THE NEST : Tuesday 9th February 2021.

'THE NEST' which I saw earlier this week is an MA15+ Rated psychological thriller offering Directed, Written and Co-Produced by the Canadian Sean Durkin, in only his second film making outing following the acclaimed 'Martha Marcy May Marlene' in 2011. This film saw its World Premier screening at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2020, went on release in the US in mid-September, has garnered generally favourable Reviews, has so far grossed US$902K and has picked up four award wins and another twelve nominations from around the awards and festival circuit.

Here Englishman Rory O'Hara (Jude Law), an ambitious entrepreneur and commodities broker, persuades his American wife, Allison (Carrie Coon), and their children Benjamin (Charlie Shotwell) and Samantha (Oona Roche) to leave the comforts of suburban America and return to his native England during the 1980's. Rory believes that his time in the US is up, and new opportunities are becoming increasingly scarce and that London is the up and coming place to be in his particular line of business. As the film opens up we see Rory at the window of his home in the New York suburbs on the phone to his former boss and mentor in England, Arthur Davis. Rory has lived in America for the last ten or so years. 

Despite being fairly reluctant at first, Allison soon gives way and agrees to the move with some coercion from her mother (Wendy Crewson), who thinks it will be a good move for the family. And so Rory goes on ahead leaving Allison to pack up the family and follow on afterwards. In the meantime Rory has rented a huge old 17th Century mansion with extensive acreage in rural Surrey, and paid a years rent up front. Soon after arriving, Rory buys a horse for Allison (she used to train horse riding back in the US and had her own stables) named Richmond so that she can get back in the saddle and begin her horse riding lessons again. He also commissions the building of a stables on the property, which he has made it clear that he intends to buy after the initial one year period is up. 

Meanwhile, Rory takes Allison to lavish parties hosted by Arthur Davis (Michael Culkin), where he can show off his American trophy wife and schmooze with his colleagues. Several weeks pass by and Allison notices that the builders are no longer working on the construction of her stables. She calls the builder and asking why, only to be told that Rory's initial cheque payment bounced and he said he would post another and he never did, so the builders downed tools and refuse to do any more work. 

Allison looks into their bank account details to discover that there is only six hundred pounds therein. Confronting Rory over their money situation, he responds saying that he is expecting a big pay day to come in within the next couple of weeks and that this will see an end to their monetary woes. The pair get into an explosive argument over their financial situation and Rory's reckless behaviour masquerading as rich and successful when in fact he's the opposite. 

At the office, Rory announces to Arthur that he may wish to consider selling his company and enjoy the retirement he has worked toward his entire life. Rory behind the scenes has been in discussion with a larger American firm looking for a London office, and the deal could be very lucrative for them all. This is the big pay day that Rory eluded to previously to Allison, but after some consideration, Arthur backs out of the deal believing that the deal does not represent a good fit. Rory explodes at Arthur with this news, but is quickly put back in his box by the older statesman who tells him to go and do what he's good at - trading the stock market. Back at the house meanwhile, Richmond is being put through her paces by Allison when the horse collapses in pain. Allison is forced to go to a neighbouring farmer, who puts the horse down.

In order to provide for some basic income to support the family home and pay the basic bills, Allison starts working for the farmer who put the horse down. Sam makes some questionable friends from the local area and Ben gets into a fight at school with some bullies. Rory and one of his long standing colleagues Steve (Adeel Akhtar) organise a potentially very lucrative deal with a Norwegian fish-farming outfit and host their clients with their respective partners at an upmarket restaurant in the city. Over dinner Allison openly derides her husband in front of the other guests, and then storms out, goes to a nightclub and drinks and dances the night away, alone. Rory is embarrassed and tries to downplay Allison's outburst in front of the clients. Outside the restaurant when the clients have left Rory says that as he's missed the last train home he and Steve should hit the town. Steve refuses saying that the clients only want to deal with him and have cut Rory out. Rory catches a cab back to Surrey and confesses his many indiscretions to the cab driver, claiming his job is 'pretending to be rich'. With Rory's confessions making it clear that he is both broke and a liar, the driver surmises that he will be unable to pay for the long fare home and orders him out of the cab leaving him in the middle of nowhere, miles from his home. 

In the meantime, Sam has organised an impromptu party at the family home while Mum and Dad are in the city. The house is overrun with drugged up and drunken teenagers who over the course of the evening wreck the place. As the party increasingly gets more and more out of control, Ben was outside when he noticed the mound of earth under which Richmond had been hastily buried had risen up exposing the carcass of the dead horse, presumably from the build of gas and due to an improper burial in the first place. 

The next morning Allison wakes up behind the steering wheel of her parked car in some country lane. She drives home to find the place trashed and offensive graffiti sprayed on the walls inside the house. She calls out for Sam and Ben. Ben responds first having taken refuge in a secret room. He takes her to the grave of Richmond showing her the horse's risen body which is now almost totally exposed. She breaks down clawing at the soil as Sam joins them. Sam and Ben both turn away walking back to the house leaving Allison to grieve further for the dead animal. Sam and Ben agree to rustle up breakfast for them all. Rory walks in and finds his family seated at the table eating their breakfast. He starts proposing another relocation, and says that Arthur's firm is not for him and he has a plan to set up his own brokerage business and consultancy using his extensive network, but Allison simply tells him to 'stop'. Rory breaks down in tears, as Sam gets up and puts her arms around him. She then pulls up a chair for him at the table, sets a place, and he joins them for breakfast holding Allison's hand.

'The Nest' is a slow burn movie that has at its heart rage, resentment and despair that starts out all lovey dovey and shortly after relocating from the US to England the cracks in the relationship start to appear, and by the end there is a reconciliation of sorts and a thin sliver of hope for this dysfunctional family. Jude Law and Carrie Coon are on top form in their portrayal of husband and wife keeping the rapport and the emotional rollercoaster ride very real and believable as their seemingly idyllic marriage and lifestyle slowly begins to unravel before our very eyes. Law plays it like an English version of Gordon Gecko from 'Wall Street' - same era that coined the phrase 'greed is good' and whilst like Gecko, Rory O'Hara has seemingly all the trappings of his success, unlike Gecko Rory's riches are made up, the tank is empty and he can never be entirely happy or satisfied with his lot. As for Director and Writer Sean Durkin, he has crafted a film that pays attention to the detail in building the tension, developing the story behind each of the characters, and unfolding the marital implosion in small yet nuanced ways. That said, I was left a little frustrated and depressed by this film's bleakness and the unanswered questions that were left hanging once the end credits rolled, but despite this the film is worth a look for Law's and Coon's convincing, possibly never been better performances. 

'The Nest' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE NIGHTINGALE : Tuesday 3rd September 2019.

'THE NIGHTINGALE' which I saw earlier this week, is an MA15+ rated Australian period piece thriller Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Jennifer Kent in only her second film making outing following 2014's highly acclaimed horror offering 'The Babadook'.  This film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival back in September 2018 where it won the Special Jury Prize, had its Australian Premier at the 2018 Adelaide Film Festival, saw its US release earlier in August and in Australia last week after its screening at the recent Sydney Film Festival too. It has so far received generally positive Reviews, although has divided audiences with its graphic depictions of rape and murder. Kent subsequently defended the decision to depict such violence, claiming that the film contains historically accurate representations of the colonial violence and racism that took place against the Australian Indigenous people of that time (circa 1825). The film was produced in collaboration with Tasmanian Aboriginal elders who feel that this is an honest and necessary depiction of their history, and a story that needs to be told.

Set in Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land) in 1825 and the early on-set of the Black War, Clare Carroll (Aisling Franciosi), a 21-year-old Irish convict is serving out her time working as a servant in some remote British military outpost overseen by Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin) and Sergeant Ruse (Damon Herriman). The unit is being visited by a commanding officer to determine if Hawkins is fit to be considered for promotion to the rank of Captain.

After her night shift has finished, with Clare serving the soldiers drinks and singing them a few songs, she asks Hawkins about her now long overdue letter of recommendation that would allow the family, husband Aidan (Michael Sheasby) and their baby child, their freedom. Hawkins takes her request as insolence and consequently rapes and beats her. The next night Aidan, liquored up, gets into a brawl with Hawkins, Ruse and a Private Jago (Harry Greenwood) while asking for the same letter of recommendation that Clare had enquired about the previous day. The commanding officer walks in on the brawl unfolding and bears witness to the whole sorry affair and determines that this, along with other acts of misconduct and inappropriate behaviour displayed by Hawkins and his small group of soldiers, deem him unfit for promotion.

Mightily pissed-off by this turn of events, Hawkins commands Ruse and Jago to gather supplies, a few extra convict men to help fetch and carry and a local black tracker named Charlie (Charlie Jampijinpa Brown) for an impromptu five day journey on foot through dangerous and near impenetrable bushland to the town of Launceston in order to secure his promotion via an officer contact he has there, and with whom he seems to have some sway. Before they leave early the next morning, the soldiers intercept the Carroll family attempting to flee. Hawkins taunts Aiden about the many occasions he’s had sex with Clare before he and Ruse gang rape Clare, shoot Aiden at point blank range in the neck, and Jago kills their baby and then knocks Clare unconscious with the butt end of his rifle. Clare comes round the next morning with the sight of her dead husband lying in a pool of blood and her baby's lifeless body on the hard stone floor by the door.

The next day Clare reports the incident to a suspicious Royal Military Police official, carrying the dead body of her baby, who is less than sympathetic - after all why should he believe the rantings of a convict woman over the story of Officers in the Army. She decides to seek out revenge for herself with a help of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr) whom she entices with the promise of two shillings in payment. Clare is guarded about her motives and states that she wishes to catch-up with her soldier husband en route to Launceston. The travelling pair initially share a mutual hostility towards one another but begin to bond over stories about their tragic upbringings and shared hatred of the English.

Hawkins meanwhile en route with his small party takes a liking to one of the convicts, an eight year old orphan child named Eddie (Charlie Shotwell), and Ruse kidnaps an Aboriginal woman named Lowanna (Magnolia Maymuru) that he stumbled across in the bushland, to be used as a sex slave. The next day when a small group of Aboriginal men have located their missing Lowanna, they kill one of the convicts and injure Jago with a spear in the leg, in a rescue mission, but their attack proves unsuccessful as Hawkins shoots Lowanna in the back in retaliation. Clare and Billy stumble upon a limping and delirious Jago, and Clare corners and brutally kills him by stabbing him several times in the chest and smashing his face to a pulp with the butt-end of her rifle.

Billy has witnessed this and considers leaving Clare to her own devices in the dense forest, but works out her revenge motivations and decides to stay. Charlie meanwhile as the trusted tracker to Hawkins party, and as revenge for the soldiers' inhumanity, diverts the journey to a dead end on the summit of a mountain. Ruse kills Charlie but Hawkins chastises the rash decision and forces Ruse to be their guide on the way back down the mountain, handing over Ruse's former responsibilities to the eight year old Eddie. Clare and Billy come across Charlie’s body while tracing their steps, and Billy performs customary burial rites and informs Clare that he now seeks
revenge too for killing his Uncle figure.

Clare and Billy catch up with the group of four and hide behind a rocky outcrop. Armed with her rifle pointing directly at Hawkins, Clare freezes when she sees him, allowing Hawkins to retaliate fire grazing her shoulder with a shot from his rifle. Clare flees and the pair split up and are separated. Billy, however, is found and forced to be the new guide, replacing Charlie and a clueless Ruse. Billy reluctantly leads the soldiers to the main path to Launceston, at which point Hawkins commands Eddie to shoot Billy. The eight year old Eddie naturally hesitates, so allowing Billy to escape. Hawkins berates Eddie and turns his back on him saying that when he arrives in Launceston he will advise the local Police that there is a convict child running wild on the path into town. Eddie gets very upset by this threat and cries out for a second chance to prove his worth. Hawkins turns and shoots the boy dead to shut him up.

Having spent the night nestled under a tree in the forest hinterland of Launceston, Clare the next morning finds her way back onto the main path and reunites with Billy. While on their way, they come across what looks like an abandoned house. Entering they see a recently murdered couple in their bed having both suffered several gunshot wounds to the chest. From the house they take a rifle, some food and a change of clothes. Walking towards Launceston they encounter a chain gang of Aboriginals, led by three armed white fellas. In their native tongue Billy speaks of his origin and that he is seeking to reunite with his people in the north. One of the chained Aboriginals informs Billy that he is the last of his people, they had been wiped out and all killed. When the prisoner yells at his captors for their callousness, they shoot him and the others dead. Clare and Billy pass, on the pretext that Billy is Clare's prisoner and she is taking him to Launceston to see that justice is served on him.

In Launceston, Clare and Billy are sighted in the street by Hawkins and Ruse. Hawkins orders Ruse to notify the Police that a black boy is on the loose in town, and tells Clare that if he ever sees her again, he will have no hesitation in killing her. The newly promoted Hawkins joins his commanding officer in a men only bar for a welcome drink, at which point Clare bursts in and confronts Hawkins about his war crimes in front of a now silent bar full of fellow soldiers and officers all looking on. Billy watches through the window from a hiding spot. The two then flee town for the night. During the night while Clare is sleeping, Billy covers himself with white war paint and has carved two spears. He makes his way back to Launceston. By this time Clare has woken up and has given chase arriving in Launceston just as she spies Billy entering the hostel where Hawkins and Ruse are lodged. Billy first spears Hawkins right through the heart killing him instantly and then drives his second spear though Ruse's throat pinning him to a wall. Ruse however, before he died got off a single rifle shot wounding Billy in the stomach. Claire and Billy flee the commotion at the hostel on the back of Clare's horse which Hawkins has previously stolen from her. In time following the river, they arrive at a beach where Billy dances and declares himself a free man before slumping down on the wet sand as Clare sings a folk song and the two watch the sun rise over the horizon.

'The Nightingale' is a confronting film and at times an uneasy watch for its repeated rape scenes, violence and callous cold blooded murders of men, women and children mostly of native Australian origin, but also of white convicts for simply speaking up or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, in choosing to depict such scenes of human depravity Director and Writer Jennifer Kent has captured the essence of that era in a story that has to be told as it resonates as much today as it did back then. Aisling Franciosi and Baykali Ganambarr give powerful and convincing performances, and Sam Claflin is definitely playing against type here and does so with a disturbing intensity. It's interesting to note that the depiction of the horrors that befell Australia's Indigenous population back in the days of early white settlement is particularly apposite given last weeks Reviewed 'The Australian Dream'. Kent has here shown that she is an Australian film maker to watch and that this is a very noteworthy follow up to her debut of five years ago, that will further cement her position as a master of her craft. My only criticism is that at a running time of 136 minutes, the film drags on for a little too long and consequently becomes a tad repetitive and predictable especially in the last half an hour, when shaving off 15 or 20 minutes in the editing suite would perhaps have served for greater coherence and less monotony.

'The Nightingale' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-