Reviewed in this issue:

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Four well-worth-watching movies currently available on Netflix, even if you've already seen them...

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Four: What We Did On Our Holiday (2014)

Andy Hamilton & Guy Jenkin

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This is one of those movies that causes you to wince at the premise. Bickering families, birthday gathering, precocious children, wheedling adults and pretty thin in terms of plot. Get past that, and watch it. It gets bonus points for being written by the same team as Outnumbered, the hit, part improvised TV show of wheedling adults and precocious children (is there a theme developing here?). It gets more bonus points for starring Billy Connolly in an understated role that reprises his real life circumstances. Lottie, 9 (Emilia Jones), Mickey, 7 (Bobby Smalldridge) and Jess, 4 (Harriet Turnbull) deal with unexpected tragedy with composure and their self-styled impro is a sheer joy to behold. Lots of fun, lots of pathos, and plenty of idiosyncratic wit. Enjoy.

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Three: Lobster (2016)

Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthimis Filippou

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This crazy-conceptual movie, starring Colin Farrell & Rachel Weisz, is a parody, but a dark, dystopian, one that questions the very nature of love and human relationships. Satirical, darkly humorous, and with both cynicism and sentimentality in spades, the premise of this frankly weird movie is disturbing and absurd, yet so inextricably linked to the idea that 'coupling' is a necessary and beautiful thing, whilst simultaneously showing contempt towards the expectation that society places on singles. A totally authentic world of weirdness surrounds David (Colin Farrell) who, after losing his life partner, is thrust into a luxury hotel where he must find love (of a very specific kind) within 40 days, or he will be transformed into the animal of his choice. Very much a film of two halves, it never loses its momentum or its ability to shock, whilst managing to keep us sympathetic with the protagonist and his ultimate partner.

A truly original and engaging film with some wonderfully deadpan performances. Don't miss it.

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Two: The Young and Prodigious T S Spivet (2013)

Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Guillaume Laurant

adapted from The Selected Works of T S Spivet (Reif Larsen)

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What rottentomatoes describe as a ‘surfeit of quirk’ is right up our street! T S Spivet is a ten year old scientist who is awarded the Baird Prize by the Smithsonian Institution for his perpetual motion machine. Critically acclaimed but with one or two detractors who couldn’t deal with its eccentricity, especially in the portrayal of characters (such as the team at the Smithsonian) who ought to be judicious and self-aware but who are, in the event, rather ‘cartoonish’ (Liam Lacey, Globe & Mail, 10/4/15)

That cartoonish-ness, though, is present throughout the movie. Death (one of its core themes) is treated with a lack of realism (‘Some things are meant to die’ – Dr Clair, and the hidden grief of Spivet’s family) which contrasts beautifully and disquietingly when the truth is out.

We love this film for: the ensemble of quirky characters, beautiful filmography, the unusual presentation of expository details (in overlays and nested figures) that mirrors the qualities of the original book, and the sheer pathos of the bewildered and vulnerable, yet genuinely likeable family.

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One: Ex Machina (2015)

Alex Garland

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The almost satirical opening that sets up young employee of Googlesque search R&D company, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), for the experience to die for – spending a week with his CEO’s remote stack in Norway. If AI is your thing, don’t expect too much in the way of technical talk and sensational action scene the likes of I, Robot et al, but the philosophical and sociological core of this film is both refreshing and finessed. It is a filmic symphony of ideas, layered and aligned to what becomes an inevitable end. Sure, as the naysayers point out, there are a couple of lazy plot holes that irritate (the now infamous ‘should it be there?’ ending, for example) but the unity of the overall experience makes it unequivocally worthwhile to overlook them.

Acting is sublime (even when it verges on satirical), with outstanding performances from Alicia Vikander as Ava, and Oscar Isaac as Nathan. The plot twists are handled with subtlety that seamlessly blends them into the forward motion of the story, and every scene is both necessary and pacy. There are some well-integrated talk scenes that reference abstract ideas and give the screenplay additional gravitas.

We love this film for: its subtlety in handling the AI genre; the powerful performances and delicately balanced screenplay; its beautiful filmography, and its reflections on all manner of conceptual thought, including the nature of relationships and gender bias.

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