Film

Four new films to see this week

Zola, Boys from County Hell, Last Letter to Your Lover in cinemas, Antebellum streaming

Riley Keough and Taylour Paige in Zola

Donald Clarke
Tara Brady
Sun Aug 8 2021 - 06:00

ZOLA ★★★★☆
Directed by Janicza Bravo. Starring Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Ari'el Stachel, Colman Domingo. 18 cert, gen release, 90 min
Funky, energetic, often thrilling cinematic translation of A'ziah "Zola" King's famous Twitter thread from 2015 that told the story of an exotic dancer (Paige, defiant) getting drawn into mayhem while in Tampa with a reckless acquaintance (Keough, electrifyingly irresponsible). Shot in an ugly/beautiful blaze that kicks up reminders of Sean Baker's Tangerine, Zola stresses incident and character over narrative structure. Happily, the actors are more than up to the task. Time will tell if the social-media thread is set to become the epic poem of the new millennium. For now, Zola feels like a triumphant lunge into fresh territory. Full review DC

BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL ★★★☆☆
Directed by Chris Baugh. Starring Jack Rowan, Nigel O'Neill, Louisa Harland, Michael Hough, Fra Fee, John Lynch. 16 cert, gen release, 89 min

Jack Rowan in Boys from County Hell

The spirited inhabitants of a northern town cope with the undead in an amusing Irish romp from the director of Bad Day for the Cut. The picture is bursting with genuinely gruesome deaths and moments of eloquently staged tension – some a little too murky. The humour comes mainly from the salty dialogue (Brendan Mullin shares writing duties with Baugh) and the convincingly fleshed out performances. Rowan is a strong lead. Derry Girl Harland offers spirited support. The unreal feels real. The real feels even more real. A decidedly decent slice of bog horror. Full review DC

THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER ★★★☆☆
Directed by Augustine Frizzell. Starring Shailene Woodley, Felicity Jones, Callum Turner, Joe Alwyn, Nabhaan Rizwan, Wendy Nottingham. 12A cert, gen release, 110 min

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Shailene Woodley and Callum Turner in The Last Letter from Your Lover

Adapted from Jojo Moyes' novel, this is not the film we were expecting from the talented Frizzell, writer-director of the giddy stoner-girl comedy Never Goin' Back. It is, rather, a moneyed, sumptuous diptych of temporal-jumping love stories. In the present day, a journalist (Jones) reads about a romance in 1960s London. In the 1960s romance they drive a Rolls Royce at home and a Mercedes on their continental holiday. In the contemporary romance, journalists work in a real office. In London! Everyone is charming. There's a beautifully shot cliffside drive that would put James Bond to shame. Oh, why not? Full review TB

ANTEBELLUM ★★★☆☆
Directed by Gerard Bush, Christopher Renz. Starring Janelle Monáe, Arabella Landrum, Jena Malone, Eric Lange,  Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, Gabourey Sidibe. Digital platforms, 106 min

Janelle Monáe in Antebellum

Pitched somewhere between Get Out and Westworld, this nightmarish sci-fi alights in a southern plantation, where brutal overseer Captain Jasper (Huston) is threatening a slave couple with a gun and a rope. A major plot twist later and it becomes something even worse. Antebellum collapses the boundaries between past and present as it cleverly works in themes and topics such as intersectionality and the rise of the American right. The big narrative rug-pull isn't quite as smooth as it ought to be, but there's plenty to admire here, including Monáe's expressive eyes and a vicious turn by Jena Malone. Full review TB