Jack Lowden Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘Ella McKay,’ starring Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Spike Fearn, Rebecca Hall, Albert Brooks and Woody Harrelson

December 10, 2025

by Carla Hay

Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis and Albert Brooks in “Ella McKay” (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)

Directed by James L. Brooks

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2008 (with flashbacks to the 1990s) in an unnamed state on the East Coast of the United States, the comedy/drama film “Ella McKay” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people, Latin people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A politician must navigate major changes in her personal life and in her career after she suddenly becomes governor of her state, which leads to her husband becoming jealous and her estranged father coming back into her life.

Culture Audience: “Ella McKay” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker James L. Brooks, and comedy/drama movies where almost everything comes across as phony.

Jack Lowden and Emma Mackey in “Ella McKay” (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)

Tonally off-balance and annoying, “Ella McKay” is a comedy/drama polluted with unrealistic dialogue. A talented cast can’t save this dull and witless movie about a politician whose life is negatively affected by her boorish father and selfish husband. This is the type of movie that tries too hard to be a “screwball comedy” but ends up falling flat in almost every way.

Written and directed by James L. Brooks, “Ella McKay” has a jumbled way of telling the story, and there’s a subplot in the movie that is completely unnecessary and very irritating to watch. The movie takes place in an unnamed state on the East Coast of the United States. “Ella McKay” was actually filmed in Rhode Island, and there are several Rhode Island landmarks in the movie. The story in “Ella McKay” takes place mostly in 2008, but there are a few flashbacks taking place in the 1990s.

The irksome levels of “Ella McKay” start right from the beginning of the film, which is narrated by a character named Estelle Roth (played by Julie Kavner), who has a gravelly voice that is memorable but very unpleasant to hear as narration. There might be a minority of people who love Kavner’s voice in this movie, but most people will feel like they’re hearing fingernails on a chalkboard every time Estelle pipes in with her uninteresting and distracting commentary.

Estelle is the loyal administrative assistant of 34-year-old politician Ella McKay (played by Emma Mackey), who is ambitious and intelligent but not very well-liked among her peers because they think she is somewhat standoffish and condescending to them. In the beginning of the movie, Ella is lieutenant governor of her state. She has risen to this level of power mainly because she’s been mentored by Bill Moura (played by Albert Brooks), the state’s governor. Ella has worked with Bill for almost her entire career, including when she was Bill’s chief of staff when he was mayor of an unnamed city.

Ella is also dealing with some emotional baggage stemming from her unhappy childhood, which is shown in flashback scenes that are also narrated by Estelle. These flashback scenes, which take place in the 1990s, show that when Ella was a senior in high school in 1990, her life changed because of a scandal caused by her philandering father Eddie McKay (played by Woody Harrelson), a high-ranking executive at an unnamed company. Eddie had to resign from his job because of sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Eddie leaving the company was labeled a “retirement” for public-relations reasons, but too many people know the real reason for Eddie’s abrupt exit from his job. Eddie’s wife Claire McCay (played by Rebecca Hall) is humiliated but decides to stay in the marriage. When Ella asks her why, Claire says sadly, “Because I love him.” During this turbulent time in the McKay family, Ella’s younger brother Casey McKay (played by Lincoln Whitty) is 4 years old and too young to understand what is going on.

Eddie and Claire decide to move to California to start a new life. Ella is close to finishing high school, and her parents don’t want to interrupt her education by having her start over in a new school in California. Ella is very close to Casey, and their parents don’t want the kids to be separated. And so, the decision is made to have Ella and Casey stay behind, with Eddie’s no-nonsense sister Helen McKay (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) becoming the guardian of the kids. Helen (a bachelorette who owns a restaurant/bar) is furious with Eddie over how his misdeeds have ripped apart the family. Helen says she’ll never forgive Eddie.

It should be noted that although co-star Hall shares top top billing for this movie, her screen time in “Ella McKay” is less than 10 minutes. Another flashback shows that six years after Eddie and Claire moved to California, Claire died of a terminal illness. Casey (played by Kellen Raffaelo) was 10 years old, and Ella was a college student. At the funeral wake, Ella is disgusted to see one of Eddie’s obvious mistresses playfully groping Eddie on his rear end, as Eddie seems to enjoy this groping. None of this is spoiler information because the trailer for “Ella McKay” reveals about 70% of the movie’s plot.

In 2008, Ella is married to restaurateur Ryan Newell (played by Jack Lowden), who was her high-school sweetheart. Ryan’s family owns a chain of restaurants. His unnamed parents are still married, but they don’t have an equal partnership. Ryan’s mother (played by Becky Ann Baker) is domineering and materialistic, while his father (played by John Neisler) is very passive and sweet-natured. It’s hinted that Ryan’s father might have dementia.

Ella and Ryan are a case of “opposites attract.” Ella tends to be an uptight planner and has a “hero” complex, where she wants to be the hero in everything that she does. Ryan tends to be adventurous, spontaneous and not as concerned with wanting to “save the world.” The cause that Ella is most passionate about is pre-natal health care. She’s been trying for years to get a controversial bill passed into law that will give better access to pre-natal health care. The bill is controversial because it will be costly to taxpayers if passed into law.

Ella and Ryan, who do not have children together, seem to have a good marriage in the beginning of the movie. One of the things that they’ve been doing to keep their sexual intimacy alive is having secret dates where they have sex at an uninhabited apartment that’s government property. It’s technically illegal for Ella (an elected official) to do this because it’s “wrongful use” of government property.

Somehow, a journalist for an unnamed well-known media outlet has found out about these trysts and is threatening to report this story, which could be a big scandal for Ella. This journalist is never seen in the movie. However, Ryan tells Ella that he and the journalist have been in contact with each other. This contact will have repercussions throughout this jumbled story.

Ella is still very close to Helen, the only family member who has consistently been in Ella’s adult life. Ella has not seen or spoken to her father Eddie for 13 years. Ella is also estranged from Casey (played by Spike Fearn), who is now a socially awkward young adult who works from home as a technology analyst. Casey cut off contact with Ella sometime after he began living on his own. The details are murky, but it’s later revealed that Casey has agoraphobia and is embarrassed about it.

Helen doesn’t really approve of Ryan and has never really liked him, ever since Helen caught teenage Ella sneaking out of the house to spend the night with Ryan. Helen also doesn’t think Ryan has integrity because she remembers an instance when adult Ryan bragged about how he was able to make an extra $300,000 in one year because he watered down the tomato sauce in his family’s restaurants.

Ella’s life goes through a big change when Bill is appointed secretary of the interior in the administration for Barack Obama who, at the time this story takes place in 2008, is the president-elect of the United States. (Bill’s new job in the Obama administration is the only indication in the movie that Ella and Bill are Democrats.) Bill resigns from his position as governor, so Ella automatically becomes governor and is expected to serve out the 14-month remainder of the governor’s term that Bill had. The scene of Ella’s inauguration as governor is one of the most cringeworthy in the movie because Bill keeps passing notes to Ella to remind her to mention him in her speech.

Ella has a friendly rapport with her driver, a state trooper named Nash (played by Kumail Nanjiani), who genuinely likes Ella. However, their conversations are stilted and sound very fake, much like a lot of other conversations in this mishandled movie. Nash’s only purpose in the movie is to show that someone other than Bill and Estelle likes spending time with Ella on the job. Ella is supposedly so unlikable, Bill tells her that their colleagues want to run the other way when she enters the room.

Around the same time that Ella becomes governor, her father Eddie comes back into her life because his current girlfriend Olympia (voiced by Tracey Ullman) insists that she will break up with Eddie unless he mends his relationship with Ella. Olympia is never seen in the movie and is only heard as a voice on the phone. Eddie asks Ella for forgiveness, but his contrition is exactly what it appears to be: forced and not his idea.

There’s a completely useless subplot about Casey pining over a woman named Susan (played by Ayo Edebiri), who was a close platonic friend until Casey deliberately cut off contact with her by changing his phone number a few years ago. Casey wanted their relationship to become romantic, but he fumbled his attempt to tell her, so he decided it would be better not to communicate with Susan again after she began dating someone else. After Ella reaches out to Casey and reconnects with him, she encourages Casey to reconnect with Susan and confess his true feelings to Susan. Just like “Ella McKay” cast member Hall, Edebiri has a role in the movie that’s really just a glorified cameo with less than 10 minutes of screen time.

After Ella becomes governor, she experiences problems in her marriage. Ryan’s manipulative mother convinces him that he’s being emasculated unless Ella gives him a cushy government job. Ryan, who is spineless and shallow, agrees because he thinks that he should have a title other than “governor’s husband” for the parking space that he has when he visits the governor’s office. None of this makes any sense because Ryan must have known at some point that ambitious Ella would eventually want to become governor. It’s not as if she suddenly switched careers to becoming a politician.

In addition, Ryan has his own busy and successful career in the restaurant industry. It’s mentioned several times in the movie that Ryan is essentially the leader of his family’s business. But somehow, he thinks Ella owes him a prestigious government position while he also wants to keep his demanding restaurateur job. Ryan’s jealousy about Ella’s career looks like a contrivance just so certain things can happen in the movie.

One of the worst things about “Ella McKay” is how it introduces supporting characters and doesn’t do much with giving viewers enough reasons to care about these characters. And there are pieces of information that are dumped in the movie with no meaningful context. For example, at one point in the movie, Casey mentions that he makes $2 million a year from his job, but it’s never explained why he lives in a small apartment that looks like it’s occupied by someone who is most definitely not a millionaire. Is this supposed to make Casey look modest and quirky?

Far from being a movie about female empowerment, “Ella McKay” repeatedly shows how the movie’s female protagonist has her entire life controlled and affected by men with a toxic patriarchal attitude. She becomes governor not by being elected on her own merits but because her egotistical governor boss resigned, and she was given the job by default. Ella’s personal misery comes mostly from her father and her husband, whose horrible actions have long-lasting consequences. Helen has a much stronger personality than Ella, but Helen is made to look like a squawking meddler. The cast members do the best that they can with the subpar material that they are given, but they are stuck in a boring and tone-deaf movie that stumbles along until its very corny end.

20th Century Pictures will release “Ella McKay” in U.S. cinemas on December 12, 2025.

Review: ‘Tornado’ (2025), starring Tim Roth, Jack Lowden, Takehiro Hira, Joanne Whalley and Kôki

June 24, 2025

by Carla Hay

Jack Lowden and Kôki in “Tornado” (Photo courtesy of Independent Film Company)

“Tornado” (2025)

Directed by John Maclean

Some language in Japanese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in the British Isles, in 1790, the action film “Tornado” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few Asians and one black person) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A 16-year-old girl is hunted by a gang of thieves who want the stolen stash of gold that she took from them.

Culture Audience: “Tornado” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Western-styles crime movies, but the characters are too dull and hollow to create much excitement.

Tim Roth in “Tornado” (Photo courtesy of Independent Film Company)

It’s ironic that this tedious action film is titled “Tornado” because the story and hollow characters are as inert as stale air. Set in the rural British Isles in 1790, it’s a disjointed series of scenes about a 16-year-old girl being hunted by a gang of thieves. This is the type of unimaginative slog of a movie where the ending is easy to predict within 15 minutes after the movie starts.

Written and directed by John Maclean, “Tornado” barely has enough of a plot to fill a short film. This 91-minute film becomes repetitive and boring, as it jumps back and forth in the timeline to show flashbacks that don’t add much depth to the story. By the end of the movie, you still won’t know much about these characters except how they look when they’re in fight scenes and chase scenes.

“Tornado” begins by showing a 16-year-old girl named Tornado (played by Kôki) running from a wooded area and hiding in a house. It’s later revealed that she is being hunted by a gang of thieves because she took the gold (mostly coins) that they stole in a robbery. That’s really the entire plot of this poorly edited film, which shows Tornado getting caught, escaping, and fighting back in a sloppily constructed and vague timeline.

Flashbacks show that Tornado worked with her widowed father Fujin (played by Takehiro Hira) in a traveling puppet show. Her mother, who was British, died when Tornado was very young. The puppetry scenes are boring. And the father/daughter relationship between Fujin and Tornado is generic and doesn’t bring much insight into who they really are.

The leader of the gang is a ruthless tyrant named Sugarman (played by Tim Roth), who spouts a lot of cliché villain dialogue. Sugarman has a son named Little Sugar (played by Jack Lowden), who both fears Sugarman and craves Sugarman’s approval. These “daddy issues” are the reasons for many of the decisions that Little Sugar makes.

Everyone else in the movie has a personal background that is vague or non-existent. The performances in the movie aren’t terrible, but they lack the spark that would make this story stand out from other action films. It doesn’t help that at least half of the characters who speak don’t even have names.

Joanne Whalley has a small supporting role as Vienna Crawford, a sideshow character who helps Tornado. This movie becomes a tiresome and dull back-and-forth of Tornado (who suddenly show samurai skills) and the gang members in their battle for the gold. The action scenes aren’t very impressive. “Tornado” is as soulless and wooden as the puppets in the puppet show.

Independent Film Company released “Tornado” in select U.S. cinemas on May 30, 2025.

Review: ‘Benediction’ (2021), starring Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi, Simon Russell Beale, Jeremy Irvine, Kate Phillips, Gemma Jones and Ben Daniels

July 23, 2022

by Carla Hay

Jeremy Irvine and Jack Lowden in “Benediction” (Photo by Laurence Cendrowicz/Roadside Attractions)

“Benediction” (2021)

Directed by Terence Davies

Culture Representation: Taking place from the 1910s to 1950s, primarily in England, the dramatic film “Benediction” features a nearly all-white cast of characters (with one African person) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: During World War I, British soldier Siegfried Sassoon becomes an anti-war objector and a poet, and for years he hides his homosexuality, including by getting married to a woman.

Culture Audience: “Benediction” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in true stories of British gay men in the 20th century.

Kate Phillips and Jack Lowden in “Benediction” (Photo by Laurence Cendrowicz/Roadside Attractions)

Well-acted but slightly long-winded, the British drama “Benediction” is a compelling biopic that shows how poet Siegfried Sassoon was not only bold and outspoken about his anti-war views, but he was also insecure and secretive about his homosexuality. The movie gives emotionally complex depictions of how fame cannot shield LGBTQ people from the bigotry that pressures LGBTQ people to sometimes lead double lives. “Benediction” is a 20th century period drama, but many of the movie’s issues about homophobia can still apply to many people today. Written and directed by Terence Davies, “Benediction” had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.

In real life, Siegfried Sassoon had turmoil not just about his sexuality but also about his religious faith and coming from a broken home. Born in Matfield, England, in 1886, Siegfried died in Heytsebury, England, at age 80 in 1967, just one week before he would have turned 81. His father Alfred was Jewish, and his mother Theresa was Catholic. Alfred was disowned from his family for marrying a non-Jewish woman.

When Siegfried was 4 years old, his parents separated. Siegfried (who was the middle of three sons) and his older brother Michael and younger brother Hamo were then raised by their mother, while their father would see them for visits. And then, Alfred died of tuberculosis in 1895, when Siegfried was 7 or 8 years old. Years later, tuberculosis would nearly kill the man who was considered to be the greatest love of Siegfried’s life.

“Benediction” would have benefited from some exploration of Siegfried’s childhood and family background, which undoubtedly shaped the person he became. It would certainly explain why Siegfried wasn’t afraid to go against society’s expectations as a military man who became an outspoken objector against war and against the British government. Siegfried lived during a time in the United Kingdom when it was very taboo for people to be in mixed-religion marriages and for married people to separate. Being treated like an “outsider” simply because of his parents’ marital situation no doubt affected Siegfried in ways that carried into his adulthood.

Instead of giving this backstory, “Benediction” shows Siegfried in two different phases of his life: when Siegfried was his 30s and 40s (played by Jack Lowden) and when Siegfried was in his 70s (played by Peter Capaldi), with the younger phase of Sisgfried’s life getting most of the screen time. This uneven timeline doesn’t ruin “Benediction,” but it does make it more obvious to viewers how the movie under-uses the talent of Capaldi.

“Benediction” opens in London in 1914. Siegfried and his younger brother Hamo (played by Thom Ashley) are visiting a tailor shop together. In 1914, Siegfried was an aspiring poet and a British Army soldier who would later become a second lieutenant and a decorated war hero for saving soldiers’ lives during combat. When Hamo goes off to serve in the British Army during World War I, Siegfried expresses regret at not saying goodbye to his brother. Hamo was tragically killed in the line of duty during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.

By 1917, Siegfried became disillusioned about World War I and war in general. The movie shows him writing letters of protest to the United Kingdom government. A scene in “Benediction” shows him reading one of the letters, which says in part: “I believe that war upon which I entered in defense and liberation has now become a war of aggression and conquest.”

As an example of Siegfried’s willingness to sacrifice his military career for his anti-war beliefs, he meets with an openly gay journalist/mentor named Robbie Ross (played by Simon Russell Beale), who comes from an influential political family, to find out what punishment Siegfried will be getting from the British government. In this meeting, Siegfried is fully expecting to hear that the British military is going to court martial Siegfried because of Siegfried’s public criticism of the British government’s stance on World War I. But to Siegfried’s dismay, Robbie tells Siegfried that Robbie enlisted the help of Edward Marsh, the principal private secretary of then-U.K. minister of munitions Winston Churchill, to get Siegfried honorably discharged from the military for medical reasons.

“You robbed me of my dignity!” Siegfried angrily says to Robbie about not getting court martialed. Robbie says, “Don’t be angry with me, Siegfried. My intentions were honorable.” Despite this argument, Robbie (who is 18 years older than Siegfried) and Siegfried remain friends. Robbie became a trusted advisor in Siegfried’s personal and professional lives. “Benediction” briefly mentions later in the movie that Robbie was also known for his close relationship with gay poet/writer Oscar Wilde, whom Robbie remained loyal to during Wilde’s imprisonment for being gay.

At the time, homosexuality was banned in the British military, and homosexuality was considered a psychiatric disorder. “Benediction” makes it look like although Siegfried might have been suspected of being gay in the military, he was punished more for speaking out against the British government. His military discharge included being sent to a psychiatric hospital for having “psychiatric problems.”

In a dramatic show of his disgust with the British military, Siegfried throws away his military card. At the hospital, he has therapy sessions with a sympathetic psychiatrist named Dr. Rivers (played by Ben Daniels), who says things to Siegfried such as: “It’s not about what I want. It’s about what you think you need.” It’s not said out loud, but it’s implied that Dr. Rivers is a closeted gay man too.

Over time, Siegfried begins to trust Dr. Rivers because he and the doctor are kindred spirits who both have a lot of mistrust of the British government. Siegfried witnesses some disturbing things in the hospital, such as a man screaming out on agony during a meltdown, but Dr. Rivers is able to calm Siegfried’s fears. During his stay in the psychiatric hospital, Siegfried befriends a fellow patient named Wilfred Owen (played by Matthew Tennyson), who is the editor of a poetry newsletter called The Hydra.

Siegfried and Wilfred become great admirers of each other’s poetry. Siegfried is particularly impressed with Wilfred’s poem “Disabled.” It looks like Siegfried and Wilfred are headed toward a romance. But that possibility is interrupted when a chief medical officer (played by Julian Sands) has an angry reaction to seeing Siegfried and Wilfred doing a tango dance together. What happens to Wilfred is shown in the movie.

“Benediction” spends a lot of time depicting the ups and downs of Siegfried’s love life. People closest to Siegfried knew he was gay, but he was still “in the closet” about his true sexuality to most people. “Benediction” implies that Siegfried probably would’ve been more open about his sexuality if there weren’t severe punishments for being gay in the United Kingdom at the time.

Despite hiding his sexual identity from many people, Siegfried had an active social life. The movie shows Siegfried, Robbie and their mutual friend Dorothy Brett (played by Georgina Rylance) being invited to a party by Lady Edith Oliver (played by Olivia Darnley), one of the high-society people who became acquainted with Siegfried because of his poetry. It’s at this party that Siegfried meets celebrated actor/composer Ivor Novello (played by Jeremy Irvine), who is an openly gay playboy.

Siegfried falls for Ivor’s charms but quickly finds out that he’s one of many of Ivor’s lovers who get tossed aside and picked up again, according to Ivor’s whims. In fact, when Ivor and Siegfried hook up for the first time, Ivor’s actor boyfriend Glen Byam Shaw (played by Tom Blyth) walks in on them. Ivor cruelly tells Glen to leave the house keys as a way to break up with Glen in that moment

“Benediction” portrays Siegfried’s on-again/off-again relationship with Ivor as not so much of a romance but more like an addiction that Siegfried finds hard to quit. Ivor is up front with his lovers in telling them that he doesn’t believe in monogamy. And this is how Ivor describes his views about love: “The main drawback about love is that it descends all too quickly into possessiveness. It really is a bore.”

Ivor doesn’t like Siegfried’s friend/mentor Robbie. Siegfried’s mother Theresa (played by Geraldine James) doesn’t like Ivor. Theresa has this to say about Ivor: “He’s amusing but unpleasant.” Is it any wonder that Siegfried’s relationship with Ivor is doomed to fail?

In a scene that looks fabricated for a movie, Ivor’s ex-lover Glen happens to see Siegfried and Ivor break up at a restaurant. It should not come as a big surprise that after seeing this breakup, Glen immediately wants to get close to Siegfried. Glen offers to drive Siegfried to Kent so that Siegfried can visit his grandmother. During this trip, the two men get to know each other better in more ways than one. However, Glen eventually decides he’s going to marry an actress.

“Benediction” portrays aristocrat Stephen Tennant (played by Calam Lynch) as the biggest love of Siegfried’s life. However, Stephen and Siegfried’s love affair is plagued by mutual jealousy. Even when Ivor was no longer dating Siegfried, Ivor seems to still have some kind of hold over Siegfried. And it bothers Stephen immensely. Siegfried also gets jealous of the attention that Stephen gets from other men. This love affair also ends in heartbreak.

In his 40s, Siegfried strikes up a close friendship with a lively and outgoing socialite named Hester Gatty (played by Kate Phillips), despite Hester being 20 years younger than he is. Hester knows that Siegfried is gay. Siegfried also confides in Hester about problems in his love life.

And eventually, Hester proposes marriage to Siegfried, knowing that she will be his “beard,” to cover up the fact that he is gay. Siegfried and Hester get married in 1933, mainly because they want to start a family together. Their son (and only child) George was born in 1936.

Where does the story of older Siegfried fit into the movie? It’s told in the context of an emotionally unsettled Siegfried fighting depression and looking back on his life while deciding that he’s going to convert to Catholicism. Siegfried’s adult son George (played by Richard Goulding) is very skeptical about Siegfried being committed and sincere about being a Catholic. It leads to some father/son conflicts that aren’t very interesting, mainly because viewers never get to see what kind of father Siegfried was to George for most of George’s life.

As for older Hester (played by Gemma Jones), living in a fake marriage has taken a toll on her. The young Hester was hopefully optimistic that being married to her gay best friend would have a happy ending. The older Hester is somewhat bitter because she sees the reality that although she is happy with being a mother, she and Siegfried deprived themselves of living authentically and possibly being in a true romance with someone else. Hester also knows that this arranged marriage benefited Siegfried more than it benefited her.

However, that doesn’t mean Siegfried feels any more satisfied than Hester in how this marriage turned out to be a stagnant relationship. Siegfried and Hester just barely tolerate each other but feel obligated to stay together to keep up appearances during a time when divorce was still a big stigma for many people. Siegfried wanting to convert to Catholicism is an obvious indication that he doesn’t consider divorce to be an option for this unhappy marriage.

There’s not a bad performance in “Benediction,” with Lowden being an obvious standout for his portrayal of the complicated and somewhat unpredictable Siegfried. Irvine also gives a memorable supporting performance as heartbreaker Ivor, who seems to have love/hate relationships with most people in his life. Jones and Capaldi also give admirable and nuanced performances as the older Siegfried and older Hester in the limited screen time that they have.

In a movie about a famous poet, the writing should also be commendable. “Benediction” has snippets of Siegfried’s poetry, of course, but the movie delivers a lot of above-average and snappy dialogue from Davies’ original screenplay. In a scene where Siegfried finds out that Ivor is dating actor Bobby Andrews (played by Harry Lawtey) at the same time that Ivor has been dating Siegfried, Bobby quips: “If you want fidelity, Siegfried, buy a pet.” (In real life, this actor spelled his name as Bobbie Andrews.) Later, when Glen tells Siegfried that he’s marrying a woman, Glen cynically says: “Purity is like virginity. As soon as you touch it, it becomes corrupt.”

“Benediction” unquestionably has high-quality filmmaking, when it comes to the movie’s acting, production design and costume design. However, “Benediction” doesn’t quite have what it takes to win major awards for any aspects of its filmmaking. The biggest issue is that parts of the film tend to lumber and could have used better editing.

There’s also the problem of introducing Siegfried at a later stage of his life and yet not giving that period of his life enough screen time. The movie leaves out huge parts of Siegfried’s life after he married Hester. These omissions just bring up many questions that “Benediction” never answers.

“Benediction” also doesn’t adequately explain what motivated Siegfried to convert to Catholicism at this stage in his life. There are hints that he was ashamed of his sexuality and wanted to atone for it in a religion that condemns homosexuality, but that interior reasoning is never fully explored in the movie. And for a very manipulative reason (which won’t be revealed in this review), “Benediction” fabricates a story arc near the end of the film about Siegfried becoming a widower. In real life, Hester Sassoon died in 1973—six years after Siegfried’s death.

Viewers might also question if “Benediction” glosses over or ignores a lot of the abusive homophobia that Siegfried might have experienced in his personal life. Except for being put in a psychiatric institution (where “Benediction” shows he was treated pretty well and was lucky enough to have an understanding doctor), Siegfried was never imprisoned, tortured, bullied or fired for his sexuality, if you believe everything in this movie. It might be a testament to Siegfried having certain privileges (fame and high-society friends) that lesser-known and less-privileged gay men didn’t have as protection against homophobic cruelties.

Despite these narrative flaws, “Benediction” is worth seeing for a fascinating portrait of a highly talented artist, what he went through in leading a double life, and the price he and his loved ones had to pay as a result. Viewers who are inclined to think arthouse British period dramas can be too stuffy probably won’t like “Benediction” too much. But for people who enjoy or who are open to this type of entertainment, then “Benediction” is a biopic that will satisfy those cinematic tastes.

Roadside Attractions released “Benediction” in select U.S. cinemas on June 3, 2022. The movie was released in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2022, and in Australia in 2021.

Review: ‘Kindred,’ starring Tamara Lawrance, Jack Lowden and Fiona Shaw

November 27, 2020

by Carla Hay

“Kindred”

Directed by Joe Marcantonio

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed rural part of England, the dramatic thriller “Kindred” features an almost all-white cast of characters (with one black person and one Indian person) representing the working-class, the middle-class and the wealthy.

Culture Clash: After the father of her unborn child dies, a pregnant woman is held captive by the domineering paternal grandmother who wants to raise the child as her own.

Culture Audience: “Kindred” will appeal primarily to people who are looking for an artsier, British version of a Lifetime movie, but without a predictable ending.

Chloe Pirrie, Fiona Shaw, Tamara Lawrance and Jack Lowden in “Kindred” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films/IFC Midnight)

Just like the pregnant protagonist in “Kindred” is essentially imprisoned by her unborn child’s domineering grandmother, viewers will often be frustrated by how this dramatic film can hold people hostage with the hope that things will get better for the protagonist. “Kindred” succeeds in conveying the stifling atmosphere of someone being held captive, under the guise of “it’s for your own good.” But this oppressive tone is almost to a fault, because parts of the movie drag with too much repetition and the sense that the captured heroine could’ve made better choices to get out of her predicament. The movie’s ending will disappoint a great deal of the audience who might be expecting something more formulaic.

However, what will keep most viewers interested in the movie are the compelling performances of the two actresses who portray the women at the center of this power struggle over an unborn child. “Kindred” (which takes place in England) shows hints of being a horror film, but it’s mostly a dramatic thriller about a family feud. It’s one of those movies where the villain doesn’t think she’s evil but sincerely believes that what’s she’s doing is morally right and in the best interest of her family.

“Kindred” is the feature-film debut of director Joe Marcantonio, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jason McClogan. There are parts of the movie where you have to wonder if the screenwriters actually consulted with enough women (especially any women who’ve been pregnant) for some level of authenticity, because some of the actions of the expectant mother in this story just don’t ring true for a pregnant woman who’s trying to save herself and her unborn child. Or maybe this is just a case of a movie that knows it’s got to fill up its feature-length time by having the protagonist make dumb decisions.

At any rate, the movie’s target audience seems to be primarily women, and yet the filmmakers aren’t too concerned with filling in some blanks about the main characters that women usually like to know about for movies like “Kindred.” The movie largely redeems itself in a scene with a heart-to-heart conversation between the heroine and the chief villain to fill in some of those blanks. (It’s the best scene in the movie.) But the romance that sets off the series of events in this movie is barely explained.

In the beginning of “Kindred,” Ben Clayton (played by Edward Holcroft) and his live-in girlfriend Charlotte (played by Tamara Lawrance), who appear to be in their late 20s or early 30s, are getting ready to go over to his widowed mother’s house for a visit that the couple is dreading. Ben tells Charlotte, “She’s going to hate me,” as an indication that they’re going to tell his mother some news that will make her angry and/or sad. Charlotte replies, “Stop worrying. It’s going to be okay.”

Unfortunately, the movie never mentions why Ben and Charlotte are together and for how long. It would certainly go a long way in explaining why viewers are supposed to believe that this couple is compatible and have made a life-changing choice that they are now going to tell Ben’s mother: Ben and Charlotte are planning to move to Australia. Viewers are supposed to assume that Ben and Charlotte are a happy couple just because they’re together, without getting any sense of what Ben and Charlotte might have in common or what their life goals are when they get to Australia.

Ben and Charlotte arrive at his mother’s house, which is a very large manor in an unnamed rural part of England. Ben is very nervous, while Charlotte is much calmer. Ben’s bossy mother Margaret (played by Fiona Shaw) isn’t the only one in the house who’s got him on edge. There’s a man named Thomas (played by Jack Lowden) who lives there and who’s about the same age as Ben.

Thomas has a very odd relationship with Margaret, who treats Thomas like a son but also treats him like a servant who’s at her beck and call, 24 hours a day. Thomas acts as the house’s butler, chef and handyman. He’s very amiable and eager-to-please, but it’s clear that he will do anything that Margaret tells him to do. Charlotte later finds out the hard way.

Ben is noticeably jealous of Thomas, especially when Margaret describes Thomas as Ben’s “brother.” Ben is quick to reply every time: “He’s not my brother.” It doesn’t come out until later in this movie (and this isn’t really a spoiler) why Thomas is living with Margaret.

Ben’s father William died of cancer when he was a child. Years later, when Ben was a teenager, Margaret got romantically involved with an abusive man, who came to live in the manor with his son. That son was Thomas.

It’s never made clear in the movie if Margaret actually married this abusive man, but she describes the relationship later in the movie as “the biggest mistake of my life.” It also explains why she treats Thomas like a son, because Thomas has lived with Margaret, ever since he and his father moved into the house. Thomas’ father died years ago when Thomas was a teenager. His cause of death is revealed in the movie.

This reason for why Thomas is considered “family” to Margaret isn’t revealed until the last third of the film, but it actually would’ve been better to have revealed this information sooner in the film. Up until then, viewers have to keep guessing how Thomas came into Margaret’s life, why she treats Thomas like a son, and why she’s closer to Thomas than she is to her own biological son.

When Ben and Charlotte tell Margaret their big news about moving to Australia, Margaret predictably takes it very hard. She can’t believe that Ben wouldn’t want to stay in England and live at the manor, which he is sure to inherit from her. Ben tells his mother that he doesn’t care about the manor. Margaret gets so upset that she abruptly leaves the room. Thomas invites them to stay for the lunch that was prepared, but Ben and Charlotte decide that the visit has already gone badly, so they both decide to leave.

It’s never really stated what Ben does for a living, but Charlotte works as an outdoor employee at a farm. All the movie shows her doing at work is shoveling hay at a horse stable, when she suddenly vomits. Her co-worker Jane (played by Chloe Pirrie) is nearby and comes to her aid. Charlotte is feeling dizzy, so they decide to go to the nearest hospital to get Charlotte some medical assistance.

Charlotte then gets some news that’s a surprise to her but not a surprise to anyone who knows that when a woman of childbearing age suddenly vomits and feels dizzy in a movie, chances are that means she’s pregnant. Charlotte doesn’t have her own doctor because the doctor who ends up treating her during this pregnancy is named Dr. Richards (played by Anton Lesser), who seems to be the chief doctor in this small-town medical facility. Charlotte meets Dr. Richards for the first time during this hospital visit. And what do you know? He happens to be Margaret’s doctor too.

Why doesn’t Charlotte have her own doctor in a nation with universal health care? It’s never explained why, but viewers can speculate that Charlotte probably mistrusts doctors because Charlotte’s mother (who is either dead or totally estranged from her) had a history of mental illness. Her mother, who used to be a piano teacher, was diagnosed with perinatal psychosis and postpartum depression. In other words, the mental illness was exacerbated by the pregnancy and birth of Charlotte.

Needless to say, Charlotte had a very unhappy childhood. It’s never explained who really raised Charlotte and at what point in her life Charlotte cut off communication with her mother. But it’s clear, based on Charlotte’s negative reaction to finding out that she’s pregnant, Charlotte doesn’t think that she’s ready to become a mother and she has some deep-seated fears that she could pass on mental-illness genes to her unborn child. One of the first things that she asks Dr. Richards when he tells her that she’s pregnant is how she can get an abortion. He advises her to discuss the pregnancy with Ben first.

But Charlotte doesn’t really get a chance to do that, because by the time she returns home to the modest cottage that she shares with Ben, he has already decorated it with pregnancy congratulations. How did Ben find out? Dr. Richards told Margaret about Charlotte’s pregnancy, and Margaret told Ben.

It’s a blatant violation of patient/doctor confidentiality and something that could get a doctor in trouble. Charlotte knows that, and she half-jokingly says that she could report Dr. Richards for this violation. Ben’s enthusiasm over the pregnancy slowly makes her change her mind about having an abortion. However, she ignores this red flag that the doctor would go behind her back and violate her patient privacy.

Although Charlotte changes her mind about the abortion and decides to keep the baby, one thing that she hasn’t changed her mind about is moving to Australia with Ben. Margaret assumes that Ben and Charlotte will get married before the baby is born and that the couple will want to stay in England and live in the manor, but Margaret is wrong about all of those assumptions. Ben and Charlotte are firm in telling her that they have no plans to get married and they are still moving to Australia.

Charlotte and Ben try to comfort Margaret by telling her that they can still keep in touch through visits and videoconferencing, but Margaret flies into a rage and tells them how ungrateful they are and that they’re making a big mistake. Margaret screams, “You are not stealing my flesh and blood to go to the other side of the planet!” Margaret also cruelly says that it would be easier for Charlotte to decide to move to Australia because Charlotte has no family, but Margaret can’t understand why Ben would want to move.

Ben and Charlotte reach a stalemate with Margaret, but the couple remains in solidarity to continue with what was planned. Their lives take a tragic turn when Ben is doing some work in a stable, he accidentally gets kicked in the head by a horse, and he dies in the hospital. Charlotte and Margaret are devastated, of course. Thomas is also saddened, but Ben’s death doesn’t affect him as deeply as it does Margaret and Charlotte.

When they get the news at the hospital that Ben has died, Margaret blurts out to Charlotte that it’s Charlotte’s fault that Ben died. Charlotte becomes enraged and lunges at Margaret and starts to strangle her. Thomas is able to break up the altercation by pulling Charlotte off of Margaret. The implication is clear: Charlotte can be a tough and violent fighter, but she doesn’t really act that way for most of the movie.

Charlotte doesn’t have any family or friends to turn to during her overwhelming grief. And she gets more bad news a few days later when Margaret tells her that Ben had stopped paying the mortgage on the cottage (which was in his name) and it’s being sold in foreclosure. Really? That quickly? This is the part of the movie where a lot of viewers might yell at the screen that Margaret is probably lying.

After all, it’s clear that Ben feared and mistrusted his mother so much that he wanted to move far, far away from her and sever any financial ties he had to her. It doesn’t make sense that Charlotte would blindly trust Margaret, even though Margaret makes a half-hearted apology for the mean-spirited remarks that she previously made. And then if you factor in that Dr. Richards can’t be trusted either, you have a recipe for disaster.

Meanwhile, Thomas has already gone to the cottage, packed up Charlotte’s possessions, and brought them to the manor. Charlotte agrees to temporarily stay at the manor until the child is born. The movie makes it looks like Charlotte is so consumed with grief that she can’t be bothered to find another place to live.

However, “Kindred” has a major plot hole because Charlotte never bothers to look into Ben’s financial affairs now that she’s going to be a single mother raising his child. Did Ben have a will? Did he have life insurance? Did Charlotte and Ben have any joint bank accounts? What are the laws in England when it comes to what a child can inherit if the parents were not married but living together in a common-law domestic partner situation?

These are the things an expectant mother in Charlotte’s situation would think about if the father of her child suddenly dies. But these issues are never mentioned in “Kindred.” It’s why the biggest flaw of this movie is how it treats Charlotte as if she’s an idiot.

Charlotte’s willful ignorance kind of contradicts this image that the filmmakers want Charlotte to have of someone who’s been on her own for a while and supposedly knows how to take care of herself. You’d never know it though, by the way they portray Charlotte as this helpless, pitiful and broken person who lets Margaret take over her life.

Faster than you can say “weak-willed doormat,” Margaret convinces Charlotte that her only option is to stay in the manor until the baby is born. Margaret tells Charlotte that she can still move to Australia after the baby is born, but viewers watching this movie can easily see that Margaret has no intention of letting that happen.

Charlotte and Ben being in an interracial relationship is never mentioned as a problem for old-fashioned and stuck-up Margaret. Margaret seems to have more of a problem with Charlotte being from a lower social class than Ben, and she doesn’t want her grandchild in a working-class environment. Margaret expresses some sexism when she openly declares to Charlotte that she hopes that the child will be a boy.

Margaret tells Charlotte that Dr. Richards has ordered Charlotte to be on strict bed rest until the baby is born. But there’s more than just bed rest that Margaret and Thomas use as a means to keep Charlotte confined to the manor. And sure enough, Charlotte soon finds out that the front gates to the manor are padlocked with heavy chains.

Charlotte gets scolded by Margaret for requests to go outside for a simple walk on the manor’s property or to visit Ben’s grave (he’s buried on the property next to his father) or to do anything outside of the manor. In the rare instances where Charlotte is allowed to leave the house, Thomas must always accompany her. Charlotte becomes more isolated to the point where she’s not even allowed to visit Dr. Richards for prenatal care. Against Charlotte’s objections, Margaret has decided that Charlotte will give birth at the manor, not in a hospital.

And things take a very sinister and creepy turn when Charlotte suspects that she is being drugged. On one occasion, she finds remnants of a crushed pill in the tea that Thomas gives her. And Thomas tells her that she wakes up screaming from nightmares, but she can’t remember ever doing it.

And one morning, she wakes up and is startled to find a fully clothed Thomas sleeping next to her in bed, on top of the bed covers. He’s apologetic but he tells her that she had nightmares the night before and begged him to stay with her. It’s another incident that Charlotte says that she doesn’t remember.

Does Charlotte try to escape? Of course, she does. But she makes some really bad, bungling decisions that get in the way of her escape efforts. Does she try to call for help? During the chaotic ride to the hospital when Ben got injured, Thomas claimed that Charlotte’s phone was broken. He promises to get it fixed, but he never does. And when she does get access to a phone, she doesn’t call the police. She turns to other people for help, and that ends up being a very big mistake.

“Kindred” tries to bring some spooky elements into the story, by constantly featuring crows showing up outside at suspenseful moments. And when Charlotte is sleeping, an image of a horse keeps appearing, but it’s implied that horse is part of her dreams. There’s no real supernatural meaning for any of these animals. Margaret isn’t a secret witch and this isn’t a horror story about the manor being haunted by evil spirits.

Instead, the movie goes back to the same repetition of Charlotte trying to think of ways to escape and her efforts somehow being thwarted. Does Charlotte escape? Does she give birth? And if so, what happens to the baby?

Those questions are answered in the movie, which is mainly worth watching for the battle of wills between the heroine and the villain, since Lawrance and Shaw give performances that add depth to their roles that would have been too shallow if portrayed by less-talented actresses. These performances elevate the quality of “Kindred,” which has a lot of characteristics of being a mediocre “woman in peril” movie that will leave some viewers cold.

IFC Films/IFC Midnight released “Kindred” in select U.S. cinemas, digital and VOD on November 6, 2020.

Review: ‘Capone,’ starring Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, Noel Fisher, Jack Lowden, Matt Dillon and Kyle MacLachlan

May 12, 2020

by Carla Hay

“Capone”

Directed by Josh Trank

Culture Representation: Taking place in Miami Beach in 1947, the drama “Capone” has a predominantly white cast (with some Latino representation) and tells the story of the last year in the life of notorious mobster Al Capone.

Culture Clash: Suffering from neurosyphilis, a demented Capone has flashbacks to his gangster life and has conflicts with family members over his failing health.

Culture Audience: “Capone” will appeal mainly to people who are fascinated with famous American mobsters, but this incoherent movie gives little insight into Capone’s last days.

Just like the way that the title character acts in the movie, the dramatic film “Capone” is a lumbering, stumbling mess that has trouble focusing and has difficulty finding a purpose. Tom Hardy, who seems to be attracted to playing a lot of menacing characters who mumble a lot, is notorious Chicago gangster Alphonse “Al” Capone in the film. The once-powerful mob boss is a shadow of his former self in the last year of his life in 1947, when Capone was a 48-year-old recluse with neurosyphilis at his mansion in Miami Beach.

“Capone” (written, directed and edited by Josh Trank) is basically a 103-minute slog through various scenes of Capone (who insists that people call him Fonz, not Al) either hallucinating, having angry outbursts, or losing control of his bodily functions. Hardy—in grotesque makeup that makes him look like something out of a horror movie—gives it his best shot at delivering an earnest performance of Capone on a downward spiral, physically and mentally. But, unfortunately, the film is so poorly written and directed that “Capone” will be considered one of the low points of Hardy’s career.

There is no real plot to the movie, which takes place almost entirely at the mansion where Capone (released early from prison for tax evasion) is holed up with his loyal wife Mae (played by Linda Cardellini) and employees, including his main goon Gino (played by Gino Cafarelli). Instead of having a coherent story, the movie is supposed to be more like a fever dream that culminates in a machine-gun massacre that didn’t happen in real life.

At different parts of the film, Capone has visions of himself as a child. And there are scenes of him having elaborate dinners with relatives that include his son Junior (played by Noel Fisher), who spends most of the film looking mournful over his father’s pathetic decline. Throughout the movie, a character named Tony (played by Mason Guccione), who’s supposed to be Capone’s long-lost son, keeps calling from Cleveland. Sometimes, Tony talks on the phone when he calls, and other times he calls and says nothing. Yes, it’s that kind of movie.

There’s a character named Dr. Karlock (played by Kyle MacLachlan), who occasionally comes to visit and fret about Capone’s declining health. When the doctor tells Capone’s relatives that cigar-loving Capone has to give up smoking, the relatives act as if the news is as bad as getting a limb amputated. The doctor suggests that Capone chew on a carrot as a substitute for a cigar, and Dr. Karlock demonstrates how it can be done. In response, Gino mocks the doctor for looking like Bugs Bunny. However, for the rest of the movie, viewers will see the bizarre spectacle of Hardy trying to look tough with a carrot in his mouth.

There’s also a laughable scene where Capone is watching “The Wizard of Oz” in a private screening room, when he gets up and sings along to the Cowardly Lion song “If I Were King of the Forest.” In the scene, Cardellini has a hard time keeping a straight face. And most people watching will either laugh or be horrified that Hardy (who’s capable of doing Oscar-caliber work) sunk this low to do this poor-quality film that’s so bad, it’s almost campy.

Capone also has a friend who comes to visit named Johnny (played by Matt Dillon), whose history with Capone isn’t really explained, except that it’s implied that they’ve known each other since before he was in prison. And they know each other well enough for Capone to confide in Johnny while they’re on a fishing trip that Capone has $10 million hidden, but he can’t remember where he hid the money.

But is this real or all in Capone’s head? That question can be asked about many things in the movie. While Johnny drives the car that they take to the fishing trip, Capone is disguised as a woman because he’s paranoid about the government agents who are on his property and watching his every move. If the world needed to see a movie with Capone in drag, you now have writer/director Trank to thank for that.

Trank, by the way, cast himself in “Capone” in a cameo as a FBI agent named Clifford Harris, who accompanies another FBI agent named Stone Crawford (played by Jack Lowden) when they visit the ailing Capone at his home. The FBI agents are on a fruitless quest to get Capone to reveal the secret places where he might have hidden a fortune worth millions. Capone’s attorney Harold Mattingly (played by Neal Brennan) sits in on this pointless interview, and answers most of the questions on behalf of Capone, who can barely grunt answers to the questions.

And then there’s Capone’s nasty temper. He yells at the Latino employees who do yard work on his property, and shouts at one of them that if this servant touches a certain statue, Capone will blow the employee’s head off. While on the fishing trip with Johnny, Capone shoots an alligator for “stealing his fish.” And something as simple as seeing Gino eating at the dinner table is enough to set off Capone, who flings the tablecloth and food, and stomps around and howls like a gorilla that’s been stung by a bee.

Capone is also abusive to his wife Mae. When he spits on her, she hits him so hard that he falls down and hits his head on a hard-surface floor. There’s no purpose to this scene, except to put some of the blame on Mae for the head injury that further causes Capone’s mental deterioration. Like many things in the movie, do not assume that any of it happened in real life.

And that’s not all the violence in the film. Capone has flashbacks or hallucinations about fatal shootings and brutal stabbings. There’s also a scene where he hallucinates that Johnny has pried his own eyes out and served the bloody eyeballs to Capone on a bedsheet. What’s the point of all this gore? Nothing, really, except to remind people that this is supposed to be a movie about a gangster.

Even the most die-hard fans of Hardy will have their patience tested by watching this mindless film, which has moments that are downright embarrassing to everyone involved in the movie. One can only assume that Hardy was attracted to this “Capone” role for a chance to play dress-up as one of the most famous American mobsters of all time. But he’s reduced to being a grunting, marble-mouthed caricature that can barely put a thought together. The movie has no impactful flashbacks that show Capone in his prime, except for a silly scene that has Capone imagining himself at a party where he gets up on stage with the band leader to sing Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill.”

The blame for this sewage dump of a movie lies mostly with writer/director/editor Trank, whose previous film was the 2015 remake of “Fantastic Four,” another stagnant and messy flop. An epilogue in “Capone” says that most of Capone’s relatives changed their names after he died. After making the disastrous “Capone,” Trank might want to think about changing his name too.

Vertical Entertainment released “Capone” in select U.S. virtual cinemas and on digital and VOD on May 12, 2020.