Everything That Dies, Some Day Comes Back

From the trailer and the poster, not to mention the casting (Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal - wow!) I had assumed that this film would be about the relationship between the two leads. I was therefore surprised that the main emotional impact for me derived instead from the relationship between Andrew Scott's character Adam and the ghosts of his dead parents.  The final scene between the three of them really set me off.  M aybe that's because both my parents are no longer with me.  Hats off to Claire Foy and Jamie Bell for their beautifully understated performances throughout. In comparison I found the relationship between Adam and Harry (Mescal) touching, but no more than that.  Which is not to take anything away from their performances, which are top-notch.   Andrew Scott in particular (who I think is in every scene) carries the film.  He is so good at conveying vulnerability. (Maybe that is why I was less taken with him as Ripley in the recent Netflix a...

For the first few scenes of this curious film my heart was sinking at the prospect of a whimsical biopic about an eccentric Victorian who would no doubt win through after overcoming various setbacks.  So predictable I thought, as we start by establishing that Louis was a talented artist and a far less talented would-be inventor, with some peculiar ideas about electricity.  My mood at this stage was not helped by the chaotic nature of Louis’s domestic life with five sisters and his mother. Thankfully things pick up greatly with the arrival of governess Emily (played by Claire Foy) whom Louis falls for and marries.  I found their relationship touching at first, and then very moving when she develops terminal cancer.  During her illness Louis and Emily are very taken with a cat they name Peter.   I t is from this point that Louis starts making many drawings of anthropomorphised cats which become extremely popular.  In passing, the film suggests that prior to t...

The main drama on view is whether the women in a strange religious colony are going to leave, or alternatively to "stay and fight".  This decision is being made by a kind of committee, so indeed the film does comprise 'women talking' and not much else.  On paper this might not sound very exciting, but the outstanding cast (headed by Rooney Mara and Claire Foy), together with the skilful direction and screenplay (both by Sarah Polley), succeed in creating characters that we care about, from young girls to their grandmothers.   We quickly learn that women and girls in the colony are routinely drugged and raped, and are generally subservient to the men.  So t here is plenty of anger on display, not all of which is directed at the men, as well as moments of humour and compassion.  So for me the film was a moving and engaging human drama. The only man that the women trust is August (Ben Whishaw) .  I think it is significant that he is the colony ’s  sc...