OUTinPerth’s film reviewer Lezly Herbert takes a look at four films hitting the cinema screens this month.
Spotlight (MA)
Directed by Thomas McCarthy
Spotlight is a team of four Boston Globe reporters conducting in-depth research. In 2001 they investigated the sexual molestation of a child by a local priest.
Their investigations led to the discovery of many more cases of children being sexually abused by priests in the Boston area. In a city where the Catholic Church is at the centre of the community and the old boys’ network holds everything together, the reporters struggled to get to the truth.
The story unfolds like one of the best thrillers as shocking evidence is uncovered about more and more paedophile priests, their young victims and the cover-up by those in power. It did happen.
Even though you’ve probably read the articles and know the story, it doesn’t make this film any less powerful … and when the list a places where abuse has been uncovered comes up at the end of the film, it is like being stabbed in the heart.
Joy (M)
Directed by David Russell
Jennifer Lawrence is Joy, a character inspired by the real story of Joy Mangano who invented a self-wringing mop. Joy’s house seems to be packed with people she is looking after – her two children, her mother, her father who is separated from her mother, her grandmother and her ex-husband.
Her grandmother tells her that she can do anything but the distance between having an idea and making it a successful reality is full of obstacles.
Television marketing is just taking off and Joy convinces Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper) to promote her mop. The mop is a success but it is not straight forward journey as the naïve Joy learns about the pitfalls of being in business the hard way.
Jennifer Lawrence is dynamic as her character fights foes and family to build a business empire and Bradley Cooper is charismatic as his character switches from adversary to ally and back again.
Revenant (MA)
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
In 1823, the American West was a daunting place. Men battled extreme elements of an uncharted wilderness for a lucrative fur trade.
Trappers were expected to hunt their own food, build their own shelter and fight the tribes who had populated the area for more than 1000 years before Europeans arrived.
One story which has survived is of Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) who was savagely mauled by a grizzly bear while trapping and left to die. G
lass went beyond the limits of body, mind and soul to become known as the revenant- one returns from the dead. It is physically intense as it is anemotionally raw journey with DiCaprio doing many of his own stunts including being buried in snow, going naked in minus five-degree weather and jumping into a frigid river.
Shot in chronological order with the characters growing increasingly weather-beaten, it is also an amazing visual spectacle.
The Belier Family (M)
Directed by Eric Lartigau
The Belier family make cheese at their dairy farm in rural France and sell it at the local market. They rely on 16 year old daughter Paula (Louane Emera) whois the only one in her family who is not deaf and mute.
At first, we are entertained by the many funny and embarrassing situations that arise as she tries to live in a non-hearing world and take on the communication role for her parents and younger brother.
But when music teacher Monsieur Thomasson (Eric Elmosnino) discovers that she has an angelic singing voice, Paula discovers possibilities that her parents can’t even imagine.
The film is based on a true story and Louane Emera, who was a finalist in France’s The Voice, carries this coming of age story with an earthy intelligence. She also has the voice of an angel which guarantees there won’t be a dry eye when the final scene unfolds.
Lezly Herbert
