EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE : Tuesday 27th April 2021.

I saw 'EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE' earlier this week, and this MA15+ Rated American thriller offering is Directed by Vaughn Stein in only his third film making outing after 2018's 'Terminal' and 2020's 'Inheritance'. This film has been in development since 2012 when Rob Reiner was slated to be Directing this film, and over the years that followed that mantle passed to Christine Jeffs in October 2019 before Vaughn Stein was announced as Director in December of that year. Costing US$10M to produce, the film was released in the US in early April to largely unfavourable Reviews. 

Here our film opens up with a car travelling down some deserted highway in Washington State - a big moon in the corner of the shot. We then cut to inside the vehicle which is being driven by Mum Grace Clark (Michelle Monaghan) and her young son Evan (Brenden Sunderland) in the back seat, the pair swapping jokes. Evan is wearing an ice hockey outfit and holding onto a new pair of ice skates, and clearly somewhat reluctant about his debut game. Then out of nowhere, a pick up truck slams straight into the car being driven by mother and son. For one of them it's fatal - and it's not mother Grace.

We then fast forward three years to a lavish isolated home in the hills. Grace is swimming laps in the outdoor heated lap pool while psychiatrist husband Phillip Clark (Casey Affleck) listens intently and takes copious notes from what his patients reveal to him about the inner most thoughts, anxieties and depressions. We subsequently learn that Evan was Grace's only son by a former marriage, and Phillip has a troubled and angst ridden teenage daughter Lucy (India Eisley) also from a former marriage, who was expelled from high school only one week ago because she snorted a line of cocaine in the laboratory during a class. 

One of Phillip's patients is a young 23 year old woman named Daphne (Emily Alyn Lind), who has a history of psychosis in the family and several failed suicide attempts, on whom he performed radical therapy by sharing things about his own personal life and revealing his thoughts and actions that he never even shared with his own wife. This empathetic behaviour, which is somewhat out of the box for psychiatrist's, is frowned upon by some colleagues, most notably Dr. Vanessa Fanning (Veronica Ferres), Phillip's Dean of Faculty at a local psychiatry institute where he also works. Fanning offers words of caution to Phillip, but he replies that Daphne after nine months of therapy has turned the corner, is off her medication, is happy with her life, is being creative for the first time in a very long time and is now in the throes of writing a book about her journey out of the darkness. The only remaining challenge for her is in trying to wrestle herself away from the overly controlling boyfriend. 

Soon afterwards Phillip receives a phone call while travelling home from Daphne who is distraught, saying that her long term best friend was killed in a hit and run accident. This sends Daphne into a downward spiral, although she commits to seeing Phillip the next day. However, the next day never comes, when Police arrive at their home to say that Daphne listed Phillip as her point of contact in the event of an emergency, and that she is now dead, having jumped off the balcony at home and cracked her skull open on the concrete below. Viewing the scene and identifying the body, her brother James Flagg (Sam Claflin) is understandably beside himself. 

A few days later James swings by Phillip's and Grace's home late in the afternoon to return a book that he had lent Daphne. Grace invites James in for dinner where he is more than charming, explains away his English accent, and that he is a failed first time novelist but is working on a second novel which he has higher hopes for. Lucy sends swooning glances James' way throughout dinner, while Phillip is somewhat wary. 

Over the next few days and weeks James gradually works his way into Lucy's life, and she is more than ready and willing to accept his advances. Meanwhile, James has also recruited Grace, who is also a real estate agent, to handle the sale of his sisters lavish home, and at the same time, begins to come on strong with her too. It seems that Phillip, Grace and Lucy have all retreated into their own little closeted worlds since the death of Evan three years ago with very little by way of communication, emotional support or intimacy to go around. 

At about the midway point Phillip comes to the realisation that James is the one behind a series of complaint letters sent to Dr. Fanning and the Washington State Board of Psychiatry about his alleged malpractices. His client base starts to dry up and pretty soon Phillip has lost the majority of his patients. James has been able to finagle his way into Phillip's life as a result of three years of silence and unprocessed grieving which Phillip opens upto Grace one evening asking for her forgiveness, which she grants him. In the meantime, Lucy has persuaded James to take her with him when he eventually leaves, and to get away to anywhere but here. That day is fast approaching. 

With Phillip's and Grace's fractured relationship seemingly repaired, James goes after Grace. In the passenger seat of his car sits Grace without a seatbelt because it is broken, with James tearing down the road at increasing speed. She begs him to stop, but he is not listening. She calls Phillip, and as James veers the car violently from side to side, Grace is knocked unconscious temporarily. James continues the conversation with Phillip telling him of their location. Phillip catches up just as James is about to drive headlong into a truck which would have resulted in the certain death of both. But seconds before, James veers and brings the car to a grinding halt averting a collision. With Grace safely out of the car and in Phillip's arms, James hurriedly drives off, grinning from ear to ear.

Later that night James hands himself into the authorities and is immediately sent to a psychiatric hospital for assessment. He demands to see Phillip as he is the only one he will speak with. Reluctantly Phillip attends an interview with James with Dr. Fanning and a consulting medical physician Dr. Toth (Hiro Kanagawa) in attendance. James comes clean, but clearly is showing signs of being mentally unhinged. Later that night over dinner with Dr. Fanning and her husband Stuart (Vincent Gale), Stuart presents Phillip with James' first novel which he had asked to procure. Turning to the back cover to read the bio of the author James Flagg, the photo of the author is not of the James Flagg that they know. Immediately alarm bells begin to ring. 

Phillip then attempts to call Lucy at home having deduced that James Flagg is a fake and he is in reality Daphne's over controlling boyfriend who threw the girl off the balcony and killed her. Phillip then calls the facility in which James is being held and warns Dr. Toth that there is an imminent danger and to go check on him. In so doing Toth discovers a dead orderly in James' room and no sign of James. While attempting to call Lucy, James has already rocked up to the Clark household, warmly embraced Lucy and told her to go and collect her things, they're leaving tonight. As Lucy goes to collect her bag, James enters the house after her, bolting the door locked from the inside behind him. He grabs Lucy violently and drags her kicking and screaming by the hair up the stairs and into a room with a balcony. By this time Phillip and Grace have arrived, gain easy access to the house, and immediately hear Lucy screaming upstairs. Phillip jumps on James and a fist fight breaks out with each raining down punches on to the other. Lucy and Grace both get thrown across the room, and with James straddling Phillip with his hands clenched tightly around Phillips neck, Grace renders two blows to James's back with Evan's brand new and unused ice skates, and when he reels in pain onto his back she lands another two blows to his chest. James crawls out of the room onto the balcony, rolls over on to his back and dies, just as Police sirens approach. 

'Every Breath You Take' has three fine Actors helming Director Stein's third feature film outing, and each give a solid enough performance, but that said this alone is not enough to lift this all too familiar predictable revenge thriller that offers little by way of surprises and the plot twists and turns you can see coming from a mile away. There is nothing new to see here that hasn't been done before, and better, in countless other similar pot boiling psychological thrillers, and when the end finally comes it all seems almost hurried and underdone, and, left me thinking of Russell Crowe's eventual demise in last years 'Unhinged'. 

'Every Breath You Take' warrants two claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 29th April 2021.

The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honoured the best films of 2020 and early 2021. The awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles, at both the Dolby Theatre and Union Station, on 25th April, two months later than originally planned, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema, thereby extending the eligibility period for feature films through to 28th February. The eligibility criteria had already been modified to account for films originally intended to have a cinematic release, but which were ultimately released directly on to streaming platforms. 

The winners, grinners and also rans at this years Oscars ceremony, are as given below :-

Best Picture

* Awarded to 'NOMADLAND' Directed by Chloe Zhao, beating out 'The Father', 'Judas and the Black Messiah', 'Mank', 'Minari', 'Promising Young Woman', 'Sound of Metal' and 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'.

Best Director

* Awarded to 'CHLOE ZHAO' for 'Nomadland', beating out Thomas Vinterberg for 'Another Round', David Fincher for 'Mank', Lee Isaac Chung for 'Minari' and Emerald Fennell for 'Promising Young Woman'.

Best International Feature Film

* Awarded to 'ANOTHER ROUND' Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, beating out 'Better Days', 'Collective', 'The Man Who Sold His Skin' and 'Quo Vadis, Aida?'

Best Animated Feature Film

* Awarded to 'SOUL' Directed by Pete Docter and Dana Murray, beating out 'Onward', 'Over the Moon', 'A Shaun the Sheep Movie : Farmageddon' and 'Wolfwalkers'.

Best Documentary Feature

* Awarded to 'MY OCTOPUS TEACHER' Directed by Pippa Ehrlich, Craig Foster and James Reed, beating out 'Collective', 'Crip Camp', 'The Mole Agent' and 'Time'.

Best Actress 

* Awarded to FRANCES MCDORMAND for 'Nomadland', beating out Viola Davis for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', Astra Day for 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday', Vanessa Kirby for 'Pieces of a Woman' and Carey Mulligan for 'Promising Young Woman'.

Best Actor

* Awarded to ANTHONY HOPKINS for 'The Father', beating out Riz Ahmed for 'Sound of Metal', Chadwick Boseman for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', Gary Oldman for 'Mank' and Steven Yuen for 'Minari'.

Best Supporting Actress

* Awarded to YOUN YUH-JUNG for 'Minari', beating out Maria Bakalova for 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm', Glenn Close for 'Hillbilly Elegy', Olivia Colman for 'The Father' and Amanda Seyfried for 'Mank'.

Best Supporting Actor

* Awarded to DANIEL KALUUYA for 'Judas and the Black Messiah' beating out Sacha Baron Cohen for 'The Trial of the Chicago 7', Leslie Odom Jr. for 'One Night in Miami...', Paul Raci for 'Sound of Metal' and Lakeith Stanfield for 'Judas and the Black Messiah'.

Best Original Screenplay

* Awarded to 'PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN' by EMERALD FENNELL, beating out 'Judas and the Black Messiah', 'Minari', 'Sound of Metal' and 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'.

Best Adapted Screenplay

* Awarded to 'THE FATHER' by FLORIAN ZELLER and CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON, beating out 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm', 'Nomadland', 'One Night in Miami...' and 'The White Tiger'.

Best Production Design

* Awarded to 'MANK' for Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale, beating out 'The Father', 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', 'News of the World' and 'Tenet'. 

Best Cinematography

* Awarded to 'MANK' for Erik Messerschmidt, beating out 'Judas and the Black Messiah', 'News of the World', 'Nomadland' and 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'.

Best Editing 

* Awarded to 'SOUND OF METAL' for Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, beating out 'The Father', 'Nomadland', 'Promising Young Woman' and 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'.

Best Sound

* Awarded to 'SOUND OF METAL' for Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Philip Bladh, Carlos Cortes and Michelle Couttolenc, beating out 'Greyhound', 'Mank', 'News of the World' and 'Soul'.

Best Make-Up and Hair Styling

* Awarded to 'MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM' for Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson, beating out 'Emma', 'Hillbilly Elegy', 'Mank' and 'Pinocchio'.

Best Costume Design

* Awarded to 'MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM' for Ann Roth, beating out 'Emma', 'Mank', 'Mulan' and 'Pinocchio'.

Best Visual Effects

* Awarded to 'TENET' for Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson, David Lee and Andrew Lockley, beating out 'Love and Monsters', 'The Midnight Sky', 'Mulan' and 'The One and Only Ivan'.

Best Original Score

* Awarded to 'SOUL' for Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste, beating out 'Da 5 Bloods', 'Mank', 'Minari' and 'News of the World'.

Best Original Song

* Awarded to 'FIGHT FOR YOU' from 'Judas and the Black Messiah' with Music by D'Mile and H.E.R. and lyrics by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas, beating out 'Hear My Voice' from 'The Trial of the Chicago 7', 'Husavik' from 'Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga', 'Io sì (Seen)' from 'The Life Ahead' and 'Speak Now' from 'One Night in Miami...'.

For the full run down on this years 93rd Academy Awards, you can go to the official website at : https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2021

Turning attention back to this weeks four latest release new films coming to an Odeon near you in the week ahead, we kick off with an action thriller centering around a cold and mysterious character working at a cash truck business responsible for moving hundreds of millions of dollars around LA each week. This is followed by a story of a local hunter who brings a grieving lawyer back from the brink of death after she retreats to the harsh wilderness of the Rockies. Next up a psychotic oil matriarch leaves the whole industry exposed when she attempts to outfight a bullish farmer whose water has been poisoned, and we close out the week with a highly acclaimed film about a skilled cook travelling west who joins a group of fur trappers in Oregon, though he only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant also seeking his fortune. 

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'WRATH OF MAN' (Rated MA15+) - this American action thriller offering is Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Guy Ritchie and is based on the 2004 French film 'Cash Truck' Directed by Nicolas Boukhrief. The lead star of this film is Jason Statham, with whom Ritchie has worked on three previous occasions - 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', 'Snatch' and 'Revolver' with a fifth collaboration currently in the works on spy thriller 'Five Eyes'. Originally slated for a mid-January release but postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic, this is now released in Australia one week ahead of its US cinema release and not until 23rd July in the UK.

Mysterious and wild-eyed, a new security guard Harry 'H' (Jason Statham) begins work for a cash truck operator responsible for moving hundreds of millions of dollars around Los Angeles each week, and who surprises his co-workers when he unleashes precision skills during a heist. The crew is left wondering who he is and where he came from. Soon, the marksman's ultimate motive becomes clear as he takes dramatic and irrevocable steps to hunt down the people behind the murder of his son. Also starring Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Hartnett, Eddie Marsan, Scott Eastwood, Post Mallone, Andy Garcia and Rob Delaney. 

'LAND' (Rated M) - is an American drama film Directed by the Actress Robin Wright in her Directorial debut, and saw its World Premier screening at this years Sundance Film Festival at the end of January. It went on release in the US in mid-February, has so far made US$3M at the Box Office and has generated largely positive critical acclaim. After experiencing an unspeakable tragedy, middle aged woman Edee Mathis (Robin Wright), finds herself unable to stay connected to the world she once knew and in the face of that uncertainty, retreats to the magnificent, but unforgiving, Wyoming wilderness. Surviving hardship, a near-death experience in which local hunter Miguel (Demian Bichir) brings her back from the brink of death, and a surprise friendship, she must become comfortable living again. Also starring Kim Dickens.

'THE DEVIL HAS A NAME' (Rated M) - this American dark comedy film is a fictionalised drama of real life events surrounding California's Central Valley water contamination wars. Directed, Co-Produced and also starring Edward James Olmos who has 123 screen acting credits to his name, seven as Director, and sixteen as Producer as well as a raft of award wins and nominations throughout his career. The film Premiered at the August 2019 Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, and was then released in the US in selected cinemas, through video on demand, and on digital platforms in mid-October 2020. An ambitious oil executive Gigi Cutler (Kate Bosworth) leaves the whole industry exposed when she tries to outwit a recently widowed farmer, Fred Stern (David Strathairn) whose land has been poisoned. Also starring Alfred Molina, Martin Sheen, Haley Joel Osment, Katie Aselton, Pablo Schreiber and Michael Hogan. 

'FIRST COW' (Rated PG) - is an American drama film Directed by Kelly Reichardt, from a screenplay by Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond based on Raymond's 2004 novel 'The Half Life'. Reichardt's previous film making credits take in her debut in 1994 with 'River of Grass' and then 'Wendy and Lucy' in 2008, 'Night Moves' in 2013 and 'Certain Women' in 2016. The film had its World Premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in late August 2019, was theatrically released in the US in early March 2020, and subsequently released through VOD in July 2020 to acclaim from critics. Here, two travellers, Otis 'Cookie' Figowitz (John Magaro) a quiet chef, and King-Lu (Orion Lee) a Chinese immigrant, are on the run from a band of vengeful hunters in the 1820's Northwest. They dream of striking it rich, but their tenuous plan to make their fortune on the frontier comes to rely on the secret use of a landowner's, Chief Factor (Toby Jones) prized dairy cow. 'First Cow' has so far collected twenty-two award wins and another 139 nominations from around the awards and festival circuit, and on a budget of just US$2M has so far recouped US$101K. Also starring Ewen Bremner, Scott Shepherd, Gary Farmer and Renee Auberjonois (in one of his final film roles).

With four new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the coming week, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

VOYAGERS : Wednesday 21st April 2021.

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'VOYAGERS' at my local multiplex last week. This American Sci-Fi drama is Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Neil Burger whose prior film making credits take in 2002's 'Interview with the Assassin', 2006's 'The Illusionist', 2011's 'Limitless', 2014's 'Divergent' and 2017's remake of the acclaimed French film 'The Intouchables' with 'The Upside'. Originally slated for a release at the end of November 2020, the film was pulled from the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was released earlier this month. The film cost US$29M to produce, has so far recouped US$3.5M and has garnered mixed critical reviews so far.

The film opens up in 2063 and we are told that the future of planet Earth is doomed due to the ravages of climate change, drought, and disease. The only alternative for any hope of humankind surviving is to find a planet capable of sustaining life as we know it, and lo and behold, one such planet does exist. The problem is that it will take eighty-six years to get there. So, the powers that be, breed a crew of brilliant cadets who will live in sterile conditions from the moment they are born by artificial means, and will not know of life outside the confines of the purpose built space station they inhabit until such time as they are old enough to launch for that far away planet. The aim is that when they board the ship, they will in time procreate during their long journey into deep space with the intention that their grandchildren will start over on the distant planet. Enter Richard (Colin Farrell) a scientist, who up to now has played a pivotal role in the upbringing of the cadets from their very earliest days and wants to join them on their mission, even though he knows it is a one way ticket and he will not live long enough to see the journey through. He persuades the mission commander to let him go, meaning that they will be able to bring the launch date forward from seven years hence to four years. And so the thirty or so young children with Richard take off leaving our humble blue planet behind. 

And so as the months turn into years, we fast forward ten years into their eighty-six year journey and the cadets are now young adults. There is Christopher (Tye Sheridan), chief medical officer Sela (Lily-Rose Depp) and Zac (Fionn Whitehead) amongst others. The crew busy themselves by making repairs, growing their own food, keeping fit, and studying and they all appear to get along with one another in a state of peaceful harmony. Of course part of their daily routine is eating together in the mess hall, which includes sipping back a shot of 'blue' which they have been told is for their general health. In reality it is designed to suppress emotions, urges, jealousy and anger. Christopher and Zac begin to question what the blue is really for and what is contained therein. Some further digging reveals the truth, and so they decide to stop drinking it and convince some of the others to do likewise. 

Within a few days a sensory awakening occurs in each one which leads them to take risks including to wrestle in the gym, to touch a member of the opposite sex and to run down the narrow corridors of the ship (all of which were previously against the rules and strictly forbidden). Then one day there's a problem with the comms link which means that Richard has to venture outside the ship on a spacewalk to rectify the issue. He elects for Zac to go with him, but in preparing to suit up Zac starts coming onto Sela. Sela backs away none too pleased with Zac's advances just as Richard enters the airlock. A scuffle ensues and Zac flees into the ship. In his place Richard chooses Christopher to accompany him. While on their space walk tethered to the main body of the ship, with all the crew closely monitoring their every move, a black mass suddenly appears from nowhere, engulfs Richard and sends him reeling backwards into the dark void of space, albeit still tethered. Christopher pulls him in and once back inside the ship he is attended to quickly by Sela. He is badly burned to his hand, arm, neck and face and subsequently dies on the table. Zac claims that the black mass was an alien, and that Richard and/or Christopher possibly brought it onto the ship with them, inside their bodies.

With Richard no more, a new Chief Officer needs to be appointed. Zac puts his hand up straight away but Phoebe (Chante Adams) who is the one that can be relied upon as the straight-talking no nonsense voice of reason follows the rules and states that an election needs to be held. And so the crew all vote and Christopher is declared the winner and the new Chief Officer, much to Zac's surprise and consternation. And so the rebellious Zac starts to tell his ardent followers to ignore their designated duties and responsibilities and basically do as they please. At the same time he spreads increasing paranoia about the presence of the alien aboard the ship, which is only heightened from time to time when mysterious creaks, groans, rattles and unexplained sounds emanate around the ship. And, all the while he is undermining Christopher's attempts to exert his authority and instil a sense of order. When a fire breaks out on the ship all of the comms go down and the surveillance footage is destroyed. It's repairable, but will take time and every crew member is deployed round the clock to bring the ship back up to fully functioning order. 

Meanwhile, Christopher has retrieved the archived footage of the incident outside the ship that cost Richard his life. From it he learns that Zac and his offsider Kal (Archie Madekwe) sent a powerful electrical surge to Richard's suit, and this is what killed him and not some trumped up story about an alien. Christopher reveals this truth to the gathered crew in the mess hall and needless to say Christopher and Zac's relationship comes to a head when Zac announces that he is taking over the reins as the self appointed Chief Officer because Christopher has no clue. 

Zac encourages those that want to follow him can, and so all but five choose to go with Zac. What ensues is an all out race for supremacy with Zac gaining the upper hand at every turn it seems. He finds a stash of weapons concealed in a secret room that are meant for the third generation and so arms his followers to the teeth, while Christopher and Sela have nothing more than a scalpel with which to defend themselves. 

On the run now and fearful for their lives with very few places to hide, Christopher and Sela make the best of a bad situation while Zac is now mightily pissed off and baying for blood. The pair run down the corridors with Zac following closely behind, firmly bolting closed every door behind them, until they run out of doors and come to the airlock. Christopher and Sela suit up, secure themselves as best they are able, and open the airlock door, just as Zac on the other side blasts open the remaining door to the room. He is immediately sucked out but manages to cling on to Christopher as the two battle it out for the upper hand. Christopher who has the protection of a space suit loses his grip on Zac who is wearing nothing but a T-shirt and track pants and is fighting against the freezing temperatures of deep space. Christopher is sucked out and disappears from view. Sela meanwhile launches herself feet first directly at Zac who is caught off guard and is propelled into deep space never to be seen again. She clings on to the airlock door and steadies herself as Christopher comes back into view.

And so with Zac gone, his followers down their weapons and some sense of normalcy is restored. Sela is voted as the new Chief Officer and she seems to be more capable than the previous two. We then fast forward down through the years and see that Sela and Christopher give birth to a son, who grows up with a whole bunch of other youngsters on board. In time, the space ship is seen to be descending on to its destination planet with aged second generation crew and younger third generation crew peering out of the window as the Earth like planet below comes into view.  

With nods to 'Lord of the Flies' and 'Passengers' this nurture versus nature space romp in which the testosterone goes off the scale while the female crew are there seemingly only to provide eye candy, certainly looks the part, has some solid enough set pieces, and the Direction is deftly handled by film maker Burger. The YA Actors and the characters they portray are all largely one dimensional, aside from the three principle leads in Whitehead, Sheridan and Depp who prop up the rest of the cast and carry the film on their slender shoulders. This is predictable territory albeit reasonably well realised, it plods along for a goodly while without much really going on apart from a few cross words and a gnashing of teeth, and when the end comes there's nothing new to see here that we haven't seen countless times before.

'Voyagers' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE UNHOLY : Tuesday 20th April 2021.

'THE UNHOLY' is an M Rated American supernatural horror film which I saw at my local multiplex earlier this week. Written for the screen, Co-Produced, and Directed by Evan Spiliotopoulos in his film making debut, this is based on the 1983 novel 'Shrine' by the acclaimed British horror author James Herbert. Released in the US earlier this month, the film has so far grossed US$11M off the back of a US$10M production budget and has generated mixed Reviews so far. Sam Raimi Co-Produces here.

The films opening sequence is set in 1845 with the execution of a woman for witchcraft. She is hoisted up an old oak tree, an iron mask is nailed to her face and she is burned alive, while a Priest binds her body inside the chained up body of a clay doll. Fast forward to the present day and disgraced albeit very successful former journalist and skeptic Gerry Fenn (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) works for a lowly publication reporting on strange and mysterious stories. We join him as he drives into Banfield, Massachusetts to meet with a local farmer claiming that his prized cow has been allegedly mutilated by some otherworldly force. It turns out to be nothing more that a teenage prank. However, as Fenn prepares to leave, under that same old oak tree as was seen in the opening sequence, he notices something glistening in the bright sunlight. Venturing over to investigate further, partially buried under the soil he uncovers the same doll, wrapped in chains with a date stamp - the 31st February 1845. The farmer siddles up and takes a look over Fenn's shoulder and notices that its just another corn doll that are a common occurrence in these parts and they are forever cropping up in the fields. But this one is different. Fenn crushes its head beneath his boot, not knowing that in so doing he has unintentionally set the woman's spirit free. 

When driving out of Banfield later that evening, Fenn crashes his car headlong into a tree when a girl dressed in a white gown suddenly appears right in front of him, forcing him to swerve suddenly to avoid hitting her. He gives chase through the forest undergrowth and comes to a clearing to find the young girl staring at the same old oak tree where Fenn had earlier in the day found the doll. From behind he hears her talking and then she collapses. He knocks on the door of the nearby church having carried the girl there and is greeted by Father Hagan (William Sadler) who beckons them in. It turns out that the girl is called Alice Pagett (Cricket Brown) and she is a deaf mute, and that Father Hagan took in her in years ago when her own parents died, and has been her guardian ever since, raising the late teenager as through she was his own. Hagan says that it would have been impossible for Alice to speak as she has never been able to talk or hear anything. When Alice comes round she speaks, dumbfounding Hagan, and leading Fenn to believe that this story may just have some merit, so he decides to stay and investigate further. 

The next day during a church service, Alice gets up mid-way through and walks outside followed by other younger members of the congregation, then their parents, Fenn and Hagan. She walks up to the old oak tree and stuns the gathered onlookers by speaking clearly and claiming that she has been cured by the Virgin Mary who speaks directly to her. Needless to say this leads to a media frenzy, and in the process Alice heals a young wheelchair bound lad who is unable to walk, but miraculously is able to for the first time by having faith. All of this is filmed by Fenn.

Within a few days the Catholic Church send Monsignor Delgarde (Diogo Morgado) to investigate whether the claims of miracle healings are genuine or fake. He says that for a miracle to be truly considered genuine it must meet three key criteria - first, that it is not explicable by natural or scientific laws, second the healing must be instant, and third, it must be long lasting. He further states that he has debunked many so called miracles. He is assisted by Bishop Gyles (Cary Elwes). Fenn asks Delgarde and Gyles for exclusivity of the story, and although they are both fully aware of Fenn's chequered history as a now disgraced journalist, they agree. And so Fenn befriends Alice and begins filming his interviews with her, during which time he comes to realise that while she has been speaking with a Mary, it has only been assumed by her that this has been the Virgin Mary, and not some other entity. In the meantime, Fenn has been experiencing his own visions of a sinister Mary figure. This leads him back to Father Hagan, who has also been healed of emphysema by Alice, but also suspects the true nature behind the healings, having had visions of his own. He says that whenever God builds a church, the Devil builds a chapel next door!

Father Hagan discovers an old bound book in a wall cavity detailing the death of Mary Elnor (Marina Mazepa) the woman hanged and burned back in 1845. Mary sold her soul to Satan in order to seek revenge for her death. He would allow her and her descendants, revealed to be Alice, to perform 'miracles' so people would pledge themselves to her and in turn to Satan. To their horror they learn that Alice, who they believe is unaware of Mary's true nature, wishes to hold a service by the tree which is now cordoned off under a big marquee like structure, turning it into a shrine, and broadcast it to the masses. Father Hagan tries to prevent this, but is ultimately visited by the evil spirt of Mary Elnor in his church and winds up very dead suspended from the rafters of the church by his neck.

Meanwhile Fenn is scouring through the archives of the town in the HQ of the Boston archdiocese in an attempt to uncover more of the sinister events that occurred on that 'impossible date' in 1845 while on his mobile phone to local physician Natalie Gates (Katie Aselton) who had previously treated Alice when she was first seemingly cured. As he does so the microfiche files suddenly melt away and the statue of the Virgin Mary in the room begins to crumble and crack. In disbelief at what he is witnessing, the physical embodiment of Mary Elnor appears out of the crumbled Virgin Mary and lurches to attack. Delgarde enters the room brandishing a Holy Bible, a crucifix and chanting at which point the evil spectre vanishes into thin air. 

Back in Banfield, Fenn, Delgarde and Gates go to the church, and on the alter prepare to recite the spell from the bound book previously uncovered by Hagan. But Mary Elnor is already one step ahead of them and out of nowhere the cross standing proudly over the alter bursts into flames and comes crashing down on top of Delgarde. 

As the service begins marking The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Alice, now standing at the shrine, says that Mary is speaking with her and urges everyone to pledge themselves to her three times. Fenn and Gates manage to stop the crowd from fully pledging, saying that none of the miracles are real, and they were all a result of the placebo effect, and that the whole story was fabricated by him. This causes Mary Elnor to angrily appear and kill Bishop Gyles before attempting to kill Fenn. She is stopped by Alice, who sacrifices herself to save his life. This in turn causes Mary to disintegrate, as Alice was her last surviving link to the living world, and as the old oak tree erupts into flame. Struck by her sacrifice, Fenn begs God to save Alice's life. She comes back to life, but is restored to her former deaf-mute status.

'The Unholy' is not a bad film, but it's also not that good. There are a few genuine jump scares here; the imagery of the resurrected evil Mary Elnor are surprisingly effective; the combination of Morgan, Brown and Sadler elevate the film above other similar standard offerings; and while the film starts out promising much it quickly falls into familiar predictable territory that we have seen more times than you can hold a crucifix to. Which is a shame because James Herbert's 1983 book was highly acclaimed at the time of its release, with many reviewers, including the Daily Express saying 'Thrills and chills galore from the best-seller Herbert . . . his best yet . . . the build-up to the horrifying climax is subtle and sophisticated . . . ' But here the Director seems to have sacrificed all those thrills and chills and the horrifying climax for a by the numbers routine and largely unoriginal offering. 

'The Unholy' warrants two claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-