Category: Drama

The Mole Agent

Rated: GThe Mole Agent

Directed by: Maite Alberdi

Produced by: Marcela Santibáñez

Executive Producer: Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, Julie Goldman

Featuring as Themselves: Sergio as the Spy, Romulo as the Private Detective, and the Residents of the Nursing Home: Berta “Bertita” Ureta, Marta Olivares, Petronila “Petita” Abarca, Rubira Olivares, Zoila González.

Spanish (Chilean) with English subtitles.

“Elderly man needed. Between 80-90 years old.”

Job: spying on old folks and staff in a nursing home for three months.

Well, to report back about target, Sophia Perez because her daughter is concerned that Sophia’s being mistreated.

It took me a moment to realise the film was a documentary as, The Mole Agent begins with this light-hearted tone of jazzy soundtrack featuring classic moments of eighty-plus-year-olds being taught to work mobile phones; the successful candidate, 83-year-old Sergio being shown how to call via Facetime, leave voicemail messages via WhatsApp to make his, ‘Deliveries’ or pass information to private investigator Romulo to then translate back to the client.

The older generation tying to figure mobile phones always leads to some amusing moments.

But Sergio gets it, kinda.

It was when the cameras filming the documentary were shown via a mobile camera as Sergio’s being taught to use the device that the film turns from comedy spy-movie to documentary.

Then we see Sergio enter the nursing home, one resident seen holding her walker with one hand, a hose to water the garden in the other and I realise this is a different kind of documentary.

Sergio begins his mission:

‘Did you meet the new man?’ One resident asks another.

Sergio causes quite a stir.  He’s lucid.  And a gentleman.

Director Maite Alberdi states that the team got authorisation from the nursing home with the understanding that the film was a documentary about the elderly (not following an unknown ‘spy’ reporting back to a private detective everyday while being filmed by the crew).

The production team were given permission to film for three months with 300 hours of material captured, plus the material filmed by Sergio himself using a spy pen – very clever, if not a little obvious.  Particularly when other residents try to take the pen from his shirt pocket.

So the cameras are seen in the film and explained to the residents with the line about a documentary about the elderly so when new resident Sergio enters, it’s only natural the crew would take interest in the most recent addition.

At one point a resident sitting out in the sun points out to another gran, ‘They’re supposed to be filming a movie, not spying on us.’

But Sergio manages to continue his investigation about the treatment of Mrs Perez without getting busted.

There are many sweet moments: the thieving Marta with her quick hands, always asking when her mother’s going to take her home; there’s the poet Petita reciting her beautiful thoughts, the random resident cats and the surprise birthday celebrations.

There’s Berta who has a crush on Sergio saying she would consider giving God her virginity.  Through her future husband (Sergio).

But realising the film is documentary and not a spy comedy, although there are some funny moments, makes the film that much sadder.

The Mole Agent is like a homage to the isolated and lonely elderly, left and abandoned by their families.

And the depth of sadness felt by these old folks as they try to buck-up and be positive but are really grieving about their lives lost in sacrifice to children who never visit them…  It’s a bit of a heart-breaker.

Over time, instead of spying on the old folks, Sergio befriends them.  And they absolutely love him for it: ‘Thank-you for the company you give us,’ says Zoila.

Even the camera crew were missed, ‘and we missed them!’  The crew reports.

The audience is shown how life is lived in these homes, getting to see behind the closed doors as the cameras become part of the landscape.

The Mole Agent is sweet and very sad; completely different to what I was expecting and truly unique.

When Alberdi was asked, “What do you hope audiences take away and learn from The Mole Agent?”

Alberdi replies, “I would like people who watch this movie to leave the movie theatre wanting to call their parents or grandparents. It is an invitation to look within yourself and ask what you can do better.”

The Audition (Das Vorspiel)

Directed by: Ina WeisseThe Audition (Das Vorspiel)

Written by: Daphne Charizani (screenplay), Ina Weisse (screenwriter)

Produced by: Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Felix von Boehm

Starring: Nina Hoss, Simo Abkarian, Serafin Mishiev, Ilja Monti.

Viewed in German with English subtitles (released as part of the German Film Festival).

“I’m sorry it’s all so complicated right now.”

The Audition follows Anna (Nina Hoss): a violinist, a teacher, a wife and a mother.

She watches young Alexander (Ilja Monit) audition for tutorage at the school where she teaches.  She sees talent. She wants him to be her student.

We watch Anna with her husband, a French violin maker, Philippe (Simon Abkarian).  He loves her.  He understands her, her discomfort, anxiety.  He doesn’t mind swapping tables, swapping plates.

He knows something is wrong just by listening to her play violin.

At first, The Audition feels like it’s about the music, about the protégée, Alexander.  A protégée, but also a replacement for Anna’s lack of success on stage.

But this is a nuanced film that explores the slow twist of relationships to what really matters to Anna: the desperation to succeed.  Her son’s need of a mother’s love.  A mother’s need for her son’s attention.

This is a film about the effect of a son pulling away from his mother.  How it turns her life to seek fulfillment from an affair with another man.  To see her ambition projected onto her young student so she pushes and pushes, eventually setting her own son up in competition against her protégée, Alexander.

This is about how she seeks comfort from the warmth of a hairdryer blown under her jumper.

But more than from her son or lover or husband, Anna needs fulfillment because something’s missing.

The more I write the more I understand the slow reveal of this character, Anna: her mother dying when she was young.  Her father tough with his life lessons.

It’s a carefully constructed narrative, a character study set to the sound of the violin.

This is a bittersweet piece of a person’s life: her successes, her failures and ultimately her need above all else.

It’s a slow burn with layers of music and the language about music, but it’s the undercurrent that’s shown in a look or gesture, the unspoken that speaks the loudest – that’s what the film is really about.

The Audition is a difficult movie to review because it’s a subtle one, a cerebral thought-provoker and a film I’ve enjoyed pulling apart and thinking about after the credits have rolled, almost more than the actual viewing.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

Rated: MA15+Those Who Wish Me Dead

Directed by: Taylor Sheridan

Screenplay by: Michael Koryta, Charles Leavitt and Taylor Sheridan

Based on the Book by: Michael Koryta

Produced by: Steven Zaillian, Garrett Basch, p.g.a., Aaron L. Gilbert, Kevin Turen, Taylor Sheridan, p.g.a.

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Finn Little, Jon Bernthal, Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult, Jake Weber, Medina Senghore, Tyler Perry, Boots Southerland, Tory Kittles, James Jordan, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Howard Ferguson JR., Ryan Jason Cook, Laura Niemi.

“I did the right thing.”

Those Who Wish Me Dead has everything I expected from a Taylor Sheridan film.

The edge-of-your-seat suspense hits from the opening scene: with flashes to black to a parashuter, smokejumper Hannah (Angelina Jolie) falling into the smoke of a raging fire.

Then the layering of story, that impending doom as forensic accountant Owen (Jake Weber) flees with his son Connor (Finn Little) – there’s a directive to kill those who know too much.  No survivors.  It’s a zero sum game.

So father and son escape to the forests of Montana where Owen’s late wife’s brother lives – Ethan (Jon Bernthal), also a sheriff.

But if the worst happens, Owen gives his son a note with all his secrets, to, ‘Give to someone you can trust.’

When Hannah finds Owen wandering in the forest, is she someone he can trust?

She’s a firefighter, haunted by nightmares of her past.  She’s a tough cookie, loved by her team, her fellow firies who see the wild as she drinks, releases a parachute from the back of a truck while still attached.

What they don’t see is her guilt.  But Ethan sees her.  He’s also her ex.

The small town relationships are intertwined – a delicate balance as two hitmen, (Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult) bring disaster, chasing down survivors.  Chasing a young boy who knows too much.

There’s a lot going on in this film but it’s all so well handled and balanced I felt like I was watching this intense story unfold in real time.  While gripping the arms of the cinema chair, holding my breath.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

As well as the suspense, there some shocks and jumps alongside the well-thought crime thriller.

There’s also the relationships, authentic characters and awe inspiring scenery (director of photography Ben Richardson (Wind River (2017)) – those huge expanses of landscape, the clouds and then the fire storm devouring everything like a monster.  Like Hannah’s demons come back to chase her.

But even more than a great story (love a movie based on a book if the screenplay is done right) and cinematic shots and detail like gunfire flashing light in the eye of a killer – every single character was perfectly cast and absolutely believable.

Angelina was made for this role – down to earth, tough, haunted, fighting her way back from guilt by saving this kid.

So there’s a focus on the drama in this film rather than a deep dive into the case the forensic accountant was running away from.  And wow, a rarity for me, the finely balanced intricacies of the drama was more compelling than the crime.  Very rare.

Yet still – that suspense!

Yeah, I liked this movie.  Every bit.

Land

Rated: MLand

Directed by: Robin Wright

Written by: Jesse Chatham and Erin Digman

Produced by: Allyn Stewart, Lora Kennedy, Leah Holzer and Peter Saraf

Starring: Robin Wright, Demián Bichir and Kim Dickens.

“What are you feeling?”

Land is a quiet film, with only the call of coyotes, the crickets, the birds, water flowing.  Then there’s the strings in the soundtrack, the only music, that rise and fall.

The film follows Edee (Robin Wright) as she leaves the city following a road that turns from asphalt to gravel to turn into a dirt road that leads further into the mountains.

She doesn’t want to be around people anymore.

The flashbacks to the past show Edee asking her sister (Kim Dickens), Why am I still here?

There are flashes of a little boy and a man, her son and husband.  And you know they’re gone.

Edee organises herself, she cleans up her cabin. There’s a river. She fishes.  She remembers.

But in the quiet she slowly falls apart as the land freezes into winter – as she realises she doesn’t know how to survive.  Doesn’t know if she wants to survive, until she’s found and slowly brought back to life by a local hunter, Miguel Borras (Demián Bichir).

This isn’t a love story.

Land is a story about friendship.

This is a story about grief.

And there’s a genuine honesty in the telling.

Robin Wright plays the main character and directs – she brings a softness and strength to the story that invites the audience to feel it all along with Edee.

And Miguel as the one with the big heart that helps her just because she’s in his path is honest in his kindness.

It feels so rare, the selflessness, the reaching out, the understanding.

There’s nothing forced, just the space and quiet to recover.

I was looking forward to seeing nature on the big screen, yet the land of burnt skies, icicles dripping and the wind flowing through a tree standing on a rocky outcrop were a backdrop to the depth of Edee’s loss, subtle and powerful, as she focuses on surviving, to see the little things – to really take notice.

I basically had tears running from the beginning of this film.  So calm and kind in the telling.

A deeply moving film.

Wishlist

Directed by: Álvaro Díaz LorenzoWishlist

Produced by: Álvaro Díaz Lorenzo

Starring: Victoria Abril, María León, Silvia Alonzo

It’s time for the curtains to open on the Australian premiere of Wishlist: La Lista De Los Deseos, the off the wall comedy headlining the 2021 Spanish Film Festival.

When Eva (María León), a twenty something vet, and Carmen (Victoria Abril), a woman in her early middle age, develop a strong bond during a series of chemotherapy sessions, it lays the groundwork for a madcap road trip heading south from Seville to Morocco via Cadiz while the women await the results of their treatment. Joining them is Eva’s best friend Mar (Silvia Alonzo), a teacher nursing a broken heart and feeling utterly disillusioned by love following the breakup of a long term relationship.

In the opening scene, the trio have managed to land themselves behind bars and the police are at a loss as to how to handle them. It’s the culmination of the women’s time away. ‘A week to fit an entire life into,’ with each ticking off, ‘The three things they always wished they could do and couldn’t,’ from their communal chalkboard. Although, for all three to be locked up together, it did require some ingenuity and a nicely timed dropping of undies. The two strapping officers in charge of the arrest thought they had things under control. They had no idea.

In its advance billing, Wishlist has been frequently compared with the 1990’s hit movie, Thelma and Louise and, while both films feature women resolutely staring down their fate, in some ways, this film is more a mirror image of the earlier one. Thelma and Louise are two friends taking some time away to party as they set out on a fishing trip together. What begins as a light hearted excursion soon descends into darkness as the pair find themselves trapped in the grimy underbelly of small town America.

On the other hand, the women in Wishlist, already facing a dark reality, decide to retaliate. Each feels that they have nothing to lose, so there is absolutely no filter on their behaviour. And that means mayhem. Do not be the one to cross these wayward women and definitely do not steal their parking spot if they happen to be holding a container of chocolate milk. Unless a decent splash of chocolate is the one thing that has missing from your attire. That was Mar’s gleeful contribution to the ‘Me Too!’ movement.

For me, Wishlist is more akin to Pedro Almodovar’s runaway success of the early 90s, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown with its fast pace and delightfully absurd humour.  While this film at its core takes on a tough subject and doesn’t underplay the experience, it handles it with warmth and lashings of misbehaviour.

By the time the end credits were rolling the audience were applauding and I had the feeling that the last 103 minutes of my time was very well spent. Not in spite of the subject matter, but because of the sensitive but utterly mischievous way it had been presented.

Supernova

Rated: M

Directed and Written by: Harry Macqueen

Produced by: Emily Morgan and Tristan Goligher

Starring: Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci, Pippa Heywood, Peter Macqueen, Nina Marlin.

Birds chitter and chirp and early morning sunlight filters in, glancing across two bodies tangled up in their doona and in each other, as they slumber on in their golden cocoon.

If earthly bliss could be captured, this moment might be it.

Of course, this being fiction we know it cannot last.

Actually, there has been a degree of misdirection, so this scene does not really mean exactly what it appears to mean.

Despite what some may fear, this film is far from maudlin. The script is well thought out and subtle, and the performances by Colin Firth as Sam and Stanley Tucci as Tusker are tender and nuanced.

Sam, a concert pianist, and Tusker, a novelist, are embarking on one last road trip in their campervan before Tusker becomes too incapacitated by the early onset dementia he was diagnosed with two years earlier.

The pair plan to wend their way through the countryside of northern England, stopping off wherever they may find themselves, for their first night a supermarket car park, until they reach Sam’s childhood home and his sister, Lily (Pippa Haywood), who now lives there with her husband Clive (Peter Macqueen) and their young daughter (Nina Marlin). From thence, the couple hope to travel on to the concert venue where Sam is to stage what he expects to be both his comeback performance and his swansong.

While Tusker is doing all in his power to ensure that Sam remains closely connected to his career and to the people who care about him, the trip is his idea, Sam, after much soul searching, realises that he is prepared to sacrifice everything to spend whatever time he can with Tusker.

Woven through their banter and everyday bickering and hinted at in the intent behind their gestures, the deep feeling that the couple share is delicately evoked.

Although the country lanes the couple travel along are verdant and lovely, many of the film’s deeper encounters occur at night as Tusker shares his fascination with the cosmos, first with Sam on a sleepless night as they seek out the Milky Way together and then with his niece Charlotte as they lie on the grass staring up at the stars. In some ways, Sam and Tusker’s journey could be seen as a dark night of the soul.

While the title Supernova is clearly related, its meaning was not immediately obvious to me. So, I began by looking at the way a supernova is defined: an unusually bright star that suddenly lights up the sky, even though the star itself no longer exists. It has already exploded. When translated into film the reciprocal moment is quietly devastating. Lily, attempting to persuade Tusker to accept Sam’s help, says, ‘You’re still Tusker. You’re still the guy he fell in love with’.

Tusker replies, ‘No. I’m not.  I just look like him.’

How to maintain their relationship and their love in the face of this unthinkable reality forms the crux of the couple’s dilemma and the scaffolding for a beautifully wrought and haunting film.

Minari

Rated: PGMinari

Directed and Written by: Isaac Lee Chung

Produced by: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh

Director of Photography: Lachlan Milne

Editor: Harry Yoon

Starring: Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Scott Haze, Yuh-Jung Youn, Will Patton.

Korean with English Subtitles

A ‘Carther Truck’ rental tumbles down a dirt road ahead.

There’re hay rolls in the paddocks.

Black cows.

And the look of concern in the rear-view mirror.

It’s been Jacob’s (Steven Yeun) dream to plant a crop of vegetables traditionally grown in his home country Korea, but here in America.  And finally he’s brought his family to where he sees his dream coming true: pan to a portable house but really a trailer still on it’s wheels in the middle of a paddock.  And the threat of a tornado.

Welcome to Arkansas.

“This just keeps getting better and better,” laments Monica (Yeri Han), Jacob’s wife.

A city girl.

She doesn’t understand why they need to live in the middle of no-where.

But when your job is sexing chicks – the male chicks placed in the blue container, the female in the white, knowing the blue container is for the furnace because the male chicks don’t taste as good or lay eggs – it’s hard for Jacob not to want to make himself useful.  Otherwise he might just end up as smoke in the sky.

Manari is the story of the family trying to make it work.  Making that tree change and making the dream a reality.

The first priority is his family.  But to look after his family, Jacob feels like he needs to achieve something that’s his.

It comes around.

A theme shown in the subtleties – Anne (Noel Kate Cho), the young daughter echoing her mother, “it keeps getting better and better”.

And how fire can mean the end, but also the beginning.

There’re all these bitter-sweet moments, like when Grandma Soonja (Yuh-Jung Youn) comes to stay – but she’s not a real grandmother, says David (Alan Kim).  She swears and doesn’t bake cookies.

But she loves David so much she can laugh, and she can make fun, she smells like home: she finds the perfect place to plant, minari.

It’s in these quiet circles the family drama of Minari is shown with sunlight shining through the long grass, the warmth of Paul (Will Patton), the crazy God loving American who is just so weird but such a gift.

There’s little David with his cowboy boots and stripy socks.

And there’s hardship.  But that just makes those good moments all the more sweet.

Most of the time I was smiling through-out this film, with a rise of emotion here and there, just a little melancholy.  Kinda like taking a walk in the afternoon, with the sun shining behind some cloud cover that gets you feeling the breeze and the moment a bit.  The sun comes out again.  Then you walk home.

The Little Things

Rated: MThe Little Things

Directed / Written and Produced by: John Lee Hancock

Produced by: Mark Johnson

Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Natalie Morales.

“It’s the little things that get you caught.”

I know there’s some heavy hitters here – director John Lee Hancock (“The Founder,” “Saving Mr. Banks,” “The Blind Side”); and three Academy Award winning actors, but, The Little Things felt like a film that didn’t know if it wanted to be a drama or a crime thriller.

Deke (Denzel Washington) is a man recovering.  He’s been suspended, divorced and has had a triple bypass – all in six months.  He’s not a detective that let’s go of a case.

Fast forward five years and Deke is in uniform, called back to LA on an errand.  Back to his old precinct where the chief is not happy about his return.

But some of his old buddies are happy to see him, remembering the old him.  The one who got the job done.

His replacement, Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), a god-fearing golden child, knows there’s rumours about him.

“You’re a popular guy,” he jokes.

But Baxter will take any help he can get, the pressure on with a current case of four dead.  And no suspects.

The foundation of the story is the two cops getting to know each other as they chase leads while unraveling the mystery of Deke’s past.

The film becomes more crime drama than crime thriller.  The violence watered down.  For me, taking away any suspense.

The murders they’re investigating are never seen, the terror of the crimes never a focus, just a car following behind, the splatter of blood across a crime scene or the ghosts of the dead still haunting.

The characters are the story so the mystery of the crime takes a back seat.

I admit, I prefer crime movies with more grit.

The soundtrack didn’t help.  There’s no build, just a background giving that feeling of thinking while the cops try to figure out the crime, and each other.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a strong performance here from Denzel, the chemistry between Deke and Baxter a good hook with some further interest thrown in with Jared Leto as the bad guy, his slow reptilian stare unsettling.

But the lack of any visceral violence or any real suspense left his bad character more comical (on purpose) at times, than scary.  He’s right on that edge and with more grit he would have been outright terrifying.  But again, it felt like the film was filtered.  Making this a more cerebral viewing.  And yes there are some clever moments.

But the pacing didn’t build those aha moments so although there’s some satisfaction, the story gets lost leaving the feeling of a missed opportunity.

High Ground

Rated: MA15+High Ground

Directed by: Stephen Maxwell Johnson

Written by: Chris Anastassiades

Produced by: David Jowsey, Maggie Miles, Witiyana Marika, Greer Simpkin, Stephen Maxwell Johnson

Starring: Jacob Junior Nayinggul, Simon Baker, Callan Mulvey, Jack Thompson, Witiyana Marika, Aaron Pedersen, Caren Pistorious, Esmerelda Marimowa, Ryan Corr, Sean Mununggurr.

When you’ve got the high ground, you control everything

“Be quiet!” someone cussed at the other critics, chatting in the audience.

And then the film began, in complete silence.

Only the sound of birds twittering.  And screeching.

High Ground is a revenge film set in the early 1900s.  The days of the early settlers in Australia, when the indigenous population killing a cow could lead to massacre in retribution.

When a young boy, Gutjuk (Jacob Junior Nayinggul) witnesses his family killed by white settlers, Travis (Simon Baker), the army officer leading the team, takes Gutjuk in his arms, disowning the behaviour of his countrymen.

He leaves his army days behind.

Fast forward twelve years and we see the Wild Mob burning up settlements and causing mayhem.

Mayhem led by Baywara.

Gutjuk’s uncle taking revenge.

There’s more here than a little boy seeing his family killed.

There’s the complicated nature of finding the balance between the people already living on the land and those wanting to own the land; those who take and those who want to listen.

The complex nature of settlement is embodied in the character Travis.  A white man scarred by the slaughter of innocents by his countrymen.  He disowns the status quo but is unable to get away from his past.

There’s taking revenge to be someone, where standing in anger is better than feeling the pain of being treated like nothing.

Then there’s Gutjuk, re-named Tommy.  The little boy taken to live in a white settlement.  Loved.  But never forgetting his roots.

The conflict is intense but the film is quiet, inviting the audience to listen.  Really listen.  Making High Ground a tense film built on the sound of the land.

I can’t recall a soundtrack at all.  Just the sound of birds and language, the somehow warm slither of a snake across rock like fingertips over velvet.  Like the animals provided another voice all set in the vast landscape of the Northern Territory: Arnhem Land.

The dialogue is simple.  Sparse.  Too sparse.  But that’s what allows the sound of the birds to speak.  So there’s an immersive brilliance to the film broken by confronting moments of violence.

I kept jumping.

But because of this quiet focus, some of the story felt glossed over.  So I was in this magical moment, then frowning when the narrative didn’t add to the relationships of the characters, the storyline somehow underdone.

What absolutely hit the mark was the performance from Jacob Junior Nayinggul – I believed every single word, his character Gutjuk, a highlight.

But more than anything it’s bringing the land into the story that makes this film unique.

I am Gutjuk, meaning hawk.

The totem of the hawk a constant presence, a forever watchful eye.  High above, everything.

Recommend watching this one on the big screen.

All Traditional Owners of the land on which HIGH GROUND was filmed gave their blessing for the film and provided unprecedented access to country. On request of the Jawoyn the Kakadu National Park management closed tourist access to one if its key attractions the stunning Gunlom Falls for the filming of key scenes. Many local Aboriginal people worked on the film in front of and behind the camera.

Full Statement by Galarrwuy Yunupingu ” HIGH GROUND is a both-ways film, First Nations and Balanda. It depicts a time of trouble in Australia; it honours our old heroes, reminds us of the past and the truth of our joint history in the country. I hope that this film can play an important role in Australia’s national conversation towards a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution so that all our children will walk in both-worlds, never forgetting the past.” Galarrwuy Yunupingu AM Gumatj Leader

Penguin Bloom

Rated: PGPenguin Bloom
Directed by: Glendyn Ivin
Based on the book by: Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive
Produced by: Naomi Watts, Emma Cooper, Bruni Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, Jody Matterson
Starring: Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln, Jackie Weaver, Griffin Murray-Johnston.

‘Mum’s not the person she once was and she’s not the person she wanted to be.’

When a railing on a rooftop lookout gives way under her weight during an idyllic family holiday in Thailand, Sam (Naomi Watts) plunges several storeys to the ground. Sam had been an ‘awesome’ mum, the type who would go surfing and skateboarding with her three boys and would be at the centre of all the fun until she finds herself wheelchair bound.

The film opens at first light with a soaring bird’s eye view of the cliff tops surrounding Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The ocean is calm and clear, and the location is stunning. It’s a year after Sam’s accident and she is failing to adjust to her new reality. It’s an adjustment that not everyone makes. When the boys fall ill it is their father (Andrew Lincoln) they call for; as a mother she can barely even make the boys a cut lunch for school. Sam has always loved the water, now she dreams that she is sinking to the bottom of the ocean trapped in her wheelchair and, to her horror, it doesn’t feel unpleasant.

It is not only Sam’s vertebrae that are broken, the family are barely managing either. In his room, Noah (Griffin Murray-Johnston) is secretly videotaping the fragments of his mother’s life that have survived after Sam momentarily gives in to her rage and pain and smashes all the photos of her former life hanging above the mantelpiece. Blaming himself for his mother’s accident, Noah cuts himself off.

On a trip to the beach with his brothers, Noah is wandering alone when he notices a large goanna. Following its eye line, he spies a magpie chick in deadly peril. The little black and white bundle of feathers had fallen from its nest high in the treetops and, while it had survived the fall, it had lost its mother and is about to become supper for a hungry reptile.

Noah carries the tiny orphan home, but it cries out pretty raucously whenever it is left alone and it isn’t interested in eating. Even when Penguin settles into the household, the bird is reluctant to fly. Noah muses that maybe Penguin isn’t able to fly because she is motherless: ‘I read that baby birds dream of their mother’s soul and that’s how they learn to sing.’

Penguin’s predicament is, in many ways, a parallel to Sam’s. Neither one was what they might have been before their fall but they will both become, ‘Much more than that’.

Penguin Bloom is a quietly poetic and uplifting film. One that asks those questions for which there are no answers, but need to be asked regardless. Every year 20 million people visit Thailand, and that railing could have collapsed at any time on any one of them, yet it collapsed exactly when it did.

By the way, if you like to walk out as soon as the credits roll you’ll be missing out on a treat this time.

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