Alex Cann's Weekly Film Blog - 23rd April

"I hate ballet". I missed out the expletive, but that's one memorable quote from the rather excellent Abigail, which I enjoyed far more than I expected to.

A group of strangers kidnap the 12 year old daughter of a wealthy, shadowy underworld figure, and all they have to do is keep her safe under lock and key for 24 hours to collect their 50 million dollar random. So far, so simple. However, they didn't factor in that she is a bloodthirsty ballerina vampire! No real names are used amongst the criminal crew, but what seems like a simple mission to bank some cash turns out to be anything but easy.

One by one, the miscreants begin to meet a grisly end, as Abigail dances rings around them. This had the potential to be just another run-of-the-mill horror, but I liked its blend of humour and gore, which was splattered throughout the movie both metaphorically and literally.

I especially enjoyed Dan Stevens as former police detective Frank and Kathryn Newton as Sammy. The characters were well written and developed, which is so often not the case in films like this, and whilst there were a few decent jump scares, it didn't rely overly on them. Definitely one to get your teeth into!

Meanwhile, Alex Garland's Civil War is set in a near future America, where law and order has completely broken down, and a group of journalists are trying to make their way to Washington DC and interview the President before he is captured by rebel forces.

Whilst we are never entirely sure what the different sides are fighting for, this is perhaps part of the film's central point, as it illustrates the futility of war and pointless loss of life. In line with Zone of Interest, this film deserves high praise for its sound, and the cinematography is also fantastic. Kirsten Dunst is brilliant as Lee, a veteran war reporter who has seen so much horrific conflict that it's often etched on her face.

It's essentially a road trip and war film rolled into one, and whilst I found the storyline somewhat lacking, it certainly made up for that in other ways. You can imagine it might have worked better as a book, perhaps, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy watching it, often on the edge of my seat. The shootout scene in the White House is accomplished towards the end of the film, but I think I preferred a trip to the ballet to this one, if I'm honest.

Not to mention the fact that events in real-life America are perhaps scarier at times than the fictional States portrayed in this film. It's certainly a lot more intelligent than The Purge, that's for sure. I've also realised I don't think I've ever seen Alex Garland's classic The Beach, which I probably should watch at some point.

I also haven't got round to watching Back To Black as yet, but will have a review of that soon, along with The Fall Guy, which is out on 2nd May.