LOVE SARAH
OUT 24 APRIL
Three Women And A Bakery
might be a better name for this
lightweight dramedy. After its
title character (an undemanding
cameo for Bake-Off winner
Candice Brown) dies in a tragic
accident, her best friend (Shelley
Conn), daughter (Shannon Tarbet)
and estranged mother (Celia
Imrie) put aside their differences
to open a patisserie in her honour.
Set in Notting Hill, it at least tries
to celebrate the area’s diversity- the trio’s fortunes change when
they start catering to London’s
immigrant population. Imrie and
Tarbet strive to rise above the
half-baked script, but this is a
soggy meringue of a film: sugary
and insubstantial. Chris Schilling
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH:
A LIFE ON OUR PLANETRELEASE DATE TBC
Chernobyl may seem an odd place to begin a nature documentary. Yet
its irradiated desolation proves a powerful metaphor for a film that sees
our nonagenarian host assess the damage wreaked upon the natural
world in his lifetime. This is his witness statement: a bleak chronicle of
depleted rainforests, receding ice-caps and over-fished oceans, topped
off with a gloomy prediction of the future. Depressed yet? Thankfully
we’re never far away from a blue whale or cuddly gorilla, while the
solution-focused coda provides a brief flicker of hope. Neil SmithELVIS: THAT’S THE WAY IT IS
OUT 22 APRIL
Two years after his triumphant leather-clad, knife-edge, 1968 comeback
special, Elvis Presley was starting to let his myth carry him. And buckle
under the weight while it was about it. This concert movie catches him
in Vegas, 1970, his tacky trousers tight and his performance loose.
Dreary backstage material aside, Presley too often lapses into goofing
about on-stage, throwing songs away when he’s not busy snogging
random fans. Things pick up as his right leg starts convulsing for
‘Suspicious Minds’, but not before the suspicion sets in that the
King’s conversion to all-American showbiz had, by this point,
become sadly irreversible. Kevin HarleyRECORDER:
THE MARION
STOKES PROJECTRELEASE DATE TBC
Two fascinating stories intertwine
in Matt Wolf’s thought-provoking
doc. Conscious of the power of the
media to affect public opinion,
librarian and TV personality
Marion Stokes obsessively
recorded the news for more than
30 years. As Wolf investigates
what drove this folk archivist,
Stokes’ taped footage paints a
picture of modern American
history that feels disturbingly
relevant in this disinformation
era. What emerges is a portrait of
a visionary, and Stokes’ archive
remains a cautionary tale of how
stories are filtered through those
delivering them. Chris SchillingMOFFIE
OUT 24 APRIL
‘Moffie’ is an Afrikaans gay slur,
one thrown with venom at any
faltering teen boy completing
their national service for the
South African army. Oliver
Hermanus’ haunting but remote
film sees shy Nicholas (Kai Luke
Brummer) not only battling the
brutality of training, but also his
inchoate homosexuality: he’s torn
between keeping his head down
amid the bullying and forming a
tender relationship with a fellow
conscriptee. A bruising study that
explores the dangers of being
outed in a heteronormative
society, as well as the lasting
harm of a dark chapter of
Apartheid history. Jane CrowtherEASTER IN ART
OUT 7 APRIL
Released by the Exhibition On
Screen initiative, Phil Grabsky’s
documentary follows the Passion
narrative as represented by
famous artworks down the
centuries. Interspersed with
expert commentary and with
narration lifted from Biblical
accounts of Christ’s last days, the
result replicates the experience of
an audio tour of a gallery. As such,
though the paintings are stunning
and there are spots of emotional
gravity, it’s not particularly
cinematic, while analysis often
stops short of deep-dive. Still, for
those looking for a primer on
Easter story’s artistic legacy, it
delivers. Tim ColemanTHE WORLD’S MOST TRUSTED REVIEWS
GAMESRADARCOM/TOTALFILM APRIL 2020 | TOTAL FILM