on a flatbed.

Yes, I know, it’s not meant to be realistic – but neither is it a superhero film and Aatami’s abilities somehow feel more suited to that genre.

More worrying to my mind are the later scenes where Aatami is captured and brutally tortured by the people who have simply been instructed to kill him. The damage inflicted upon his bare flesh borders on the prurient. And God forbid if at some point we had flashbacks to earlier days and his memories of that family he spends all his time trying to avenge. It’s almost amusing to learn that Tormilla is a respected theatrical actor in his homeland, when all he’s required to do here is bleed copiously, grunt when he’s obliged to walk barefoot on glass and occasionally decapitate one of his many opponents. But hey, that’s showbiz.

Looking desperately around for something to enthuse about, I will say that cinematographer Mila Orasmaa does a creditable job of capturing all the madness on film and that the music of Juri Seppä and Tuomas Wäinölä has a stirring Ennio Morricone quality that sometimes makes me feel I’m watching a Sergio Leone western. (Not that we’re anywhere near that exalted league.)

And then there’s the aforementioned coda, which – against all the odds – is poignant and strangely moving. Though in the case of Sisu: Road to Revenge, it does feel suspiciously like too little, too late.

3 stars

Philip Caveney