52 Films by Women Vol 3. 42. WE THE KINGS (Director: Lauren Mackenzie)
The title of writer-director Lauren Mackenzie’s We The Kings sounds like it was arrived at after a particularly fruitless brainstorming session. I know that thinking of a title can be tough, but this Orpington-filmed, Derby-set drama really doesn’t deserve to be confused with the George Foreman-Muhammad Ali ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ documentary, When We Were Kings . Besides what film wants to be in the ‘W’ section on a DVD shelf, between Waterworld and Wilson ? The title is actually also the name of a band. Ostensibly the action is confined to a single house occupied by Victor (Timothy West), a man who requires daily care from a pair of community nurses, Rosa and Susan (Amanda Abbington and Kacey Ainsworth). Shot in 2016, this British film features the old five-pound note which is no longer legal tender. Unable to speak and with the mental faculties of a child, Victor writes ‘he is here’ on the note to draw attention to his plight. ‘He’ is Jack (Elliot James Langridge), an orphan...