Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Pictured : Ann ( Lucy Halliday ), Helen ( Leila Entwistle ) and Dawn ( Eve Baddeley ) in a scene from writer-director Carol Morley 's screen adaptation of her 2015 novel, ' 7 Miles Out '. Still courtesy of Cannon and Morley Productions CAMP For her fifth fictional feature film as writer-director, Central St. Martin’s College of Art Honours graduate Carol Morley (born January 1966) has adapted her 2015 semi-autobiographical novel, 7 Miles Out , about a young girl whose life is re-defined when her father, Ronald (Aidan Gillen) commits suicide. Shot over 25 days predominantly in Stockport where Morley grew up, it is a film about discovering one’s tribe, sticking to one’s principals and the importance of sharing one’s truth. As a filmmaker, Morley’s fictional output has been patchy, Out of Blue , her 2018 adaptation of Martin Amis’ novel, ‘Night Train’, falling significantly short in spite of the stellar presence of Patricia Clarkson, James Caan, Jacki Weaver and Toby Jones. ...

  Pictured : 'Sign 504.' Brooklyn-born disability activist Judy Heumann ( Ruth Madeley ) stops traffic in a scene from the fact-based protest drama, ' Being Heumann ', written (with Rebekah Taussig ) and directed by  Siân Heder . Still courtesy of Apple TV (US) There are plenty of reasons to push back against the film Being Heumann , a fact-based dramatized account of the struggle to secure the implementation of equal rights for disabled people in America. First, it depicts events that happened almost 50 years ago under a Democrat administration; Jimmy Carter had just been elected President. Why would filmmakers want to attack Democrats when the majority of America’s ills today are enabled by Republicans? Second, while it features actors with disabilities on screen, it is co-written (with Rebekah Taussig) and directed by an able-bodied director, Siân Heder. Where is the disabled point of view? Third, it is a conventional crowd pleaser with moments of humour. Shouldn’t ...

  Pictured : Lamenting the absence of a beach in Berlin, classmates Lux  ( Tristán López , left) and Jessie ( Carla Hütterman , right) in an anxiety-inducing rooftop scene featured in Austrian writer-director Sandra Wollner 's third feature, ' Everytime '. Still courtesy of Charades Film Sales (France) Early in Austrian writer-director Sandra Wollner’s third feature, Everytime , a study of grief and regret, there is a sequence featuring two young people on top of a tall building in Berlin that makes the audience anxious. We hear their conversation as the camera zooms in, as if mounted in an adjacent building. The couple in question are teenager Jessie (Carla Hütterman), who shares her bedroom with her ten-year-old sister Melli (Lotte Shirin Keiling) – a point of contention in the film’s opening scenes – and Lux (Tristán López), a classmate who requires help with his maths homework. The pair are looking at the sky and lamenting that Berlin doesn’t have a beach. ‘We have Wan...

  Pictured : Press attaché Marie ( Violet Braeckman ) negotiates the chaos resulting from football violence at the ill-fated 1985 European Cup Final held at Heysel stadium in Brussels, Belgium, in co-writer-director Teodora Ana Mihai 's third feature, ' Heysel 85 '. Still courtesy of Icon Film Distribution (UK) For her third feature (after La Civil and Traffic ), Heysel 85 , Romanian-born, Belgium-based writer-director Teodora Ana Mihai tackles the Heysel football disaster of 29 May 1985, the European Cup Final at which 39 people died and dozens more were injured before a ball was even kicked. The project was brought to her by Belgian producer Hans Everaert. Mihai re-worked the existing script with co-writer Isabelle Darras working from material by Lode Desmet, Matthias Lebeer and Everaert himself. The result gives a female perspective on male failure of leadership and, frankly, dignity. The match, held at the stadium formerly known as Heysel, in Brussels, went ahead, sev...

  Pictured : Catching your headshot. Model Mia (real-life model Mia Kidis ) sees herself on a billboard in a scene from the micro-budget Sydney-set drama, ' French Girls ', written and directed by Hyun Lee . Still courtesy of Melbourne International Film Festival Some people are great at getting free stuff. Others name their cat ‘Potato’. The micro-budget Australian film, French Girls , written and directed by Hyun Lee, shows us both kinds of people. This is not to put them in opposition. There are other types of people, who would (say) loan you a loaded gun, but these people are few in number. The people who get free stuff look like they don’t need it. That’s the secret. Those who donate want to impress them, to remain in their circle. On some level, people want to have attractive friends and to reward them. This is a symptom of our messed-up set of priorities. Lee’s film, apparently made for Aus $28,000 – or 28 bucks since the thousand is silent – is narrated by a gossipy, se...

  Pictured : Lady ( Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah ) drives a group of prostitutes to their next appointment in a scene from the Lagos-set drama, ' Lady ', written and directed by Olive Nwosu . Photo: Peter Okesun / Film Four (UK) Buoyed by sentiment rather than authenticity, Lady is a genre film that really ought to be a realistic drama. The Lagos-born, US trained writer-director Olive Nwosu has been steered towards choices that rob her debut feature film of grit and substance. The cast acquit themselves well, but this is a film where you never once enter the title character’s head. Nwosu privileges positive representation over truth and the result is two-dimensional. You can enjoy the images. Emotionally, you are frozen out. Set in Lagos, it tells the story of woman taxi driver Lady (newcomer Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah) who has been traumatised by her mother’s struggle to survive. Asked how she managed to afford her car, or rather who did she have sex with, Lady doesn’t answer. Her d...