IT – 4.5 stars
The tale of supernatural horror currently breaking box office records worldwide and still fresh on everybody’s lips, IT is the latest in line of Stephen King titles to be given the big screen treatment for modern audiences and the second adaptation of the legendary author’s 1986 novel of the same name following the often referenced 1990 mini-series.
An excellently put together spook-fest by director Andy Muschietti (Mama) featuring child actors at the top of their game and an eerie stand-out performance from Bill Skarsgård, you’ll be charmed and freaked out aplenty as the plight of seven kids being terrorized by an evil entity in the form of a murderous clown make for a terrifying yet unexpectedly hilarious adventure set against the backdrop of nineteen-eighties suburbia.
When a shape-shifting demon known to return every twenty-seven years resurges in the form of a clown and begins hunting children, a group of seven bullied kids are united by their horrifyingly strange encounters with ‘Pennywise the dancing clown’ and band together in an attempt to destroy ‘It’. Hoping to unravel the mystery of their town’s missing children and prevent any further attacks, the newly formed Losers Club confront their biggest fears to face a viciously sinister threat with the ability of transforming itself into the thing they are most afraid. With a history of murder and violence dating back centuries, how can they fight something who knows all their biggest fears?
A crowd pleasing energetic romp mixing laugh-out-loud humour with a true sense of dread and uneasiness, this coming of age story that just so happens to take place within a horror adventure also has a lot of heart. With scares that deliver so much they’ll have you jumping right out of your seat and be terrified of red balloons for the next few months, this new iteration of the iconic novel is easily one of the best Stephen King adaptations around and features the most interesting cinematic clown since Heath Ledger’s Joker.
Also on the way a Chapter Two, you’ll float too.
Mother! 5 stars
Incredibly divisive but in any case an absolutely stunning piece of art, Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem’s new film Mother!, written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Darren Aronofsky can be best summed up in a single word – Amazing. A dark and twisted fairytale superb in almost every way imaginable and more of an experience than just a mere form of entertainment, this type of film which only comes around every decade or so doesn’t just feature the greatest performance of Lawrence’s career or the most beautiful aesthetic seen in cinema this year, but remains a film almost impossible to describe without ruining the sheer shock of what lies inside. Thought provoking mystery meets intense insanity rolled into a love story where the pieces of the puzzle await you to be solved, you won’t believe where this takes you.
When uninvited guests arrive at the home of a couple cut off from the rest of the world, the relationship between homemaker ‘Mother’ (Lawrence) and her revered poet husband ‘Him’ (Bardem) is put to the test as their undisturbed and peaceful way of living is disrupted.
NOTHING will prepare you for what comes next.
An intellectually thought out plot moving at a slow pace then all of a sudden taking an exceptionally confrontational turn without warning perhaps being the basis for why this is dividing audiences’ opinions, the fact is this deliberately meant to be different film is not what it looks like. Not your average run-of-the-mill horror release but instead an alluring psychological mystery thriller sprinkled with more clues than it has phenomenal performances.
One of those films people will continue to talk about for years to come, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Harris, Domhnall Gleeson and a familiar star you won’t want spoiled all share part of the enigma hiding within. Gorgeously chaotic with a lot to say and starring two Oscar winners on fire, Mother! is an experience you can’t afford to let yourself miss and the mother of unexpected cinema at its finest.