Breaking In (2018)

Smart home, invasion. Gabrielle Union stays in her deceased father's home with her two children when a group of criminals break in to steal what's in her fathers safe. They only learn upon arrival how smart the house is. 

Seeing the trailer I thought this was just going to be a fun actiony thriller thing. And I was right. The children get trapped inside with the criminals whilst mama Union tries to finds her way in. So the house is kitted out. When we arrive the son finds all the surveillance, every room, every door, motion activated sensors, control panel to watch and cover that and lighting and speakers. Oh and a drone, cos why not. If this was ten years ago it might have been seen as a little stretch but now you accept it easy. And you accept how easy it is to control. 

When the family first arrive Union's character Shaun notices a few out of place things, things we find are due to the fact there had been people in the house. Pairing that with the fact it's the house she grew up in mixed with a little desperation her quick wit seems pretty believing. The four intruders were done reasonably well though one was a little excessive. The ring leader, Eddie, played by Billy Burke, means business and respects Shaun somewhat. Though underestimating her he isn't entirely surprised by her progress and successes. One of the intruders isn't really given a character but the other two work well off each other. One is s murderous and impulsive and the other already regret the decision when the kids are involved. They rock back and forth, pushing each other closer and further from redemption. We see the daughter pick up traits from her mother and help her and her brother survive. We're not given a great deal of intro other than that and that's all we need. 

The action was decent and well thought out. Stayed interesting throughout and kept tensions high during quite a few scenes. Didn't fall victim to 'she should have gone that way' or 'why didn't she do that'. Partly because the whole situation is on a time limit, The security company call 911 if systems aren't back online after the mains were cut. And partly because she's just smarter than the audience. And I'm okay with that. There were a few parts where she seemed to be able to take more hits than I would have expected a human to handle and still stand afterwards. And it definitely reminded me that hollywood mums are just fitter than real life mums, because how many other 45 year olds can fight strangers and climb onto roofs? 

The script was alright though some of the dialogue was a bit lacking. By some I mean most, most of the interesting parts of the film involved silence and action. Yes it did lean on the mama bear protecting cubs thing, which wasn't as annoying as it could have been, but was still pretty cliche in doing so. Though Union and Burke were great a cast can only go so far with what they're given. 

Had surprisingly smart scenes, would watch again/would have in the background. Just slightly more original than the standard home invasion but not by a great deal. Passable but not an urgent watch 5/10

CINEMATES - A

The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)

Yet another preview screening from Odeon here in the UK. This Scream Unseen was The Strangers: Prey at Night. I was not impressed with this being the surprise film as I was not looking forward to it. I thought this seemed like an unnecessary sequel to what was the somewhat well received 2008 film The Strangers. It's the same story, this time it's a family of four in a trailer park that get attack in the same knifey way.

The appeal of the first film, which this one followed to begin with, was how real it could be. That it's literally just people, strangers, that pick on other strangers to kill. There was the odd highly strung moment. Many moments where it made you think, what would I do, where would I go. The characters of course made the wrong decisions but at least it becomes engaging. 

The film takes place pretty much in real time in one night in this deserted trailer park so it's dark and just surrounded by darkness. And the cinematography is dark for the most part. There was a particular scene and shot in particular that was quite interesting in a swimming pool. I won't spoil it but it's well lit and colourful and unlike the beginning of the film. It was immersive in the midst of the action regardless whether the action is satisfying or not, that's up to you. This scene also has music blaring from speakers, 80's music, which we hear multiple times straight from the film as the killers enjoy it. some of which was fun, was unsettling, music to violence can make you feel some kind of way and it did. Until it was a hugely popular track which just takes you out of the film and the moment. 

The cast were alright. I'm a fan of Christina Hendricks, she was fine. Dad played by Martin Henderson was also fine. Brother and sister Lewis Pullman and Bailee Madison were okay. They has some awkward sibling back and forth which wasn't so much them as it was the script. Some of the dialogue was weak. They had set up a backstory for the daughter that seemed pointless. Didn't give quite enough to warrant it connecting to her character or make any part of her behaviour justifiable. Followed by no explanation it was honestly unnecessary, didn't add as they didn't commit to it. 

I touched on scenes leading you to different directions and characters choosing the wrong way. Now I'm fine with some silliness, I am happy to indulge that. But this film didn't want to be silly until it was too late. By then we've already been lulled into a horror that's attempting to be taken seriously. The less than subtle dive into unbelievable nonsense is a joke. It felt like something I'd watch age 12 at a sleepover. Which I would have been more open to it they had committed to that from the start. Doing this they managed to miss out on a chilling horror and a guilty pleasure by awkwardly dipping their toes in each instead of jumping into one. 

The best way to describe the film is disposable. It's a one view only type of thing that you will forget about. In the first film when asked why they were doing this they replied, 'Because you were home. ' THAT was what this film needed. More chilling, less nonsense, not as powerful as it should have been. 5/10


CINEMATES - A 

Love, Simon (2018)

Here we go, another novel adapted to a screenplay… and for once I’m sure this wasn’t a mistake.

Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) lives a normal life, as he tells us right at the start of this film. He has a happy home life, with his mum (Jennifer Garner), his dad (Josh Duhamel) and his sister Nora (Talitha Bateman). He has a great group of friends, who he has been friends with for years Nick, and Leah, and his new found friend Abby (Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Katherine Lagford, and Alexandra Shipp) and is the guy everyone likes, generally. However, he has a secret that he has been keeping from all of these people, and the rest of the world – he’s gay.

He connects with someone online, because of a reveal on their school blog, type website, and finally he can open up to someone and he feels a that a burden has been lifted, and for the first time, is allowed to feel what he wants to despite keeping the truth bottled up. Another person finds out about his emails to his ‘pen-pal’, Blue – and all hell breaks loose. He has to choose between what is right, and what is easy whilst putting all of these brilliant relationships, and his perfect life on the line.

First things first, I think the producer for this film was a solid match. As someone who is openly gay, Greg Berlanti had this. There was such a personal element that was felt throughout this film, it was really just spot on. I mean, I am not gay, but it was almost like films about people who loose family members to cnacer, you can relate on some level. Anything involving how much respect is deserved by those within the LGBTQ+ community is something I live for. That is a community I comfortably assosciate myself as a part of, and this film - in particular how Simon dealt with everything about his situation filled me with masses of warmth.

The emphasis on this should definitely be how his support networks were written in to this. Don’t get me wrong, like always, this is an over perfect, ideal kind of result. What are the chances of things ever panning out this way? But come on, it’s fictional, and it got shit for a little while for Simon, because we’re humans and we all mess up because we are a selfish species… But then we manage to bring it back in after some wallowing and consistent apologising. 

This film really focused on how awful things can be, and how imperfect romance really is, and that’s what I liked about it. Oh, I’m also a sucker for a happy ending.

The cast were responsible for SO MUCH SUCCESS IN THIS. What an absolute gem Nick Robinson is. His performance was fantastically multi-layered and ticked all of the boxes. He was able to turn on his charm when needed, demonstrate that Simon needed to hide his emotions at times, was able to be funny and easy going, and when it came down to it really go for it and pull on the old heartstrings of the audience. I felt connected with Simon, and his group of friends. Such moving performances from such generally young cast. Credit, where credit is due.  

The editing in this was perfect. It was well paced, it was upbeat, and it adjusted to what was going on where it needed to in the story. The script was spot on, we got a sweet dose of knowledge every now and then, and really got to know everyone enough that the film wasn’t filled with pure fluff, but didn’t leave you lost expecting more.

The score was brilliantly selected, suiting so many different moods, and genuinely kept me smiling, and again helped with the pacing, and with helping you feel connected to the characters we were learning about and watching.

This film was about a young boy coming out as gay, but it was also about the struggles of being a teenager. This was a decent ‘coming of age’ rom-com. Any topical humour that was thrown in, was not offensive, it was funny. It didn’t change my opinion on any one person, or group of people. It didn’t make me cringe, it wasn’t a bunch of kids being badly portrayed, it felt real. The level of thought put into this production is what made it a success. The obvious chunks of personality, and personal experience and feeling that have clearly gone into its creation have made it one of my favourite films of 2018, so far.



Definitely a must-see. Like I said, I’m not gay, but its inoffensive, heart-warming and SO worth the watch. I’m ready to see this again.

7.5/10

CINEMATES - S

A Quiet Place (2018)

I was intrigued on the trailer, those few minutes made me quiet and hesitant and the whole film is exactly the same. John Krasinski stars in his directorial debut with his wife Emily Blunt in arguably the best horror of the year, and it's only just April. Set in a post apocalyptic world where blind monsters hunt by sound alone and very few have survived. Krasinski, Blunt and their children live on a farm communicating via sign language. Their daughter, Regan, is deaf and confident, their son, Marcus, less so. We learn the family has grieved early on and that they are expecting a new baby soon. 

Right let's talk about sound cos hot damn. Adored the sound, as soon as it finished I thought this could be it this could be the first horror to get an Oscar nom for sound mixing and or editing. With Regan being deaf we alternate to be given her perspective. The sound goes from suspenseful, quiet footsteps or breathing to absolute silence. It's odd how you almost feel like you can relax your breath in complete absence of sound, you almost feel safer not hearing the creatures creeping about or the potentially too loud stumble. It becomes understandable as to why she has more confidence than her brother. 

The score was perfect, gentle yet pulsating, the monsters were raw as was the rest of the sound used. With the farm location there's a lot of open space for sounds to sit, as with the forest and river scenes. The cinematography was good, the same, natural and unclean as the world is now. We get a lot of intimate shots to emphasise the expressions on our ensembles faces, Krasinski's Lee is sternly animated, think sexy Wreck It Ralph. Great wide shots to contrast, stationary shots to ground the scene with more movements to show haste. 

One of the things I thoroughly enjoyed was the visual storytelling. There's no flash backs, there's no, hey remember what happened that time, no vocal spoon feeding. We get a great deal of newspaper clippings to show a how time has passed. 'YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN' titles a front page to show just how far things have gone. We don't have another family to compared to so the old news is new to us, it gives us scale. The basement in the framehouse has Krasinski's work, off limit to the kids. This again gives us an idea of time frame, the amount of research he has put into hearing aids and radio signals. The collection of materials and resourcing weighs the room down without telling us directly. Same with the baby proofing or hinting at later scenes, they place them in the frame and let you take it in. 

Another thing worth noting is the monster. We see it! We see the monsters a lot. And clearly and well. It's not a big secret with a huge reveal at the end that becomes disappointing. They're gradually shown and introduced more each time, I respect them so much more for giving us that. They're interesting to watch, fascinating to see gravitate towards sound and actually kinda scary. I think they were perfectly designed for the story.

The cast was spectacular, I walked out of the screening just thinking about what a great father Krasinski is and learning after that he felt this was an ode to his children is it becomes obvious. Blunt again was fantastic, both natural parents and great actors so I would have believed they were married on film even if they weren't in real life. The kids were also great, Millicent Simmonds is a great sister and teenage girl, she handles herself well. Noah Jupe was sweet and terrified, you see him give in a little and trust his parents even though he's frightened of just being alive at this point. 

The only flaw for me, no spoilers, is the conclusion. Not because I didn't like it, I did. But because it wasn't sooner. Not in the film but within the world they've created. I struggle to believe with how much work they put into surviving and learning about the creatures that they wouldn't have come to this conclusion earlier. Other than that great pacing for a horror, maintained itself well.

I adored this, I'm completely ready to watch this in complete silence in my own home on blu ray later this year. Refreshing storytelling, must watch for horror fans, good amount of heart in there. 8/10

CINEMATES - A 

Ghost Stories (2017)

First Scream Unseen of the year goes to British horror Ghost Stories. What appeared to be an anthology is our protagonist, skeptic Professor Phillip Goodman, trying to understand three unexplained supernatural incidents. 


I will preface this with the fact I'm a fan of horror movies, all styles or various qualities. At the bottom of my list however finds British horrors and ghosts. With that in mind I was still interested in this film. This in part due to the narrative structure and part due to the cast. With the format having 3 unrelated stories it felt like a few short films. The separation meant the didn't have to rely on each other for momentum. Didn't have to have suspense hold for that long, just 20 minutes or so. Having multiple crescendos is kinda of boring, something has to follow it, it's not the end, even the end of the third story, isn't the end. It's hard to managed to pacing on something like that. 

It was shot as a horror movie. Lots of shots that linger that second too long. A lot of framing where our character is to one side, leading our eyes to an empty space, encouraging you to brace yourself in anticipation. That sometimes paid off and sometimes didn't. I couldn't count how many jumps there were in this film there were so many. Some people enjoy that, some people think its lazy. I think short films can do that no questions asked, I think feature length films shouldn't rely on it. With this being essentially both, it did feel a little much. Again due to the structure of the film it had some cliches, each story is thematically connected but almost thought of itself as a separate thing so reused old horror tropes. Small girl in a corridor, check, creepy woman running at the camera, check, something coming from a misty forest, open doorways to blackness etc etc check check. Fun, sure but has been done before. The sound was decent, again, done with horror in mind. Same as the locations and behaviours of the characters. 

Some of the cast were forgettable for me. Martin Freeman is charming as ever, I enjoy watching him in whatever he's in and this is no exception. I'm also a huge fan of Alex Lawther. He's in Black Mirror's 'Shut up and Dance' episode, Netflix's 'End of the F***ing World' as well as recent release Freak Show (2017). With such interesting character choices I was completely on board to watch minimum his segment. He seems to do desperation and socially inept quite well? These two were the most fun to watch for me. No one was bad but they were the most captivating to watch. 

There's some subtle notices throughout that lead you subconsciously to the end of the film though it isn't exactly expected. It's again kind of a cliche and kind of disappointing? No spoilers of course but it wasn't all that satisfying. I find a lot of films have this, horrors in particular, where the ending isn't great but you can't think of a better one. So you just have to accept it for what it is. The lead to the final part is good and you do notice the breadcrumbs after the reveal but it kind of says, what's the point. You don't feel like you've achieved anything. 

Haven't seen the play to compare but the feature would probably better if it were just released as 3 separate shorts. I'm not sure the few impacting moments would maintain on a second viewing. Watch for curiosity but don't expect too much of a lasting impression. 5/10 

CINEMATES - A 

Peter Rabbit (2018)

Peter Rabbit and his 3 sisters, and his friend are all enjoying their days in the forest. They spend a chunk of their time figuring out how to break into Mr McGregor’s vegetable garden for food. This was something that once belonged to them, when previous owners kept the fence down. 

Something happens to Mr McGregor, and one of his relatives move into their new property. Thomas McGregor is Mr McGregor’s Great Nephew, who hates rabbits just the same. He is ready to win over Bea, however, who is the opposite of him. A local, country girl, who lives to make the wildlife feel welcome.

I’m ready for this review to be short, because there is only so much to say about a film with mostly animated characters.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way… Domnhall Gleeson is an absolute dish. What an attractive man… oh, and I enjoy watching him act. The pairing of him and Rose Byrne was great. In a kids film you need a villain and a hero, right? These two played in perfectly, and there was still opportunity for there to be a message chucked in there. It was made obvious that Thomas was the bad character, and sometimes you meet someone nice that can change that. 

In terms of those casted to voice other characters, none of them offended me… except for James Corden. Don’t get me wrong, I now don’t think it was a bad match, but there were some moments when I just in the cinema thinking ‘Smithy, Smithy, Smithy… When is he going to say Gavaaaalaaaaaaaar?’. If this film wasn’t absolutely stuffed with comedy, it might not have been so bad, but the way the script was written really highlighted the humour that is portrayed perfectly by James Corden.

On the same note, this was belly laugh funny. Like, the kind that makes you turn around to the mental woman sat alone at the back, crying at everything (me). The comedy was so clever in some parts, and this is the definition of suitable for the whole family. An adult can sit in the cinema with their child, and not just have to tolerate it. There is a lot of subtle humour that would go straight over a child’s head, but is also filled with enough silliness, that it suits the audience it is aimed at.

Do we need to talk about CGI rabbits, and real humans working perfectly together, and being visually satisfying? It’s 2018, I feel like this should be expected, but it looked brilliantly edited, regardless. There was definite attention to detail paid at this point.

I was excited about this because I bloody love Peter Rabbit, just the same as I love Winnie the Pooh, it was a character that let me escape, and use my imagination as a child. I was scared that giving these characters recognisable voices was going to ruin it for me, and others that feel the same about Peter Rabbit, but it didn’t.

The script was well written, and well executed, the editing was pretty much spot on, and I had a blast. I laughed, my heart felt warm and fuzzy, and even when it got tense, I felt myself genuinely being bothered by what was happening.

Another must watch ‘kids’ film for 2018.

6.5/10

CINEMATES – S

Mom and Dad (2018)

America has gone mental, parents are trying to kill their kids. That’s it, that’s what Mom and Dad is about. I think this is a brilliant idea, if you’re into that sort of thing of course.

It’s a normal, quiet day in the setting of a typical horror film - a suburban town in America. We meet our main characters very early on, Mom/Kendall (Selma Blair), Dad/Brent (Nicholas Cage), and our 2 kids/main victims; Carly and Josh (Anne Winters and Zackary Arthur).

The family set out to complete their normal, routine day consisting of Kendall going to classes, Brent clocking in at work, Carly going to school, and Josh staying at home with what seems to be a cleaner, or Nanny… or chef? (this was never really explained, but you get the drift). Suddenly, parents are at the school gate trying to get to their children, but no one knows why. Seconds later, there are news reports of parents trying to kill their kids. Before they know it, Carly and her friend Riley are charging away from the school trying to get to safety. Parents are roaming the streets like hungry zombies, armed with bloody baseball bats, and knives, and soon enough one of the girls ends up being killed by their parent.

That was the final point, in which this film held my attention. Then my attention started to drift, because it all became a bit of something and nothing. The build up was so much, that when it all started to calm down I was constantly on edge expecting something really big to happen. Nothing big happened.

Mom and Dad is described as a dark comedy, and I agree that it fits into that category. Although a little bloody and grim in parts, this is not a classic horror. The way the characters have been written really helps lighten the mood of this film, as much as this can be done. I mean, it wasn’t funny per se, but there are moments that amused me. It didn’t cross the line between being comedic, and being silly. It sat somewhere in the middle. It was utterly ridiculous, as an entire film, but it wasn’t unbearable.

The strongest thing about this film was Nicholas Cage. I can confidently say he was one of the only members of the cast I was interested in watching once the film kicked in. I have never really been over, or underwhelmed by Cage (except for in National Treasure, sick film). Initially I didn’t really care for his character, but he really brought the role to life, and made me wonder whether it was the fact that he had been brainwashed by the media – which is what we were being told was happening during this film, or if he was genuinely a psycho dad, who was in the midst of a midlife crisis that genuinely wanted to kill his kids. Honestly, he freaked me out a bit and I’m glad that this film had something to hold the darkness there.

I didn’t really understand Selma Blair’s character in the same way (not that I relate to a child killer), I just feel like her change was just so random. To be honest, I still don’t fully get why everyone wanted to kill their kids. Kendall for example was strong as anything one minute, and fighting off this urge, then next minute she wants to stab her daughter in the head… but her personality didn’t change, Kendall seemed incredibly monotone throughout.

We didn’t see much of Zachary Arthur (except that he’s cute as a button), and Anne Winters was as good as she could be, it just wasn’t show-stopping. She spent most of it running and surviving.

The script for this film seemed like a giant mish-mash of events. It’s like they had it all sorted, then it came to editing and with the looming deadline it was going to be easier to randomly plop bits together. It felt messy, come on - it ended half way through a sentence! The script is what really let the film down. If it wasn’t so jumbled, something good could have been produced. 

One thing that was done nicely was the lighting. The mood was very sombre throughout, like something bad was going to happen. I wish I could say the same for the score, the pacing, the rest of the cast, or anything at all, but nothing else was memorable.

This film was absolute chaos, which fizzled into nothing. Such a huge disappointment.

4/10 

CINEMATES - S