Tag: Josh O’Connor

DISCLOSURE DAY – Review

Steven Spielberg’s highly-anticipated DISCLOSURE DAY returns to the director’s long-standing fascination with outer space visitors to our planet. However, this is not a sequel to his CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE THIRD. Instead, DISCLOSURE DAY is a high-energy summer blockbuster action/thriller, that is more Roswell, UFOs (now called UAPs for “unidentified anomalous phenomena”), with a bit of alien autopsy, and related cover-up conspiracy theories, than “close encounters.” The aliens and spaceships are seen mostly seen in snippets of “old footage” that are part of the proof to be released. This action/thriller is about an effort to release this secret information that has been hidden for decades to the whole world, and those who are trying to stop that from happening.

DISCLOSURE DAY is thrilling as an exciting, entertaining action summer spectacular, with a breathless chase as the people determined to release that footage and proof to the world are pursed relentlessly by those who want it kept secret. Curiously, in this film, that is not the government but a secret private organization called WARDEX, which is connected the military, that has kept this secret information hidden for decades, while profiting from it.

As summer blockbuster entertainment, DISCLOSURE DAY has the goods. This grand chase is thrilling – outstanding really, pure big summer blockbuster stuff – although once they get to the end, some might find the ending less satisfying than one might hope after all the build-up. In some ways, DISCLOSURE DAY hearkens back to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK more than “Close Encounters.”

Spielberg assembled his A team for this blockbuster, with music by the renowned John Williams and cinematography by two-time Academy Award winner Janusz Kaminski, who was director of photography for SCHINDLER’S LIST and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Production design is by Academy Award winner Adam Stockhausen (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Bridge of Spies). Director Spielberg wrote the story, which was adapted into a screenplay by his long-time collaborator David Koepp.

According to interviews, Spielberg acknowledges being a believer in outer-space alien visitors. He was inspired to make a movie revisiting that topic, and concerns about government secrecy, by a story in the New York Times in 2017, about the Defense Department funding a secret military intelligence program to investigate UAPs/UFOs, and article that ended with a quote from the former head of that program saying that such information never should have been kept from the public.

Surprisingly, in DISCLOSURE DAY, it is a private company, not the government, that is keeping the secrets. The thriller also touches on a number of science fiction ideas and conspiracy theories around UAPs/UFOs, all used to drive the action.

The film plunges into that action immediately, with an opening scene where Josh O’Connor’s character Daniel Kellner is attempting to ransom his kidnapped girlfriend Jane Blankenship (Eve Hewson). The kidnappers are from WARDEX and they want the information that their former employee, cybersecurity expert Kellner, took from them, along with a powerful alien object called the “device.” But Jane and Daniel escape with the information, and the pursuit begins.

WARDEX is led by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth, playing against type), who is convinced that release of that information will have a devastating impact on the world, which is poised on the brink of WWIII. WARDEX is also profiting from this secret information, reverse-engineering outer-space technology, or at least trying to, in the case of the “device.” On the other hand, Kellner is aided by a group of ex-WARDEX people led by Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), who are convinced that people have to right to know that alien visitors are real and are set on making sure the secret information is released.

Actually, there are two main characters in this action/thriller. One is Josh O’Connor’s Kellner and the other is a TV weather forecaster in Kansas City, Margaret Fairchild, played by Emily Blunt. Margaret is ambitious to move up into news reporting and thinking about moving to another city – again – to advance her career, much to the dismay of her partner Jackson (Wyatt Russell), a musician who has finally found success in KC. As they talk in their apartment that morning, something happens that releases surprising hidden powers in Margaret – powers like being able to read people’s thoughts or unconsciously speaking other languages, including the off-world one she suddenly starts speaking when on-air later that morning.

Cybersecurity whistle-blower Kellner and TV meteorologist Fairchild have never met but both experienced a childhood trauma that neither can clearly remember, a connection that plays a role as the story unfolds. The film alternates between Kellner and Fairchild for quite awhile although the threads eventually join. While Kellner focuses on eluding WARDEX and keeping his girlfriend safe, Fairchild focuses on figuring out her new abilities and exploring their meaning, as she follows intuitive impulses that seem to direct her.

This high-energy relentless chase creates a splendid summer entertainment thriller, as the shadowy WARDEX company tries to prevent the release of their trove of secret information about aliens and spaceship by the elusive Kellner and his hidden allies led by Colman Domingo’s Hugh Wakefield. There is one breathtaking action sequence after another, with only brief pauses between, where the characters discuss the public’s right to know and what impact that knowledge might have on people.

One particularly spectacular sequence involves a train, a piece of cinematic entertainment that is pure brilliance and so full of nerve-shattering excitement, that it seals the film’s place as a top-notch summer blockbuster, the kind of sequence that Spielberg does better than anyone else.

The structure is like a classic thriller, with strong echoes of Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST.

Like in Hitchcock’s films, not all the reasons for the chase stand up to close scrutiny because they are there mostly to motive the plot.

Spielberg also adds scenes between chase sequences that hint at wanting to insert some larger meaning into this action summer blockbuster but that has limited success there. Particularly, the film raises questions around religion, about whether the existence of life on other planets or of beings with god-like powers might be destabilizing to the world. A bigger question, why are the space visitors here, is dismissed by Colman Domingo’s ex-WARDEX Hugo, who asserts that the aliens are too evolved to be a threat to humankind.

The cast is excellent. Josh O’Connor is very strong in this heroic action role but it is Emily Blunt who really shines, in her performance as a women suddenly given unique powers. Colman Domingo is comforting and fatherly as the man directing the group of people who believe the secret information needs to be made public, while Colin Firth is chilling as the one willing to do anything to prevent its release. Firth does a great job as this character, who becomes increasingly unhinged and willing to take risks as the story unfolds.

As big action entertainment, DISCLOSURE DAY succeeds, although some viewers, like this writer, may find the film’s ending a bit of a letdown after all that build-up. However, as a film with something to say, it is less successful than it is as pure entertainment. Whether Spielberg really has something to say, or is just trying to add some depth to his epic entertainment, is not clear but Spielberg does spend some time raising questions about the impact that knowing visitors from outer-space have been here would have on people, particularly on people’s religion. That question is explored largely through Kellner’s Catholic girlfriend and a nun played by Elizabeth Marvel.

Opinions have been divided on this film. If you are looking for summer blockbuster entertainment, I would say Spielberg’s polished DISCLOSURE DAY is just the ticket. If you are looking for something more groundbreaking, or a film that revisits some of the deeper themes of Close Encounters, or one reveals something big at the end, this isn’t it.

DISCLOSURE DAY opens in theaters on Friday, June 12, 2026.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

WAKE UP DEAD MAN – Review

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. (L-R) Josh O’Connor and Josh Brolin in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2025

Enormously entertaining, WAKE UP DEAD MAN offers more than a good murder mystery, delving into the soulful with an ex-boxer priest, playing excellently by Josh O’Connor, seeking his own forgiveness and an unforgiving monsignor, played menacingly by Josh Brolin, with his own little kingdom in a Gothic church isolated in a rural upstate New York that feels straight out of “The Headless Horseman.” Rian Johnson’s third installment in his Knives Out mystery series may be his best yet, featuring his droll Southern detective Beniot Blanc, the two Joshes and a star-studded cast of supporting players including Glen Close, Andrew Scott, and more.

A murder in a church sounds wrong but in Rian Johnson’s capable hands it turns into the perfect place in a story that pits faith and love against power and evil. The Gothic setting lends itself well to the tale of long-buried secrets and hidden motives in this isolated, claustrophobic small community. But director/writer Johnson makes you wait a bit for the crime and the detective, focusing first on Josh O’Connor’s priest as he grapples with his spiritual journey, trying to put love at the forefront, and overcoming the rage that led to him killing a man in the boxing ring.

To help him in wrestling those inner spiritual demons, and to help the church to unravel the curious goings-on at a remote little parish, his bishop (an unexpectedly darkly funny Jeffrey Wright) gives the young priest his first assignment. Not to replace the mysterious long-time priest, a monsignor, at that ancient church but as to be the assistant priest, and perhaps figure out what is happening there.

Josh O’Connor’s priest starts out with a firm belief in the power of love but a more knowing eye for human failings, his own and others. He arrives at the ancient church, which looks more like it was transported whole, complete with churchyard graves, from old England than something in New England. Josh Brolin’s parish priest gives the newcomer a chilly greeting, insisting on being called monsignor, and immediately asking him to hear his confession, a scalding one that leaves the young priest staggering. The battle of the Joshes is on.

Rian Johnson spins out this tale brilliantly, crafting the characters and the mystery to draw you in, and adding plenty of humor and twists along the way. Daniel Craig’s detective arrives a bit late but from that point on, the film takes the brakes off for a wild, massively entertaining ride, while still keeping it’s good versus evil. Figuring out who is good and who is evil is part of the fun.

Reportedly, this is the last of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out mysteries, which is disappointing news if true. This mystery is the best of the series, demonstrating the elastic nature of the genre and showcasing Johnson’s considerable talent.

Of course, that is aided mightily by the wonderful cast, especially first-rate performances from Josh O’Connor, who is really having a year, and Daniel Craig, as the clever, quipping detective. Some of best moments are between these two, as the believer debates the non-believer, in dialog that is both though-provoking and entertaining. Who wants to see that kind of film-making come to an end?

WAKE UP DEAD MAN opens Wednesday, Nov. 26, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

LEE – Review

Andy Samberg as David E Scherman and Kate Winslet as Lee Miller, in LEE. Photo by Kimberley French. Courtesy of Roadside Attractions and Vertical.

The name Lee Miller may not be familiar but you have most likely seen her photos, some of the first and most iconic of Nazi concentration camps, taken immediately after the defeat of Nazi Germany. The photos show concentration camp survivors and the dead, which proved that the wartime rumors of the Holocaust were true. Lee Miller’s shocking, heartbreaking photos were published in an article titled “Believe It” in American Vogue, dispelling doubts about what had happened in Germany.

That a fashion magazine like Vogue would be the one that published them seems highly unlikely, yet so was the career and life of Lee Miller. Directed by acclaimed cinematographer Ellen Kura, making her feature film directorial debut, the stirring, inspirational drama LEE takes audiences from Lee Miller’s days as a New York fashion model-turned fashion photographer in Paris, who is living a life of pleasure among such important artistic figures as Picasso (Enrique Arce) and surrealist art photographer Man Ray (Samuel Barnett), who mentored her, to her years as a war correspondent and photographer in France and then post-war in Germany.

Kate Winslet gives a breathtaking performance, both as the older Lee Miller and the younger one in pre-war Paris, wartime London and France, and post-war Germany. The older Lee, chain-smoking and downing scotch, recounts her amazing career to a young interviewer (Josh O’Connor), in a framing device that brackets the historical tale.

LEE also features a host of stars, including Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgard, Andrea Riseborough, and Marion Cotillard, and a lot of famous names, in this true story.

Lee Miller started out as a fashion model in New York, achieving success in that field but Miller longed switch careers to photography, a life-long passion. Saying she was done with modeling, Lee moved to Paris, and the drama picks up Lee’s story there, where she is living a high-octane bohemian life, as part of a social circle that includes Pablo Picasso and surrealist photographer Man Ray, who was her mentor and lover. Lee is growing dissatisfied with that life when she meets British artist Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgard).

Persuaded to join Penrose in London, Miller escapes shortly before the Nazis invade France, trapping her old friends. In London, Miller gets the chance to break into photography, as a fashion photographer working for editor Audrey Withers (Andrea Riseborough) who also employs Cecil Beaton, the royal family’s favorite photographer, who snubs the model-turned-photog. As WWII sweeps across Europe, Lee Miller fights to be able to cover the war, finally returning to France and teaming up with Jewish American photographer David Scherman (Andy Samberg), who was working for Life magazine.

As the war ends, Miller and Scherman race to Germany to capture photographic evidence of Hitler’s evil. The bold, bohemian Lee Miller also finds Hitler’s now vacant apartment, where she and Scherman collaborate on a famous photo of a nude Miller in Hitler’s bath tub with her muddy boots from her visit to Dachau next to the tub, a shot taken just as Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker.

Before Lee and Scherman leave post-war Paris for newly-fallen Germany, Lee finds one her French friends from her carefree pre-London days, Solange D’Ayen (played movingly by Marion Cotillard, in a heartbreaking performance), who hiding in a deserted Nazi command center. Solange has been shattered by the war, and her imprisonment by the Nazis, and now, post war, she waits for her missing husband to return. Lee also encounters other old friends, Paul Eluard (Vincent Colombre), a poet and French Jew, and his wife Nusch Eluard (Noemie Merlant).

Winslet transforms herself from the elegant, hedonistic model-turned-photographer into a fearless, hard-drinking, tough war correspondent Lee became during the war and post-war. It is a showcase performance but both Winslet and Samberg are wonderful in their scenes together, showing real chemistry between the actors. Samberg’s Scherman is steady and reliable but finally briefly breakdowns emotionally after Dachau, crying out about “his people” and Hitler’s evil, in a moving scene. Both Samberg’s Davy Scherman and Winslet’s Lee Miller are passionate about their work, willing to face danger in the field to tell this important story and record it for history. On the other hand, Alexander Skarsgard’s aristocratic Brit Roland Penrose remains a pacifist, who opposes Hitler but does not comprehend Lee’s fearless willingness to place herself in harm’s way.

First-time director Ellen Kura crafts inspiring, powerful film filled with dramatic photography as LEE tells the too-little known story of this fearless, feminist, one-of-a-kind woman who broke barriers for women war correspondents, as she and fellow American war photojournalist Davy Scherman (Andy Samberg) covered the war and then pushed on to post-war Germany. If the film has a flaw, it is in the somewhat awkward framing device, although at the drama’s end you learn why it was used. However, it is a small flaw in an otherwise outstanding film, featuring an outstanding performance from Winslet, playing a historical figure whose name should be better known. Lee Miller left a photographic record of the horrors of Hitler’s hate, and her famous, emotionally-powerful photos still appear in countless books and articles about the Holocaust.

LEE opens Friday, Sept. 27, at multiple area theaters.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars



CHALLENGERS – Review

This weekend brings a unique hybrid, a mixing of genres that has happened in the past but is somewhat rare. Perhaps it’s because one of the genres is the sports movie, more specifically tennis. Yes, there have been a couple of prominent films within the last couple of years, though they were “inspired by true stories”, mainly the Oscar-winning KING RICHARD and the humorous, but “for reals”, BATTLE OF THE SEXES. This new flick is pure fiction, though gleaned from recent players, and it’s also (the other genre) a dramatic love story. Oh, and this is the big selling point for the studio, it’s a true “love triangle”, as two male tennis “hotshots” share a passion for the game and the same woman. So, in the sport and the romance, these two are truly motivated CHALLENGERS.

In the film’s opening moments, we get a few short “flashes” of the big “showdown” of the “racketeers”. Then suddenly the story shifts back to a few days prior at the somewhat “minor” tennis tournament sponsored by a chain of retail automobile tire stores, not in Forest Hills, but in New Rochelle New York (being a classic TV fan I wondered if the venue was near Rob and Laura Petrie’s old house). That’s the destination for fading tennis ace Art Donaldson (Mike Faist). Yes, he’s had a rough last few months as he just can’t get “in the groove”. His wife/trainer/agent Tashi (Zendaya) knows this and believes her hubby can begin the climb back to the top with this smaller tourney (less pressure and press). Also arriving for the event is tennis “outsider” Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) who tries to charm his way into a nearby motel because his cards are maxed out. He also believes this gig could be his ticket back into the “big time” if he can “hype up” a match with his former partner/pal now rival Art. And soon we’re flashing much further back to when those two were doubles partners at a big tennis bout for college-aged athletes. Art and Patrick have their fans, but all eyes there are on the court “phenom” Tashi. The fellas also are “caught in her wake”. And somehow she drops in at their messy hotel room for a few beers and some “sexy time”. Eventually, Tashi and Patrick become a “power couple” until a devastating injury sidelines her. Art then swoops in for some TLC which leads to marriage and a sweet baby girl (now an adorable toddler). But with Patrick back in their lives will Tashi return to her former “bad boy”? When Patrick and Art finally face off in the big match much more than the trophy and prize money are at stake…

As the driving force in the story (and the film itself, as a producer) Zendaya gives Tashi a commanding “take charge” persona, knowing the exact words needed to say to the two pros to achieve her goals. Unfortunately, this costs much of Tashi’s humanity after seeing her as the vibrant almost ethereal muse in the earliest flashback. But Zendaya conveys Tashi’s heartbreak as she must turn her back on playing in the sport she dearly adores, which perhaps fuels those ambitions for Art. Faist, terrific in WEST SIDE STORY and the little-seen PINBALL: THE MAN WHO SAVED THE GAME, is the more passive of the trio, though he gives us a hint of his own aggression nature in the montage of his career downturn. Faist also shows us Art’s slow dissolution in his downcast eyes as he hands his future tennis glory over to his wife. This is also in contrast to that early scene in which he has a pure love for the court and its fabulous princess, or is she the queen? Well, the slithering “snake” in their Eden might be O’Connor has the desperately opportunistic Patrick. The “gravy train” has almost passed him by, and we see that he’s running to hop about the back of its caboose. While Art is headed toward “the rocks”, Patrick is trying to avoid crashing again. This is best shown by O’Connor as he tries to use his considerable charm and charisma to grab a motel room and to schmooze info, and a prized spot, from the event staff. He’s also compelling in his early days as he shows us that his affection for Art nearly matches his desire for Tashi (and he wonders what might have been with her). This is quite a talented trio in this film.

They’re guided by director Luca Guadagnino (BONES AND ALL), who indeed gets their best work. It’s just a shame that his storytelling choices thwart the performances, making their motivations as confusing as the timelines, which is needlessly convoluted (the tennis match appears to be quite a marathon. The tennis is shot fairly well, although the CGI tennis balls rocketing towards the camera grows stale (I image it in 3D), and his “homage’ to Hitchcock’s STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (Tashi stares straight ahead while everyone’s following the ball). But that’s not as intolerable and just plain annoying as the decision to disrupt scenes with a thumbing techno-pop score so loud that the dialogue is nearly incomprehensible. Really, you don’t want us to hear your actors? After this audio assault, we’re visually “drenched” by the long lingering shots of the players dripping sweat directly into the camera lens. The film’s marketers are highlighting the big hotel room tryst with the trio, but it occurs briefly in the first third of the film. Granted, there’s a raw “naughty” energy to it, that’s never matched by the remaining ninety or so minutes. There could be a compelling movie about these characters whose lives and careers are so interconnected, but Guadgnino just sabotages all the pacing and drama to go into “artsy-distraction” (I so wanted to use the rhyming “f” word there). In trying to delve into the world of this trio and of the grittier side of the sport, moviegoers will be truly challenged by the messy mechanics of CHALLENGERS.

2 out of 4

CHALLENGERS is now playing in theatres everywhere

Win Passes To The St. Louis Advance Screening Of CHALLENGERS

From visionary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, CHALLENGERS stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Married to a champion on a losing streak (Mike Faist – West Side Story), Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (Josh O’Connor – The Crown) – his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win.

Opens in Theatres Nationwide on April 26th. Rated R.

The St. Louis advance screening is 7PM on Wed, April 24, at the Alamo Drafthouse

PASS LINK: https://mgmscreenings.com/bsfVA62475

Please arrive early as seating is not guaranteed.

Zendaya as Tashi in CHALLENGERS, directed by Luca Guadagnino, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film. Credit: Niko Tavernise / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures © 2023 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.

LA CHIMERA – Review

Josh O’Connor in LA CHIMERA. Photo credit: Simona Pampaollona. Courtesy of Neon

In Alice Rohrwacher’s Felliniesque tragicomic adventure tale LA CHIMERA, an English archaeologist-turned-tomb raider named Arthur (Josh O’Connor) leads a merry band of grave robbers who plunder ancient Etruscan tombs, eking out a meager living selling the stolen artifacts to collectors. Arthur is a haunted man, mourning his lost love, and caught up in recurring memories of their last moments together.

The tomb-raiding gives LA CHIMERA a bit of an Indiana Jones vibe, but while Arthur appears to be a trained archaeologist, he is not working for university nor is he a professor. Instead, he is what archaeologists call a “pot-hunter” plundering archaeological sites for grave goods he can sell for profit. And this grave-robbing is by no means lucrative, as he lives in a shack he built from cast off items, in the shadow of an aqueduct, and carousing with his hard-drinking band of petty thief pals, existing on the edge of Italian society. How he got there or why he stays isn’t clear but it seems to be wrapped up in his pining for the lost Beniamina and a love of Etruscan artifacts that he can’t otherwise satisfy.

Rohrwacher is happy to leave this a mystery, which draws us into this magical, dreamy story. LA CHIMERA has the feel of magical realism to it, and dream and fantasy often blend with reality so that it is sometime hard to tell what is real. The film is the third in a loosely-defined trilogy, with  “The Wonders” and “Happy as Lazzaro.” When this story takes place is also vague, perhaps some time after WWII, but certainly not the present.

Arthur uses a dowsing rod in finding the hidden tombs but really seems guided by an otherworldly sense that connects him to the graves and causes him to often collapse when he gets close. Arthur is a man of two worlds, a kind of chimera, searching for something he can never find. Images and memories of his lost love Beniamina (Yile Vianello) fill his dreams. In his sorrow, he visits her mother Flora (Isabella Rossellini), a former opera star living in a crumbling mansion. The imperious but nearly-wheelchair bound Flora who ekes out her living teaching singing to student she treats like servants. Flora is hoping for the return of her favorite daughter and Arthur tells Flora he is still searching for her Beniamina, even though it appears he knows she’s dead.

The tomb-raiders face a number of obstacles beyond just finding the ancient tombs. They have to avoid arrest by the authorities for their grave-robbing, but also evade fellow grave robbers. The main fence for their plundered treasures is a shady mobster who represents a threat in itself, and there is a villain who adds to the adventure tale excitement.

Director/writer Alice Rohrwacher weaves a magical, almost fable-like tale, in this magical film, as she takes us on a series of adventures. The film is filled with wonderful performances, particularly the lead Josh O’Connor, breaking out from his role in “The Crown” series as the young Prince Charles to movie leading man, and Isabella Rossellini brilliant and funny as a sharp-tongued former opera diva. While Rohrwacher takes us on adventures, her film returns to the sad, lost Arthur, in scenes sometimes moving us from this world to that of the dead, until finally delivering us to just the right ending.

LA CHIMERA opens Friday, Apr. 12, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

MOTHERING SUNDAY – Review

Odessa Young as Jane Fairchild, Josh O’Connor as Paul Sheringham in MOTHERING SUNDAY. Image by Jamie D. Ramsay (SASC). Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

What looks at first like period drama, a steamy “Downton Abbey,” set in England in the wake of World War I, morphs into something deeper and more far-reaching, as MOTHERING SUNDAY follows the changing life of a young maid, tracing the awful legacy of that devastating war and the transformations it wrought, and also depicting a literary awakening and three stages in an artist’s life.

MOTHERING SUNDAY starts out in1924 at a British country manor house on Mother’s Day, known there as Mothering Sunday, when aristocrats traditionally gave their servants the day off to visit their mothers. Young Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) was raised in an orphanage so she has no mother to visit. However, she has other, secret plans, to visit her lover, Paul (Josh O’Connor, the young Prince Charles on “The Crown”), the son of aristocrat friends of her employers, kindly Mr. Niven (Colin Firth) and stern, unsmiling Mrs. Niven (Olivia Colman), who are joining Paul’s parents to picnic on the banks of the Thames along with another aristocratic couple whose daughter, Emma Hobday (Emma D’Arcy), is engaged to Paul.

But Paul is going to show up late, claiming he’s studying, although he’s really meeting Jane , his longtime lover, at his home, for a rare chance for them to enjoy a comfortable real bed. We get scenes of the maid and young aristocrat cavorting joyfully, with full frontal nudity by both Odessa Young and Josh O’Connor.

After her lover Paul departs, young Jane wanders, sans clothing, around the deserted mansion, as the film flashes back and forth in time. Also inter-cut are scenes with the aristocratic families picnicking on the banks of the Thames, the party that Paul is going to join.

The nudity is one of the things that lingers in the mind with this drama, along with its unusual non-linear structure. Despite the film’s unusual structure, we are never lost or unclear about where or when we are, a tribute to director Eva Husson’s skill. The film also impresses with its rich visual beauty and the gem-like performances explore the lasting impact of the particularly devastating WWI.

The flashbacks show Jane earlier in her long romance with Paul, as well as going about her work at the Nivens’ mansion or in conversation with another maid, who lost her fiance to the war. It jumps forward in time to scenes of her working in a bookstore and with a philosopher played by Sope Dirisu, who became her husband, and then Jane late in life as a famous writer, played by the legendary Glenda Jackson. It is a life of loss and triumph, from humble beginnings.

The class divide dooms Jane and Paul’s romance while Paul’s engagement is a more “suitable” marriage for both young people. But it is a prospect less wanted by either of the engaged young people than their parents, the reasons for which are eventually revealed.

This story does not remain the steamy period romance it appears to be at first, although we sense a sadness underneath from the start. We first meet Jane as a young maid, who was born the out-of-wedlock daughter of a maid, raised in an orphanage, and working as a servant in an aristocratic house and having an affair with a young aristocrat. It is not a life with great promise but in shifting times, Jane’s life takes her far from the manor house, through a number of changes as she becomes the famous writer she will be.

Director Eva Husson’s film, using a script by Alice Birch, departs from the original story by Graham Swift but in doing so, the film expands its scope include the bigger shifts in British society at the time, as well as the remarkable life of this woman.

The film is flooded with a deep visual beauty, particularly in the earliest part, thanks to Jamie Ramsay’s fine photography. The tragedy of the war, and other losses that follow, shape Jane’s life indirectly but while there is plenty of personal heartbreak and loss in this tale along with its triumphs.

The film sports an impressive cast of British greats, although many of them get only brief screen time. Still, they each deliver gem-like performances. Olivia Colman plays Clarrie Niven, the dour wife of Colin Firth’s sweet Mr. Niven, who we may dislike until the reason for her grimness, and other unspoken tensions, are revealed at the picnic in a heartbreaking scene. Firth, O’Connor, and Emma D’Arcy, as Paul’s fiancee, also give searing, heart-rending performances, but a standout is Sope Dirisu, as the man who opens to door to Jane’s literary awakening and adds another tragic note. These fine performances, however brief, powerfully help depict the devastating legacy of the war and the other experiences, good and painful, that shape the protagonist’s life and career as a writer.

It is better not to describe too much of the story, which risks spoilers, but the changes in this young woman’s life reflect the changes in British society after WWI, particularly shifts in the class system and the expanding opportunities for women. That war nearly wiped out a generation of young men, leaving parents bereft but also a generation of young women with no young men to marry, women who then had to consider how to make their own way in life, and maybe seek more. None of this is expressed directly, but indirectly it is reflected in the life of the woman we meet as a young maid who becomes a famous author, a transformation nearly inconceivable in an earlier era.

This fine drama has many rewards, and not just its evocative visual beauty, with director Eva Husson’s skillful storytelling and fine performances by a cast of British greats. MOTHERING SUNDAY opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 8.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

GOD’S OWN COUNTRY – Review

 

 

GOD’S OWN COUNTRY is award-winning British independent film, a romantic drama set in a windswept rural landscape of northern England, where a young gay man struggles with working the family farm and angrily drifts through life, until an immigrant arrives as a temporary hired hand and changes the young farmer’s view on life. In this contemporary film set in the sheep farming area of rural northern England, GOD’S OWN COUNTRY is a tale of self-discovery and unexpected love.

The film, the first from writer/director Francis Lee, debuted at Sundance in 2017 and was well received at other film festivals, winning awards for the film, its script and lead actor Josh O’Connor. It is being released in theaters in Britain on Jan. 29 but it is available in the U.S. on Blu-ray, DVD and digitally starting the same day from Lionsgate and Picturehouse Entertainment.

Johnny Saxby (Josh O’Connor from THE DURRELLS) resents his life of constant routine, tending to the family farm on his own since his father Martin became disabled while his grandmother Deidre cares for him. At night, Johnny gets drunk at the local pub and engages in casual sex. It is hard to tell if Johnny is a teen or young adult in his hoodie, driving a 4-wheeler to care for the cows, and getting drunk in town every night. Johnny gets the work done, but his grandmother scolds him in the morning about the drinking and his partly disabled dad criticizes him about how he does the chores. There is a sense of anger and resentment among all the family members who nonetheless know they need each other to run the farm.

When dad tells Johnny he has hired an immigrant as a temporary worker during lambing season. it is one more thing for Johnny to resent. When he picks up the hired hand, Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), at the bus station, Johnny is surly and he quizzes him about where he’s from. When the polite newcomer says Romania, Johnny promptly calls him a Gypsy, not a promising start. Later, when the two men are sent off a remote part of the farm to work with the lambs being born, things change.

The immigrant changes the life of young Johnny but not because he discovers he is gay – he already knows that, as well as some friends in the village, and no one seems to pay much attention to that. The casual sex he has is with other young men, but he makes no emotional connection with them. He really connects emotionally with no one. When he runs into an old school friend outside the pub where he gets drunk nightly, a woman who has left for college but is back on break, he resists her friendly invitation to join her and friends, a conversation indicates she knows he’s gay. When he refused, she says he used to be fun but Johnny snarls that was before he had to deal with the real world.

No, it is not his sexuality that Johnny discovers but love and a grown-up perspective. What the newcomer changes for Johnny is his view of his life, breaking him out of prolonged adolescence and letting him grow up and take charge of his life as adult, one who can meet responsibilities as well as have control of his life’s direction. It is the kind of life-changing experience that finding love can be for anyone, gay or straight.

 

GOD’S OWN COUNTRY is two films, in a way. On one hand, this film is a beautiful romance, full of sweeping vistas and two attractive people falling in love, like any love story, just that this couple happen to be gay. On the other hand, it is a voyage of self-discovery, a kind of coming-of-age story, in which a young man helping his aging family begins to see what he is doing from an adult’s rather than child’s viewpoint, seeing his situation with new eyes. The way that story is resolved is refreshing, because it has Johnny taking on a new role rather than just leaving and running away to a new life, as many films do. Instead, the immigrant helps him see what he already has and changes the whole picture for everyone.

Beautiful photography of a brooding, windswept landscape, which is showcased in several scenes. The gorgeous scenery is one reason to see this film. An attractive cast is another reason, and there are a few gay sex scenes and frontal male nudity.

The acting is strong. Josh O’Connor is the main focus but all four primary cast members creating rounded and ultimately sympathetic characters. We learn less about Gheorghe than Johnny but we do sense a gentleness and a sadness in him. He also grew up on a farm, and enjoys the work but something changed that forced him to leave. Gheorghe treats the animals with an affection and concern Johnny does not always show towards them, at least at first. Asked if he will go back home, Gheorghe says no, and adds “My country’s dead. You can’t throw a rock in most towns without hitting an old lady crying for her children who have gone.” It is a poignant moment.

One difficulty some American audiences might have is understanding the thick northern English accents, but generally the meaning of scenes comes through, even if you do not catch every word. The DVD and Blu-ray include some extras, deleted scenes or extended scenes from the film as well as the trailer.

GOD’S OWN COUNTRY is a film that exceeds the expectations of just a gay romance in a windswept, ruggedly romantic location, by offering fine performances and a touching tale of self-discovery.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars