Bird Box Barcelona
(15) 110mins
★★☆☆☆
EVERY dystopian thriller has those moments where a character either does what you would do – or does the complete opposite.
And those are the moments where I either become more engaged or throw my hands in the air, tut and roll my eyes.
From left, Gonzalo de Castro, Georgina Campbell, Mario Casas and Naila Schuberth
Sadly, with this sequel to 2018’s excellent apocalyptic horror Bird Box I do the latter.
Set nine months after Sandra Bullock blindly felt her way through Netflix’s most-watched original film for years, we are back watching the same simple premise of “Don’t look”.
Just like with John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place, which is “Don’t make a sound”, it makes for a surprisingly satisfying basis of a horror film.
This time out we follow Sebastien and his daughter Anna, who are feeling their way through Barcelona with blindfolds on.
If they open their eyes, the unknown horror that hangs in the air will cause them to commit suicide.
So scared are many survivors they have already made themselves go blind through self-harm.
It truly is a horrific baddie — it cannot be seen and can’t be outrun. Oh, and it can strike at any time.
We quickly realise that Sebastien and Anna are not all they first seem.
And after a chance meeting with doctor Claire (played by Barbarian’s Georgina Campbell, who continues her superb horror work here) they tag along with her motley crew of survivors.
As well as the pesky problem of not being able to open their eyes, the group also has religious crackpots to deal with.
They are sacrificing others by forcing them to open their eyes, claiming it is God’s will.
Gore and gasps
The scenes of sacrificial suicide are especially tough to watch, as are the mass self-inflicted killings in the flashback scenes to how it all began.
There’s plenty of gore, gasps and grimness to this part two, written and directed by David and Alex Pastor.
But the shine from the original has gone.
Perhaps that’s because the enemy is known already.
Or maybe it’s because every character you think will survive does and characters do things that make me tut.
And, ironically, you can see the ending coming very clearly indeed.
- On Netflix
A Kind Of Kidnapping
(15) 84mins
★★★☆☆
NOTHING says Brit humour like jokes about farting, toilet time and private parts.
But while this black comedy about an unscrupulous old-Etonian MP (Patrick Baladi from The Office) being kidnapped by a pair of thirty-something “woke snowflakes” might veer towards puerile, it’s also a bit funny.
Patrick Baladi as Hardy in A Kind Of Kidnapping
Out-of-work actor Maggie and her boyfriend Brian hatch an inept plan to hold wannabe Prime Minister Richard Harding (Dick Harding, geddit?) to ransom to raise some (crypto) cash.
The couple hold him captive in an Airbnb, while ordering takeaways and reshooting the hostage video numerous times (“Doesn’t it look hostage-y enough?” asks their eye-rolling victim).
Arrogant and contemptible Harding, more bothered about what people are saying about him on Twitter than being held at gunpoint, is well-written.
And when he decides to spin the situation to his own political advantage, it feels entirely plausible.
With excellent observational snarkiness from the script and strong performances, it’s a shame the plot concludes with a rogue lurch that undermines its previous credibility.
While We Watched
(15) 94 mins
★★★☆☆
INDIAN journalist Ravish Kumar may not be a household name here, but this riveting documentary is as much an examination of democracy and ethics as the story of a man determined to speak the truth and give a voice to the people, no matter the cost
Unflinching in the face of growing restrictions on Press freedom in India, the quiet, humble Kumar resolutely continues to arrive at his TV newsroom with the sole aim of reporting what is happening in his country with factual accuracy.
Indian journalist Ravish Kumar, pictured on the right
Nothing out of the ordinary in the working day of any legitimate journalist, but here, against a national backdrop of disinformation, distortion and propaganda, his insistence on honesty becomes extraordinary.
He is met with death threats, hostility and sabotage for simply doing his job.
At one point his entire channel is simply taken off the air to prevent a scoop being revealed.
Watching Kumar and his equally inspiring colleagues continue to fight the good fight, no matter what is thrown at them, is a lesson in resilience.
- Laura Stott
