Film Review: Wild Rose

"I Should Have Been Born In America. I'm An American..."

Boosting into the cinematic spotlight after her critically acclaimed performance in Michael Pearce's impressive if psychologically testing 2018 drama, Beast, Jessie Buckley returns to the big screen once again with Wild Rose, an independently backed musical drama which sees Buckley as Rose-Lynn Harlan, a recently released low-level convict who returns to her childhood home in Scotland in order to rebuild her relationship with both her stern, judgemental mother and two young children. Directed by London-born filmmaker, Tom Harper, famous so far for his televisual adaptation of War and Peace alongside the 2015 horror sequel, The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, Wild Rose throws a spanner in the works by offering much much more than your average British independent drama thanks to an outrageously entertaining central performance from Buckley who continues to impress thanks to a seemingly endless supply of talent, alongside a core narrative which although blends familiar elements taken from the likes of A Star is Born and the little seen gem, Patti Cake$, still manages to present itself as a story definitely worth telling. 

Whilst Beast could be regarded as Twin Peaks hits the isle of Jersey, Buckley's latest leans more on the safer side of independent dramas thanks to a nicely played, if overly familiar, tale of desire and hunger for success within a societal background which doesn't exactly offer much hope to anyone at anytime. With Buckley's Rose-Lynn attempting to balance her daily familial strife with her deeply embedded love for country music, not country and western music, the tables soon turn after she is welcomed into the home of Sophie Okonedo's (Hotel Rwanda) rather easily wooed, Susannah, as a cleaner, with her employer utilising her contacts in the up-market world as a stepping ground for Rose-Lynn to make the most of her clear and enviable talents. With Bradley Cooper's masterful remake of A Star is Born so fresh in the memory, such excellence does sort of bring Wild Rose back to a level of grounded commonplace rife with a sense of sniffy cliche, but with a couple of half decent tracks present on the soundtrack and the added brilliance of Julie Walters (Harry Potter) in one of the more fleshed out supporting roles, Harper's latest is undoubtedly no more than a vehicle for Buckley to strut her stuff, but when talent is this exciting and organic, I'm more than happy to be pulled along for the ride. 

Overall Score: 7/10

Film Review: Beast

"Sweetheart, You Just Can't Change The Rules Because Someone's Showed An Interest..."

Appearing onto the cinematic fold with his first big-screen offering after a number of independent shorts, Michael Pearce writes and directs Beast, a spine-tingling, nihilistic and paranoid psychological thriller which sees Jessie Buckley's (Taboo) Moll break free of her critical and controlling family as she comes into contact with Johnny Flynn's (Clouds of Sils Maria) bohemian and free-spirited Pascal within the confines of an unnamed, rural and isolated community paralysed with fear after a number of young women are found brutally raped and murdered. With the ghost of Twin Peaks springing to mind each and every time there is a narrative crossover regarding the impact of death on a close-knit community, Pearce's movie does impressively share a tonal similarity with David Lynch's sprawling and surrealist masterpiece, with the film holding a relentless ominous tone up until its' final, haunting shot, and whilst Beast decides to stay strictly within the realms of linear storytelling, with its' feet planted heavily on the ground rather than conforming to the surrealist temperaments found in most Lynch works, its' the shadow of the uncertain which brilliantly pushes the drama and undoubtedly leaves the audience in a contemplative mood regarding what has unfolded upon them.

Shot primarily on the island of Jersey, Pearce's movie follows Buckley's Moll, a reclusive, distant and dissatisfied daughter who resides at her home alongside the intrusive, demanding and judgemental figure of her mother, Hilary, brilliantly played by Geraldine James (Rogue One) who demands familial perfection. After stumbling across Flynn's Pascal, a relationship between the two begins to blossom, much to the distaste of the rest of Moll's family, resulting in a heavy sense of alienation as Moll begins to suspect that Pascal has much more to his questionable and overly murky history than it originally seems. Although Pearce's movie features beautiful, sweeping landscapes and that particularly familiar British independent feel around it, akin to the melancholic temperament of Calvary and the uncertain sensibility of Ben Wheatley's Kill List, the film is not entirely cinematic throughout its' 110 minute runtime, with dialogue set pieces heavily reminiscent of an ITV crime drama at times, but with a clear Hitchcock influence, particularly Shadow of a Doubt, acting as a thorough through line from start to finish, Pearce's feature debut is a dark, twisted and enjoyably startling success. 

Overall Score: 8/10