Daniel Garber talks with Taviss Edwards and Melissa Peters about Secrets of the Forest
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Kids grow up hearing scary fairytales about the forests — it’s where witches live in gingerbread houses, and the big bad wolf is waiting for them… but are forests really dark, gloomy and dangerous? No! They’re places for exploring, foraging and keeping our planet safe. There are plants that can keep us clean, foods that can keep us healthy, and trees that can talk to us — well, kind of. But who holds these secrets of the forest?
Secrets of the Forest is a new TV series for kids that provides a fascinating, fun and informative look at nature in our forests. Using expert guests, animation and time-lapse photography,
in addition t the live action, it wipes away the myths, and provides a scientific way to learn more. The show is hosted by 10-year-old Taviss Edwards and is directed by Melissa Peters.
Melissa has a decade’s experience in kids’ TV as a host on TVO Kids’ The Space and later as writer and director of shows like Mittens and Pants, Backyard Beats, and The Fabulous Show 
with Fay & Fluffy. Taviss is a gifted young equestrian and actress who has also appeared in A Ghost Ruined My Life.
I spoke with Taviss Edwards and Melissa Peters here in Toronto via Zoom.
Secrets of the Forest is available on TVO Kids, TVOkids.com, YouTube and various digital TV services.
Authoritarian. Films reviewed: Humane, Occupied City PLUS Hotdocs!
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
This is a busy weekend, with tons of new releases, so many that’s it’s hard to keep them straight. Like these two, I covered last fall at TIFF: a first feature about a man sexually assaulted on the streets of Toronto called I Don’t Know Who You Are; and a sharp social satire from Romania about a woman who takes on the offensive persona of Andrew Tate online, called Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World. I dare you to remember those two titles: I Don’t Know Who You Are, and Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World.
But this week, I’m looking at two new movies set in totalitarian regimes. There’s a city in the future where medically assisted death is mandatory, and a city in the past under Nazi occupation.
But first, some more news about the Hot Docs festival, on now.
Hot Docs
Films are showing now through next weekend in Toronto, with daytime screenings free for students and seniors, and many of the filmmakers and subjects on hand for a Q&A. Here are some I’m looking forward to seeing: The Ride Ahead is a coming-of-age look at a young disabled man navigating dating, love, and sex. Fly looks at the extremely dangerous sport of base jumping and the people who do it. And Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story about a Nashville-born soul singer who became a chart-topping trans entertainer in Toronto… before disappearing. All of these and many more are playing now at Hotdocs… and students and seniors can see daytime screenings for free.
Humane
Dir: Caitlin Cronenberg
It’s the near future, in a huge mansion in a city like Toronto. Charles York (Peter Gallagher) is a famous TV anchorman, someone everyone looks up to and trusts. Tonight he’s having his dysfunctional family — four adult children — in his home for a special announcement: Rachel (Emily Hampshire), the selfish oldest child, who works for big pharma; Jared (Jay Baruchel) an arrogant professor, known for his right-wing cable news punditry; Noah (Sebastian Chacon) a neurotic piano prodigy turned drug addict, now in a 12-step program; and the youngest, Ashley (Alanna Bale), an insecure and unsuccessful aspiring actress. Charles’s second wife, Dawn, a restauranteur, who is there too, has prepared an exquisite meal. But why are they all there? Charles and Dawn have agreed to “enlist” in a heavily promoted government program to serve as role models. Enlist is a euphemism for voluntary death. After an ecological disaster, the worlds’ governments have declared there are too many people, so 20% of the population is expect to die to save the planet — voluntarily of course (the government sends a cheque to families that enlist).
The York family is shocked they’re planning to die right after dinner. But when Charles goes through with it, Dawn is nowhere to be seen — she got cold feet and ran away. And that’s when armed guards appear at the door. Bob (Enrico Colantoni), a former prison guard now working for a private agency that enforces these laws, says he’s there to claim two cadavers. And if Dawn isn’t there, it has to be another body from the family — and he doesn’t care whether it’s Rachel, Jared, Noah, or Ashley. It’s up to them to decide who dies. What will happen
to the York family?
Humane is a dark, drawing-room horror-thriller about a futuristic, dystopian world. It deals with class issues, kinship, racism and authoritarian laws. It’s told in a creepy, tongue-in-cheek manner, reminiscent of movies like Robocop, and never loses its dark, ironic humour. It is horror, though, so be be prepared for a fair amount of violence and blood. It’s Caitlin Cronenberg (David Cronenberg’s daughter)’s first feature and it’s surprisingly good. Well paced, low-budget, with a good, largely Canadian cast, it neatly captures the widespread helplessness, suspicion and fear spawned during the Covid years.
I’m impressed.
Occupied City
Dir: Steve McQueen
What happens to a city after a major event by an occupying power wipes out a large portion of its population? A new documentary looks at the city of Amsterdam under the Nazi occupation from 1940-1945. It’s a geographical look at various places and addresses during that period, but without any footage, photographs or recordings from that era. Instead, it films exactly what Amsterdam is today with a narrator’s voice describing what happened to the people who lived there under the Nazis. So we see things like people dancing or doing yoga, kids at school, an art museum, and the elderly at a musical performance. But we hear about how that location was once a prison, or a site used for deportation. Children hid — like Anne Frank — in one home; in another, a collaborator sent them to their deaths in a concentration camp. Each segment ends with a simple description of the building today, like “demolished”. The building no longer stands but the history remains.
Occupied City is a meticulously precise journey through that city, 
played against a history of occupation and genocide.
The unseen camera spins its way through Amsterdam, from the red light district to public squares, along streetcar tracks and up to rooftops looking down at the peopler below. It covers all types of current demonstrations, including angry anti-vaxers, and anarchists pursued by swarms of police drones. Did you know the Germans melted down most of Amsterdam’s church bells to make munitions? It’s filled with obscure historical facts like that. 
Amsterdam-born Bianca Stigter wrote the script based on her book, Atlas of an Occupied City: Amsterdam 1940-1945. It’s directed by the great UK filmmaker Steve McQueen. The two are a couple and frequent collaborators, which gives this a highly personal feel. One thing you should know, though: the film is over four hours long! Four hours!!
Even so, it wasn’t a strain to watch, I found it warm and enveloping, offering a constant, soothing contrast between horrific words and mundane images.
I liked this film, but be sure to dress comfortably and bring lots of water.
Hotdocs is on now, Humane and Occupied City both open this weekend at the TIFF Lightbox and elsewhere; check your local listings.
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Saturday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website culturalmining.com.
Movies with two directors. Films reviewed: Abigail, Unsung Hero, Sasquatch Sunset
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Not everyone likes every type of movie. Some want to be excited or scared, others want to be gently reassured, and still others expect to be intellectually stimulated. So this week I’m looking at three new movies — a horror, a family drama, and a strange arthouse flick — basically, something for everyone. There’s a group of kidnappers lured by a huge ransom, a family of Australian musicians with big ambitions, and a near-family of near-humans with very big feet.
Abigail
Dir: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett (Review: Ready or Not)
Abigail (Alisha Weir) is a poor little rich girl who loves ballet dancing. Though still very young, she is diligently rehearsing the lead role in Swan Lake, complete with tutu and toe shoes. Until she is injected with sedative, dragged from her mansion, and wakes up chained to a bed in a creepy castle far away. Who is responsible? A gang of professional criminals, none of whom have ever met before, but promised 7 million in cash each, if they can babysit Abigail until the whopping ransom arrives the next day.
The gang consists of Frank (Dan Stevens) a canny former cop, Dean (the late Angus Cloud) their ginger-bearded pothead driver; Peter (Kevin Durand) a musclehead enforcer, Sammy (Kathryn Newton) an expert hacker who favours expensive jewelry; Rickles (William Catlett) a sniper and former marine, and Joey (Melissa Barrera), their de-facto organizer. She’s the only one talking with the little girl… who is very frightened 
and distraught. To calm her down, Joey promises nothing bad will happen to her, pinky swear.
But things take a turn when one of the gang is discovered in the kitchen, headless. Even worse, they find out Abigail’s dad is one of the richest — and most dangerous — men in the world, known for cruelly torturing and killing anyone who crosses his path. And then there’s little Abigail herself: she’s not actually a girl — she’s a centuries-old vampire who feeds on human blood… who happens to like ballet. Can the gang escape this house of horrors? Or will they be killed, one by one?
Abigail is a violent and gory vampire horror/thriller. It’s a reboot of the classic story: “if you can stay in a haunted house overnight I’ll give you a million bucks”. It also plays on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion, or Tim Story’s The Blackening, where characters 
locked in an old house are killed, one by one. That said, the characters — and plot turns — in Abigail are different enough to keep you interested. Yes, there are cliches — a house full of suits of armour and widows that close and lock themselves — but it also adds shocking new twists to the old vampire myths — like, what happens to vampires when they die? (No spoilers).
If you like mystery and horror, with lots of blood guts and gore, tempered a fair amount of ballet dancing, I think you’ll enjoy Abigail.
Unsung Hero
Wri/Dir: Richard L. Ramsey, Joel Smallbone
It’s 1991. David Smallbone (Joel Smallbone) is a successful music promoter in Sydney, Australia. He lives with his pregnant wife Helen (Daisy Betts) and six kids in an enormous mansion, and manages tours by big musical stars. But when a bad business deal leaves him completely broke, they all decide to fly halfway around the globe to Memphis, Tennessee. But the promised job awaiting him… wasn’t there, and the pre-arranged rental house was completely empty. Luckily Mum is a quick thinker, and turns their suitcases into beds — who needs furniture, anyway? The kids love playing cricket in the empty rooms. But she still has eight mouths to feed — David, Helen, Becca, Daniel, Luke, Joel, Josh and Ben — three times a day, and no money to do it. But the heavens are shining bright on the Smallbones and they soon find work gardening and house cleaning, including with some of his former musical clients. The kids are pitching in, too, when they’re not being home-schooled. They have a money jar to pay for food and rent, and a wall chart with things they want and want to pray for; the Smallbones are a devout Christian family. It’s at a Church 
service that everyone notices what a beautiful and angelic voice Becca, the oldest daughter has (Kirrilee Berger). This provides David with the motivation he needs to get a music contract signed for Becca, thus saving their family from wrack and ruin. But can David and Becca do it? Or will the family fly back to Australia with their collective tails between their legs?
Unsung Hero is a biopic of the real-life Smallbone family, before the kids became famous, as seen through their mother Helen’s eyes. It shows how they pulled themselves back up after a major setback. It’s a faith-based movie, where praying and church play central roles throughout the film. The father David (circa 1991), is played by his actual son (in 2024). And the music they produce — from the beautiful singing of Kirrilee Berger, to the band For King + Country that Joel and Luke later founded — is good. Not to my taste, but it’s actually good. The problem comes from producing a biopic where the subjects have a central role in its content. I grew up in a family of seven and we kids fought verbally and physically all the time. In this movie, though, they are so kind and whitewashed they make the Brady Bunch kids seem like gangstas. Maybe that’s true in this family, but it rings false to me. Way too Hallmark-y. There are also a number of basic faux pas. Like having a flashback within a flashback in the opening scenes — that’s just clumsy editing.
If you want to watch an inspiring and positive 90s- era story about a musical family’s Christian life, you might like Unsung Hero. Otherwise, I don’t think you’ll get much out of it.
Sasquatch Sunset
Dir: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner
Somewhere in the redwood forests in Northern California, a pack of four unclassified animals are wandering around searching for food. They are covered in brown and grey hair, walk on two legs, and have opposing thumbs. Are they human, or are they animals? They are Sasquatches, popularly known as the Bigfoot. And they are a lot like us. They eat, sleep and have sex. Urinate, defecate, and puke when they eat something poisonous. They give birth and die. They play, communicate, make music and look at the stars in the sky. And they come in at least two genders and a number of sizes.
They commune with nature, and vice versa; snakes, skunks, deer and porcupines happily coexist, and even play with them. Sasquatch are mainly vegetarian though they do eat fish. They also make mistakes, especially the biggest of the four, the alpha Sasquatch. He has a tendency to stick his “stick” where it doesn’t belong. And the other three react loudly and 
emphatically when he does something he shouldn’t do. But when they encounter signs of humans — felled trees, camping equipment, a paved road — they are shaken to their core. Will they ever spot one of us?
Sasquatch Sunset is a very weird, arthouse film about the journey of Sasquatches in their natural habitat and the encroaching presence of humans. It feels partly like a nature documentary or an anthropological newsreel, but it’s also very funny at times. Sad too. And it has actual characters. They don’t have names but let’s call them the big, mean one, the relaxed one with breasts, the pensive intellectual and the adolescent (Nathan Zellner, Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek). There is also dialogue — grunts and whoops, the banging of sticks and lots of jumping around and screeching. At first, I couldn’t tell them apart or even what their sex is — they‘re all really hairy! — but it gradually becomes quite apparent. And by the end I think you’ll feel for them and understand them, too.
Sasquatch Sunset is a very strange movie, but I liked it.
Abigail and Sasquatch Sunset, open this weekend in Toronto, while Unsung Hero starts next Friday; check your local listings.
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Saturday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website culturalmining.com.
Trouble at home. Films reviewed: Civil War, Sting, Housekeeping for Beginners
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
This week I’m looking a three interesting movies: from the US, North Macedonia, and Australia. There’s a carful of journalists heading to an apocalyptic Washington, a makeshift family in Skopje, and a carnivorous spider that fell from outer space.
Civil War
Wri/Dir: Alex Garland
It’s the near future in the United States, but these states are not united. The country is in the midst of a violent civil war, with a Texas- and California-based militia battling the federal government in an East vs West conflict. WF (Western Forces) vs the USA. The rebels are slowly advancing southward toward Washington DC.
Lee (Kirsten Dunst) a veteran war photographer is in New York, chasing a terror bombing alongside Joel a journalist (Wagner Moura). Lee has covered many wars at the frontline, but never one like this, on her home turf. Still, she and Joel want to cross the battlefront to get to DC and interview the president (Nick Offerman) ahead of the advancing rebel troops.
Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), a grizzled newspaperman from way back, wants to hitch a ride as far as the Charlottesville front line. And greenhorn Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), straight out of school, says she idolizes Lee and her work. She caries a camera around her neck. Couldn’t she come too? Lee doesn’t mind mentoring young photographers, but not while she’s dodging bullets. In the end, all four of them begin their perilous in a 4WD.
It’s an apocalyptic journey, along broken highways filled with abandoned cars. Burnt out towns have snipers standing guard on roofs. Gas stations only take cash, preferably Canadian. Fear, hatred and the stench of rotting bodies floats in the air. Soldiers in camo, their hair dyed fluorescent colours casually brandish assault weapons. Accused collaborators hang from 
rafters. Will their press passes be enough to save them from friendly fire? And who will enter the Whitehouse?
Civil War is a Heart of Darkness plunge into an apocalyptic America where the enemy is ourselves. It’s thrilling, chilling, and quite disturbing. The theme is politics and war (and journalism), but you never quite find out what the two sides are fighting about, what they stand for, who’s right or who’s wrong. Rather, it’s about the hellish nature of war, and how conflict can destroy a country. Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) made 28 Days Later, where an infection that leads to fast-moving zombies destroying the world. This has a similar feel but with a very different type of monster. And it will have you on the edge of your seat all the way through.
Sting
Wri/Dir: Kiah Roache-Turner
It’s a cold winter night in a big, American city, where a record-breaking ice storm has trapped everyone in their homes. Charlotte (Alyla Browne), an intense, blonde Wednesday Addams, lives in a tenement with her mom, her cartoonist stepdad Ethan (Ryan Corr), and her infant brother. Ice storms are boring, but luckilly, Charlotte knows the building through and through. She easily crawls through vents to spy on other tenants: her sweet but demented Grandma (Noni Hazlehurst), her cruel great aunt Gunter (Robyn Nevin), the slumlord who owns the building; Maria, a sangria-guzzling alky with a yapping chihuahua, and Erik, a reclusive scientist. To keep herself occupied, Charlotte keeps a tiny spider she found in a glass jar. She names her Sting. But this is no ordinary spider. Sting can communicate with Charlotte, perfectly imitating her whistles. And Charlotte doesn’t know Sting is an intelligent alien that fell to earth inside a meteor.
As Sting voraciously consumes the bugs she feeds her, the spider rapidly grows in size and strength. Charlotte moves her into an aquarium, but even that won’t contain her. Like Charlotte, it can run through the vents, snatching, mummifying or scarfing up small animals on the spot. But when Charlotte notices people are disappearing, she realizes something is not right. She teams up with Ethan and a professional exterminator named Frank (Jermaine Fowler) to get Sting under control… but are they too late?
Sting is a ridiculously silly horror film about a man-eating alien insect who spins slimy webs and cocoons out of slimy mucous. Lots of fake blood and gore. At the same time, it always keeps a humorous tone, even in the scary and gross-out scenes. One interesting fact: Charlotte names her spider Sting after reading The Hobbit, but JRR Tolkien fans will notice Sting was actually the dagger Bilbo Baggins used to kill… a giant, man-eating spider! Another interesting fact: although it’s set in a snowy city like New York, Sting is an Australian movie, with an almost completely Aussie cast (including the delightful Noni Hazlehurst.)
Suffice it to say, Sting is an unabashedly B-movie that’s also a fun night out.
Housekeeping for Beginners
Wri/Dir: Goran Stolevski
It’s present-day Northern Macedonia. Dita is an older woman who works at a social welfare office in Skopje. She’s descended from a prominent family in Tito’s Yugoslavia and shares a big house with a middle-aged man named Toni (Vladimir Tintor). Suada (Alina Serban) — a client from work — lives there too; she fled her abusive husband. Suada brought her two kids with her: tough, teenaged Vanessa (Mia Mustafi) and 6-year-old Mia (Dzada Selim). Today, there’s a new face in the house: 19 year old Ali (Samson Selim). He’s a sweet-talker who dyes his hair blond and is fond of green fingernail polish. He also knows everyone and everything happening in his neighbourhood. This means now there are two moms, one and a half dads, and a bunch of kids. The unusual thing is Dita and Suada are lovers, and Ali is Toni’s latest hookup. But that’s not all. Dita and Toni are ethnic Macedonians, while Ali, Suada and the kids all come from Shutka, a Muslim Romani neighbourhood. Dita’s house serves as an underground Mecca for outcastes, whether LGBT, Romani or both.
But everything changes when Suada is diagnosed with a fatal illness. She wants to make sure her kids are taken care of after she dies, and to give them a chance at success. The Roma are severely discriminated against, at school, work and even in accessing social services. If Rita and Toni adopt Mia, a bright and creative little girl, perhaps she can escape this endemic racism. But can a group of misfits live like a normal heterosexual family? Or is their experiment doomed for failure?
Housekeeping for Beginners is a sweet and realistic drama about the daily life of an unusual family and the tribulations they face. It’s also a real eye-opener! I never knew there are Muslim Romani communities, nevermind gay subcultures, within Northern Macedonia. It gives a glimpse into the street life of Shutka, and the complex social structures within that 
neighbourhood. The acting is great, the characters they play are bold and fascinating. Apparently Samson Selim who plays Ali is the real-life father of Dzada Selim, the girl who plays Mia. It’s directed by Macedonian-Australian filmmaker Goran Stolevski, who spins amazing stories. This is the third movie I’ve seen by him (Reviews: Of an Age, You Won’t Be Alone) and even though his genres vary widely, he has a distinct style of storytelling, a bittersweet intimacy, which I’m liking more and more with each new film.
This is a good movie.
Sting, Civil War and Housekeeping for Beginners all open this weekend in Toronto: check your local listings.
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Saturday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website culturalmining.com.
Class. Films reviewed: The Old Oak, Monkey Man, Wicked Little Letters
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Ordinary people fighting back is an old story, but not a tired one. This week I’m looking at three new movies — one from northern England, one from southern England, and one from India — about people confronting injustice. There are women fighting the courts, a poor man fighting the oligarchs, and a lonely man trying to stop his town’s gradual collapse.
The Old Oak
Dir: Ken Loach (my interview: 2020)
It’s 2016 in a seaside village in northern England. TJ Ballantyne (Dave Turner) is the publican of The Old Oak, one of the few gathering places left standing. But like the town — once a thriving coal pit, but now impoverished and depressed — the pub is not what it used to be. It has few customers aside from a few regulars. The sign is sagging, and half of the building is no longer used. TJ lives above the pub; he’s lonely and pessimistic. His son won’t speak to him, and he has only a little dog to keep him company. But when a group of Syrian refugees arrives in town, TJ decides to help. Alongside Laura (Claire Rodgerson) he distributes furniture and food — donated through local churches and unions — to the newcomers. They are grateful, but some people resent it. Why are they helping refugees when local kids are going without food and heating? Syrian kids are bullied in schools, and a young photographer Yara (Ebla Mari)’s camera is broken.
What can they do to bring the community together? Together with Yara,
Laura, and dozens of volunteers, they reopen a long boarded up section of the Old Oak to provide a place where people can come to eat and spend time together. The photographs on the walls recall the coal miners strike of Thatcher’s England: If you eat together, you stick together, says one sign. But can they overcome old prejudices to form new friendships? Or will it all fall apart?
The Old Oak is a wonderfully poignant and deeply-moving drama that deals with big issues but on a personal scale. It looks at racism, poverty, unions and scabs, and how geopolitics affect us all. Like all of Ken Loach’s movies, it looks at imperfect people from multiple viewpoints. Some you like and end up hating, others seem like villains but you find out later they’re good people. Lots of grey, no black and white (aside from the photographs Yara takes.)
Once again, the script is by Loach’s longtime collaborator Paul Laverty, and the ensemble cast includes both professionals and first-time actors, many hired at the location.
It shows the real Britain, warts and all, not the shiny tourist-attraction you see in Hollywood movies. It’s a tear jerker, with more than one heartbreaking scenes. But it still leaves room for hope. The Old Oak may be Ken Loach’s final film, so you should get out and see it. I really like this film.
Monkey Man
Co-Wri/Dir: Dev Patel
Kid (Dev Patel) is a man with a vengeance — to punish those whose crimes he witnessed as a small child. Raised by his mother in a forest in rural India, he now lives in an unnamed megalopolis in the mythical state of Yatana (= torment, anguish). It is ruled by a god-king followed by throngs of devoted cult-like followers. They kick farmers off their land for corporate profit and persecute minorities with impunity. Kid earns his money as a boxer, beaten up regularly by bigger, stronger men. In the ring, he conceals his face behind a monkey mask, in honour of the god Hanuman whose story his mother had told him as a child. Following a complex scheme, he somehow manages to get work inside an exclusive nightclub ruled by a woman named Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar). She warns him to never disobey her or step out of his class. He gradually works his way up the latter until he makes it into the kitchen. His goal? To shoot a corrupt police chief named Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher). But his plans all fail, and he ends up a nearly-dead fugitive, his body floating in a canal. He is rescued and brought back to health by a temple dedicated to Shiva, and run by androgynous priests.
They admire that he, an outcaste, dares to fight authority. But he needs the strength and skill if he wants to succeed. So, to the sounds of a tabla drum, he trains in the temple, gradually building up his stamina and muscles until he its
ready to face his enemies to the death once again. But does he even have a chance against the powers that be?
Monkey Man is a class-struggle action-thriller about one man’s quest for personal vengeance and his plan to overthrow by force corrupt and autocratic leaders. It’s told using intricate plotting, involving dozens of people cooperating for a single goal. And it interweaves visions and sounds, like a child’s picture book, an elaborate mural, and the thumping of a tabla music. There’s a lot of content to digest. The problem is, a large part of the movie consists of chases and violent fights, and they’re not very good. Blurred shots using a jiggly, hand-held camera may be artistic, but they’re unpleasant and hard to look at. Seasickness is not a valid substitute for good fight choreography.
I admire Dev Patel’s first attempt as a director and his transformation into an action hero, but Monkey Man doesn’t cut it.
Wicked Little Letters
Dir: Thea Sharrock
It’s the 1920s in Littlehampton, Sussex, a small town in southern England. Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) is a middle aged educated woman who still lives with her strict parents in a tiny row house. She reads the bible and quotes its teachings; basically, she’s an uptight prig. She shares a wall with Rose (Jessie Buckley) a migrant from the Emerald Isle. She is fond of drinking and carousing, can swear a blue streak, and is often seen wandering in just a slip outside her home. Rose likes her live-in boyfriend Bill (her husband died in WWI) but most of all, adores her daughter Nancy (Elisha Weir). But her neighbour, Edith’s father Edward Swan (Timothy Spall) despises Rose and her libertine ways, and blames her for everything going wrong in Littlehampton. They live in a tenuous detente, until everything changes when Edith receives a piece of hate mail. The unsigned letter is filled with cruel insults and vulgar words.
And when the letters pile up, the police come to investigate. They arrest Rose for the nasty letters and throw her in jail, despite her protests of innocence. The press picks up the story and it becomes a national scandal. But not everyone believes Rose is guilty. A small group of women, led by Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan), think Rose is innocent and set out to prove it. But can they find the true culprit before the trial? And what will happen to Nancy if her 
mother ends up behind bars?
Wicked Little Letters is a delightful dark comedy, based on a true story; apparently this was a hot topic 100 years ago. Little is the key word: little letters, Littlehampton, and the kind of petty quarrels that can blow up into serious events. This is a movie that knows it’s own boundaries and sticks to them perfectly, without veering off into remote tangents, flashbacks or lengthy soliloquies. It’s tight, set in tiny homes around town, and in the courthouse and jail. The acting is wonderful — everyone’s a character. Olivia Colman and Jesse Buckley previously co-starred in The Lost Daughter, but I like this one much better. And though it’s a period drama set in 1920s England, it uses colourblind casting, with many roles played by black and brown actors, without racial or ethnic issues ever entering the story (except, of course, Rose being Irish in England).
If you’re looking for a fun night out, I think you’ll like this one.
Wicked Little Letters, Monkey Man and The Old Oak all open this weekend in Toronto: check your local listings.
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Saturday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website culturalmining.com.
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