Film

Four new films to see this week

Fresh and Deep Water on demand, The Phantom of the Open and Hive in cinemas

Sebastian Stan and Daisy Edgar-Jones appear in Fresh

Donald Clarke
Tara Brady
Sun Mar 20 2022 - 06:00

FRESH ★★★★☆
Directed by Mimi Cave. Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan, Jonica T Gibbs, Charlotte Le Bon, Dayo Okeniyi, Andrea Bang, Brett Dier. Disney+, 112 min
Edgar-Jones, star of Normal People, advances with a this proudly silly, wildly entertaining dating horror-thriller. Fresh was written by Lauren Kahn, formerly an assistant to Adam McKay, who produced the film. In keeping with the McKay brand, this is a clever, observant, politically aware, fun film that marks a sterling feature debut for director Mimi Cave. It is equally a solid genre effort, characterised by gory set-pieces, discombobulating scenarios, and welcome lashings of feminist revenge. Edgar-Jones initially seems a little young for the lead, but she expertly keeps pace as the movie gets more outrageous. TB

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN ★★★★☆
Directed by Craig Roberts. Starring Mark Rylance, Sally Hawkins, Jake Davies, Rhys Ifans, Jonah Lees, Christian Lees. 12A, gen release, 98 min

Mark Rylance in The Phantom of the Open

Charming comedy-drama concerning Maurice Flitcroft (Rylance, charming), the Quixotic Cumbrian crane operator who, in 1976, posted the worst score ever at qualifying rounds for the British Open golf tournament. Simon Farnaby adapts his own similarly titled book on Flitcroft and, once you twig he also wrote Paddington 2, comparisons between the Peruvian bear and the Cumbrian hacker prove hard to resist. Maybe the film is a bit short on plot and lacking in conflict – even the snobs in blazers come round – but Rylance's warm performance proves hard to resist. DC

HIVE ★★★★☆
Directed by Blerta Basholli. Starring Yllka Gashi, Çun Lajçi, Aurita Agushi. 12A cert, limited release, 84 min

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Hive

True story concerning a Kosovan woman (Gashi) who, following the conflict in that region, resisted misogyny to set up a business selling honey and local delicacies. Basholli's simple, elegantly structured script and Alex Bloom's cinematography places Gashi's carefully calibrated performance in almost every frame. The hero is gritty and resolute enough to inspire the other women to join her, but there's a haunted – not to mention persecuted – quality to her. The feelgood finale is well-earned and the glimpse of the women on which the film is based is, for once, not merely a gimmick. TB

DEEP WATER ★☆☆☆☆
Directed by Adrian Lyne. Starring Starring Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Tracy Letts, Lil Rel Howery, Dash Mihok. Amazon Prime, 115 min

Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck in Deep Water

Terrible adaptation of an excellent Patricia Highsmith novel starring de Armas as the straying wife of charisma-free doorpost Affleck. The closest thing we get to subtext comes when Melinda feeds an apple to her husband (don't make us explain that). The performers could hardly interact more damply if they were exchanging dialogue on Zoom from different continents. A final chase sequence is sufficiently ludicrous to play as an outtake from one of the 87 straight-to-stream thrillers Bruce Willis made last year. For an alleged erotic thriller, Deep Water is notably lacking in thrills and eroticism. DC