Greetings again from the darkness. It appears as if Catholicism has gone high-tech! Of course, with that comes the risk of being hacked, and that’s how this film from writer-director Sergio Dow begins. Based on the 1995 novel “La Piel del Tambor” (“The Skin of the Drum”) by Spanish author Arturo Perez-Reverte, the list of those with a writing credit includes: Adrian Bol, Beth Bollinger, Gretchen Cowan, Carolina Lopez-Rodriguez, Sheila Willis, and Luis Zelkowicz, Yes, so while the premise is appealing, it’s likely too many fingers in the writer’s pie created the tangled web that prevented this one from reaching greater heights.
Richard Armitage stars as Father Quart, the best Priest-Investigator the Vatican can offer. Mr. Armitage performed admirably in a couple of Harlan Coben limited series, “Stay Close” and “The Stranger”, and he has a unique and quietly compelling screen presence … and probably very few other actors could come across as somewhat believable in the role of Priest-Cop. Still dwelling on a tragic error in his last case, Quart is sent to Seville, Spain where a 17th century church has been the scene of some recent unexplained deaths. Upon arrival, he learns the church is also a key element in a family squabble related to a pending land development deal.
Macarena (Alma Salamanca) and her mother Duquesa Cruz Bruner (Fionnula Flanagan, dropping her familiar Irish brogue for a Spanish accent) are self-funding the church renovations, while Macarena’s estranged husband, the ambitious and unscrupulous Pencho (Rodolfo Sancho) is pushing for the razing of the church so the large development project can proceed. Also included in this battle are Gris (Alicia Borrachero), who is the church’s architectural restorer, Monsignor Spada (screen veteran Paul Guilfoyle) pushing Quart to close the case, Padre Ferro (Paul Freeman), the Priest from the small church who believes Quart is the bad guy, Padre Cooey (Carlos Cuevas), a Priest with other-worldly tech skills, and the always great Franco Nero who plays the Pope in a couple of scenes (interesting that he also played a different era Pope in Russell Crowe’s recent thriller, THE POPE’S EXORCIST).
The deaths occurring inside Our Lady of Tears church may or may not be mysterious, but what is clear pretty quickly is that greed and corruption are quite prevalent in this situation. The film opens with Father Quart offering his own personal confession, and this is meant to convey that he really is a good guy (not a perfect one) looking for answers … not a lackey sent to get the high-dollar deal closed. The film is at its best when Armitage is on screen, yet the story might have benefitted from a deeper dive into the corruption aspect.
These days, a money-laundering scheme is the preferred scandal for the Catholic Church, and it’s kind of humorous to think that the Vatican might have a bullpen of programmers wearing Priest collars as they cyber-protect the Church. There are some fight scenes that aren’t particularly well-staged, although the work of renowned Spanish composer Roque Banos is a highlight, as are the beautiful locales. We are left feeling like this could have worked best as a limited series on Netflix.
Opening in theaters and On Demand June 30, 2023
Posted by David Ferguson 
Greetings again from the darkness. If you have ever wondered what it might look like if Quentin Tarantino consulted on a modernized Pakistani version of Jane Austen … well, writer-director Nida Manzoor shows us (with no actual assistance from QT), including stylized martial arts, class warfare, and an obsession with a stuntwoman career. It’s Ms. Manzoor’s first feature film (she created the TV series “We are Lady Parts”) and she presents an extremely creative film with a balance of silly and dark themes that proves immensely entertaining.
Greetings again from the darkness. Welcome to ‘Hypocriteville”. Or the town of Bigotry. Or Xenophobia City. Regardless how vile each of these labels might be, they each fit in the Transylvania community at the heart of writer-director Christian Mungiu’s latest film. Of course, as with most derogatory labels, the accused would never admit the shoe fits, and paraphrasing Shakespeare, would likely protest too much. Mungiu’s brilliant 2007 Palme d’Or winner 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS was inexplicably not nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar, and he proves again his unique mastery of the medium.
Greetings again from the darkness. What a treat to watch a film that doesn’t drown us in the obvious or spell out each character’s precise thoughts. There are no explosions or action sequences, and these folks are ever so believable and grounded in life. With the depth of emotions relayed, and the unhurried pacing, it’s remarkable that this is a first feature film. Writer-director Colm Bairead has based his debut on “Foster”, a story by Claire Keegan.
Greetings again from the darkness. One of my (many) pet peeves involves movies where we are supposed to believe a couple finds eternal love after barely spending any time together. Now I fully understand some artistic license must be taken in love stories, as there are only a couple of hours to work with, but the challenge is making the audience believe it. For the films that do it right, it’s a thing of beauty.
Greetings again from the darkness. Coming of age stories are immensely popular in literature and cinema. And why not? We all go through the stages (some more effectively than others). Writer-director Lukas Dhont is no stranger to backlash and criticism after his 2018 feature film debut, GIRL, and the approach he took on transgender issues. This time the topic is different, yet his approach still opens him up to additional criticism. However, if the viewer isn’t on a quest for controversy, this story from Dhont and co-writer Angelo Tissens is quite touching.
Greetings again from the darkness. For the first half hour, we can’t help but think, “we’ve seen this all before.” A straight-as-an-arrow police detective falls hard for a suspect in a murder case. Sure, the familiar story line is often fun to watch, but we are initially a bit disappointed since this is the work of writer-director Park Chan-wook, the filmmaker behind OLD BOY (2003) and THE HANDMAIDEN (2016). Of course, we worried needlessly. The masterful director then begins twisting and turning characters and events in this homage to Hitchcock’s VERTIGO.
Greetings again from the darkness. The expert photography and artistic approach taken by Shaunak Sen in his documentary is quite something to behold, even as the message may be a bit heavy-handed. His opening shot perfectly captures all of this, as a sea of rats scrounges for food through the trash while the headlights of an approaching car drive home the point that it’s the humans who have thrown things out of balance.
Greetings again from the darkness. Many filmmakers mine their own lives for projects, making their work personal, revealing, and sometimes invasive. It’s easy to label these works as narcissistic, and by definition, that would be accurate. However, some of the finest films from our most interesting writer-directors fall into the autobiographical (or semi-autobiographical) category. Examples include Fellini’s 8 ½ (1963), Cameron Crowe’s ALMOST FAMOUS, and Woody Allen’s STARDUST MEMORIES. This time it’s Oscar winner Alejandro Inarritu looking inward. Inarritu won his Oscars for THE REVENANT (2015), and his previous nominations include BIRDMAN (2014) and BABEL (2006), and those are in addition to his other standouts: BIUTIFUL (2010), 21 GRAMS (2003), and AMORES PERROS (2000). He’s joined on this project by his BIUTIFUL and BIRDMAN co-writer, Nicolas Giacobone.
Greetings again from the darkness. There has been no shortage of conspiracy theories, either recently or historically, that have left non-believers bewildered at how ‘the other side’ held firm. Writer-director Arthur Harari and his co-writers Bernard Cendron and Vincent Poymiro bring the remarkable struggle of Hiroo Onoda to the screen. Onoda was a Japanese soldier who refused to believe WWII ended, and instead, continued his mission of resistance by spending thirty years in a Filipino jungle.
Movie Reviews from the Dark 