| Extras | Taking Stock |
THE TASTE OF THINGS 12A
Fancy some quality ’noche?
★★★★★ OUT 14 FEBRUARY CINEMAS
Between the shouty sandwich-slinging of The Bear and the haute-cuisine horror of The Menu, recent foodie dramas have really cranked up the sizzle. But this tender and exquisite period piece favours a more quietly intense approach, dropping you right into the creation of an incredible gourmet meal for its first, gloriously uninterrupted 38 minutes.
It’s 1885; Juliette Binoche’s gentle Eugénie has been cooking for wealthy gourmand Dodin (a lip-smacking Benoît Magimel) for two decades. The camera weaves closely around her braising, sauce-skimming excellence as if she were a painter serving up works of art. But when she refuses Dodin’s marriage proposal, he sets out to woo her by cooking an elaborate meal he hopes will capture her taste buds and her heart.
Like Babette’s Feast (1987), it’s a film about how cooking is an act of love, and how shared passion for food kindles real passion (the scoffing of oysters and caviar - in one opulent bite - has never looked more erotic). Anh Hung Tran, who won Best Director at Cannes for this mouth-watering drama, has a lush, watchful visual style (his 1993 classic The Scent of Green Papaya is similarly immersive). Among the gleaming roasts, he celebrates the kitchen choreography involved in a humble beef stew, suggesting Ratatouille-style that the simplest dish can be sublime if made with love.
THE VERDICT
Binoche and Magimel keep the emotion simmering in this gorgeous tribute to slow food and slow cinema.
ONE MORE SHOT 15
★★★★★ OUT NOW SKY CINEMA, NOW
The single-take gimmick that steered 1917 to Oscar glory lends a sleek kineticism to this sequel to 2021’s One Shot, again directed by James Nunn. This time, tireless SEAL Jake Harris (Scott Adkins) finds an airport full of mercenaries waiting when he returns to the US with the terror suspect (Waleed Elgadi) he spent the first film protecting. Slickly choreographed carnage only goes so far, alas, in what ultimately resembles an overextended episode of 24, complete with bonkers conspiracy plot and the use of sadistic torture as an interrogation technique.
BAGHEAD 15
★★★★★ OUT NOW CINEMAS
When Iris (Freya Allan) inherits a broken-down pub from her estranged father (Peter Mullan), she finds it comes with a basement tenant – a shapeshifting creature with burlap on its bonce. Through said creature, punters can commune with the dead… but at what cost? Alberto Corredor’s feature debut expands on his same-titled 2017 short, but lessens the original’s mystery and menace with its additional characters, backstories and creature mythology. It also, unfortunately, arrives not long after breakout hit Talk to Me, which explores similar territory with greater bite.
NIGHT SWIM 15
★★★★★ OUT NOW CINEMAS
Despite credible backing from horror kings Jason Blum and James Wan, this feature-length take on director Bryce McGuire’s own 2014 short sinks like a stone. A family moves into a new home with an outdoor pool harbouring a malevolent force in its depths… Is the water possessed? Does it heal?
Why is sacrifice so important? All questions that are answered unsatisfactorily by the increasingly nonsensical script. Even worse, the film just isn’t scary. Stars Kerry Condon and Wyatt Russell are game for the ride, but are left with precious little to work with by this muddled, zero-thrills mess.
THE CIVIL DEAD TBC
★★★★★ OUT NOW CINEMAS, DIGITAL
Rocking an aggressively indie vibe, this shoestring comedy captures every introvert’s nightmare: hanging out with a friend who refuses to accept when it’s time to go. A chance encounter with an old acquaintance (co-writer Whitmer Thomas) takes a surreal twist when LA photographer Clay (writer/director Clay Tatum) learns that he’s spent the day bonding with a ghost – which links the pair more inexorably than he would prefer… The absurdist humour and nasally performances may grate, but this misanthropic take on The Sixth Sense manages not to overstay its welcome.
MEAN GIRLS 12A
Recycled Plastics…
★★★★★ OUT NOW CINEMAS
In 2004, Mean Girls had surprise on its side. Sharper than your average teen-com, it turned a canny riff on cliques into a quotable meme machine. Even with songs and social media added to the mix, this enjoyable but safe via-Broadway redo lacks that freshness. Returning writer Tina Fey’s script offers tweaks to details more than bold rethinks. And despite co-directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr.’s previous with shorts and pop videos, the film only fitfully summons the gusto that fans of musicals might expect.
Among the better decisions, the stage show’s framing device becomes a TikTok prologue. After a nifty tent-based segue from Africa to the US, brainy Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) arrives at North Shore High, struggling to position herself between the outsiders -Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) – and the Plastics. Cady soon trades studies for status as she infiltrates the latter, enacting Janis’ revenge on ‘queen bee’ Regina (Reneé Rapp) for past grievances.
The cast makes the grade. Rice’s guileless lead contrasts nicely with Rapp’s resting OMG face. The adults seem to be having more fun still (Busy Philipps, Jon Hamm, a returning Tim Meadows and Fey herself). Alas, the cookie-cutter songs over-extend the plot, leaving the second half saggy. A livelier Revenge Party lifts proceedings, but ultimately this revisit trades surprise for knowing recognition and nostalgia.
THE VERDICT
A little more than a remake yet less than a makeover, Fey’s revisit needed more daring to be wholly worthwhile.