Movie of the week – The Transfiguration
There’s a mixed bag of new releases in cinemas this week. The best of the bunch is The Transfiguration, a gritty coming of age drama with a dash of vampirism thrown in. The movie follows a teenage African-American boy whose obsession with vampires leads him to commit a series of murders. When he falls for a troubled girl, his homicidal urges are curbed, but for how long? More Moonlight than Twilight, this is a stunning example of how great the horror genre can be.
Clash
Clash is a claustrophobic and tense Egyptian drama set during the riots that occurred in 2013 when the country’s military ousted the Muslim Brotherhood from power. Set entirely in the rear of a police truck, the film throws together a bunch of characters from opposing political sides and manages to humanise every one of them.
Their Finest
We’re seeing a lot of WWII dramas lately, and this week we have Their Finest, in which Gemma Arterton plays a screenwriter battling sexism while working on a propaganda movie. The film is at its best when exploring the horrors of war, but its comedy is far from innovative.
Unbreakable
Unbreakable is the sort of thriller that filled video store shelves back in the 1990s. Former rom-com queen Katherine Heigl plays a homicidal ex-wife determined to win back her hubby before he marries Rosario Dawson. There’s a degree of campy fun to be had here, and Heigl is clearly enjoying playing the bad girl for a change.
Rules Don’t Apply
Warren Beatty returns as both actor and director with Rules Don’t Apply. Beatty is Howard Hughes in a movie that mainly focusses on the relationship between his chauffeur (Alden Ehrenreich) and a young wannabe starlet (Lily Collins). The film suffers badly from a lack of focus and disjointed storytelling that suggests it’s been butchered from a much longer cut.
By Eric Hillis of themoviewaffler.com
