April’s film viewings have been few and varied in the rating system, but there have been some gems. From dramatic Irish thriller Bring Them Down to British/Nigerian My Father’s Shadow, there’s some great cinema to watch, so buckle up and come along for the ride!

This month’s Tiny Tapes Reviews consists of: Bring Them Down; Keeper; The Life of Chuck; My Father’s Shadow; Nuremberg; Send Help; Thrash; Tron: Ares.

Director: Christopher Andrews
Writer: Christopher Andrews
Cast: Christopher Abbott, Barry Keoghan, Nora-Jane Noone, Paul Ready, Aaron Heffernan, Conor MacNeill, Susan Lynch, Colm Meaney

In this rural Irish thriller, two warring families find their feud coming to a… uh… head. With the tension keenly built through a nonlinear narrative and keeping things realistic by making use of the Irish language, it’s easy to get immersed in the drama and feel like both an observer and an accomplice. The blur between the lines of right and wrong are highlighted in the non-linearity and adds plenty of nuance to what should otherwise be a cut-and-dry case. Throw in superb performances from Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan and it’s little wonder Bring Them Down was a hit with critics and audiences alike.

Director: Osgood Perkins
Writer: Nick Lepard
Cast: Tatiana Maslany, Rossif Sutherland, Birkett Turton, Eden Weiss

Osgood Perkins has been on a role with constantly pushing out horror films in the past couple of years, and his latest sees a woman head to a secluded cabin in the woods (standard) with her boyfriend where she soon finds that they’re far from alone (again, standard). Stylistically it’s got flair, but the unoriginal story doesn’t match up to Perkins’ cinematic eye, much in a similar vein to Longlegs, one of his previous films. Perkins fares better when he conducts horror with less of a psychological underscore, much like he did with The Monkey. The design of the creatures that lurk around the cabin is creepy enough to keep things interesting, and Tatiana Maslany gives an incredible performance that outshines the material, but on the whole it falls short of being an outlier in its genre.

Director: Mike Flanagan
Writer: Mike Flanagan, based on the short story by Stephen King
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Carl Lumbly, Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay, Mark Hamill

What if you were really the main character, not just in your life but in the universe? Chuck (Hiddleston) has more of an effect on others than he realises, and sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest difference and that stay with us for a long time. Told in reverse chronological order, the story goes big before it goes home and offers a less terrifying view of the world than we’d usually expect from both Mike Flanagan and Stephen King. Although Tom Hiddleston probably still has a little work to do when it comes to a convincing American accent (sorry, Tom), his grounded performance as Chuck perfectly juxtaposes the immensity of his existence and the peculiar ability that he possesses. The story was perhaps a little stretched out in comparison to the short story, but it hits the majority of the points.

Director: Akinola Davies Jr.
Writers: Akinola Davies Jr., Wale Davies
Cast: Sope Dirisu, Godwin Chiemerie Egbo, Chibuike Marvellous Egbo

In this tale of an average life in Nigeria set amongst extraordinary circumstances, a father who spends a lot of time away for work takes his two young sons to work with him as he looks to collect his salary, and throughout their excursion their bond is tested and tightened. Even without the political backdrop of the 1993 Nigerian election, in which there was an increased military presence and the eventual annullment of the election, the plot involving the father and his boys stands strong as it is, resonating profoundly as a parent tries to explain his absences and his children struggle to fully understand. The performances are incredible, particularly from the young boys, and the film is superbly photographed, showcasing very natural and immersive scenes of both the Nigerian countryside and the bustling city of Lagos.

Director: James Vanderbilt
Writer: James Vanderbilt
Cast: Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lydia Peckham, Richard E. Grant, Michael Shannon

Dramatising the Nuremberg trials is not an easy part of history to take on, but James Vanderbilt gave it a good shot, even if much of the dialogue is a little hammy and portrays a very Americanised, Hollywood version of events, Rami Malek’s role coming across particularly exaggerated at times. Every time a new infamous historical character pops up a character clutches their pearls, making it uncomfortably comical at times, but it also has some hard hitting moments, particularly those sections of dialogue taken more or less verbatim from the real trials and actual footage from the concentration camps. At least hiring American actors was a good idea – I can’t imagine any German actors would want to take on roles from such a shameful time in their history (nor be typecast as such). I was however sceptical about Russell Crowe (Aussie, not American) taking on the role of Hermann Göring, but he easily steps into Göring’s intimidating and unforgiving shoes. As hammed up for “entertainment” as it is, Nuremberg still packs a punch and ultimately delivers on its “lest we forget” messaging.

Director: Sam Raimi
Writers: Damian Shannon, Mark Swift
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien

In this bog-standard Sam Raimi comedy thriller, a woman is marooned on an island after a plane crash where she puts her survival skills to good use, all while dealing with her fellow islander: her egotistical, misogynistic, selfish male boss. Raimi’s ability to use multiple twists, weave in dark comedy amongst gory terror and create layered characters ensures that the duo of Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien are constantly kept on their toes and thus keeps the audience well immersed in their actions. The editing is a bit weird at times, with some transitions seemingly amateur in execution, and the plot starts to loose its grip towards the end, but thanks in part to the commitment of McAdams and O’Brien to their characters’ descent into insanity (or their real selves?), there’s a lot to enjoy in this mad survival horror.

Director: Tommy Wirkola
Writer: Tommy Wirkola
Cast: Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak, Djimon Hounsou

When a Category 5 hurricane hits South Carolina, some residents of Annieville attempt to evacuate whilst others get caught up in the rising floods, with the water bringing in sharks to add insult to (definite) injury. If this plot sounds familiar, you’d be right, as it is incredibly similar to 2019’s Crawl, if you exchange the sharks for alligators and South Carolina for Florida. So, clearly, it is far from an original story, and even the dilemmas the characters find themselves in are predictable and, in some cases, too bonkers to being even close to believable (particularly the storyline for Phoebe Dynevor’s character). It has some humorous moments, though whether they’re supposed to be is up for debate, but after a while of characters being in the same place and under the same threat, it gets difficult to stay immersed (pun intended). It’s fine for those who want a quick thrill, but don’t expect to stay engaged.

Director: Joachim Rønning
Writer: Jesse Wigutow
Cast: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson, Jeff Bridges

It seems to me that Tron has fallen so far off the grid that it’s got to be close to deletion. In this third instalment of the series that nobody wanted, Julian Dillinger (Peters), grandson of Ed Dillinger, creates Ares (Leto), a Master Control Program A.I. that can trasnfer to the real world and replace human soldiers. That is, until Ares grows more self-aware and determines that Dillinger lacks empathy for his “programs”. I hardly recognize this as Tron anymore, with more involvement from outside the grid and bringing programs into the real world. Although a few scenes that take things back to the original 80’s grid brings a moment of pure nostalgia, it’s not enough to give this film a legitimate reason to exist. Jared Leto puts in a surprisingly good performance as Ares and could have potential as a lead character in a grid-based television show, but it would also very much be ok if the movies ended here.