Folding a ‘weepie’ into the cosy comfort of the British romcom genre, We Live in Time is the latest feature from John Crowley, an Irish director perhaps best known for his work on 2015 period piece Brookyln. His non-linear plot follows the relationship between thriving chef Almut (Florence Pugh) and downtrodden divorcée Tobias (Andrew Garfield) over the course of a decade, cutting between humour and heartache as their lives in modern-day London are rocked by a cancer diagnosis.
While many of us baked countless loaves of banana bread, learned new musical instruments, or binged our favourite boxsets, some used the COVID lockdowns as an opportunity to explore more off-piste creative endeavours. For British actors Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen, a period of unemployment led them to a very unusual undertaking in 2021 where they attempted to stage a production of Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet within the unhinged virtual world of the Grand Theft Auto Online videogame. Co-written and directed by Crane and his filmmaker wife Pinny Grylls, who joined them on their mission, the documentary Grand Theft Hamlet illustrates their efforts.
Following on from the awards success and critical acclaim of 2019’s psychological thriller Joker, director Todd Phillips is back with a second chapter on DC Comic’s iconic villain. Joker: Folie à Deux picks up the story two years on, with Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) incarcerated in Arkham Asylum and awaiting trial after his killing spree. At a therapy session, he meets troubled inmate Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga) and the pair form a bond which is explored through fantastical jukebox musical interludes.
Many of our favourite fairy tales date back to pre-17th-century Europe and the stories have been continually revised, reimagined and reinterpreted over hundreds of years. The debut feature of writer and director Kelsey Taylor is a contemporary take on Little Red Riding Hood. Set in the Oregon’s beautiful, wooded wilderness, the drama follows teenager Dani (Maddison Brown) who is discovered sleeping rough in the forest by a bearded man played by Ivan Martin, credited only as The Woodsman. He takes her in, providing food and shelter, and we soon come to learn of the fraught situation she is running away from.
With a background that includes fiction pieces, documentaries, commercials, and music videos, cinematographer Ellen Kuras turns her experienced hand to directing with historical drama Lee, marking her feature debut. Based on the 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose, the plot follows American journalist Lee Miller (Kate Winslet) through various stages of her fascinating life, from her time as a Vogue fashion model to enlisting as a war correspondent during World War II. Through her marriage to British artist Roland (Alexander Skarsgård) and her working relationships with editor Audrey (Andrea Riseborough) and fellow photographer David Scherman (Andy Samberg), the film provides an insight to the woman behind the iconic images she took.
In recent years we’ve seen a surge in cinema that has tapped into emotional aspects of Asian-American culture and identity, with the likes of Lulu Wang’s poignant comedy The Farewell, Lee Isaac Chung’s family tale Minari, and Celine Song’s complex romance Past Lives. An arthouse entry into this niche space is Blue Sun Palace, a social-realist drama from writer and director Constance Tsang. Taking place within the Chinese community of Queen’s, New York, the story follows Didi (Haipeng Xu), Amy (Ke-Xi Wu), and Cheung (Kang-sheng Lee) as they navigate life, love, and loss.
Coming soon to Sky Cinema, Matt Haig’s young adult fantasy novel The Radleys has been adapted for the big screen by filmmaker Euros Lyn. The plot follows teen siblings Rowan (Harry Baxendale) and Clara (Bo Bragason), and their loving parents Helen (Kelly Macdonald) and Peter (Damian Lewis) who live comfortably in seaside suburbia. However, a violent attack after a party leads to a shocking revelation that threatens their tight family unit – they are all vampires.
Ahead of its world premiere at the 77th edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, I was fortunate enough to sit down with Lyn, Macdonald, and Lewis to discuss the piece. “It was great to have Whitby Abbey as a backdrop, giving a nod to Bram Stoker’s Dracula” exclaimed Euros Lyn, who is best known for his work on popular TV series such as Broadchurch, Happy Valley, and Black Mirror. The drama unfolds on the east coast of England in a middle class neighbourhood, with a neat commentary at play aligning ‘settling down’ to Helen and Peter’s decision to abstain from their natural vampiric urges.
Cinema Perspective 