David R. Walker

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Rosamund Pike, Isla Fisher, Dominic Sessa, Justice Smith, Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Thabang Molaba, Ariana Goldblatt, Lizzy Caplan

Running Time: 1 hour 53 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Nine years after the sequel, Now You See Me 2 in 2016, Gangster Squad director Ruben Fleischer reunites the four horseman of magic in the third instalment aptly titled Now You See Me: Now You Don’t starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco.

In the new film some bright young characters emerge, ambitious magicians that are trying to emulate the four horseman. These are June played by Ariana Goldblatt, Bosco brilliantly played by Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) and Charlie played by Justice Smith.

J. Daniel Atlas eloquently played with enough charisma by Eisenberg recruits the young magicians to help him pull off a daring diamond heist in Antwerp, Belgium. Enter the villain.

Rosamund Pike is no stranger to playing the villain, after she played Miranda Frost in 2002’s James Bond film Die Another Day. This time the British Oscar nominee effortlessly takes on a strong South African accent to play diamond heiress Veronica Vanderberg who inherited her father’s South African diamond empire.

She has a sparkling very expensive diamond in which the magicians want to steal at a diamond auction in Antwerp. Many disappearing acts occur in which the diamond is snatched by the four horsemen and their young accomplices. They flee Belgium for a mysterious Chateau in France where they meet chief magician and illusionist Thaddeus Bradley played by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby).

Things go south at the Chateau and soon Merritt McKinney played by Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson (The People vs Larry Flynt, The Messenger, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri) is kidnapped by the ruthless but vivacious Vanderberg.

Swiftly a fifth magician appears, Lizzy Caplan reprising her role as Luna and the entire gang head to Abu Dhabi to the Yas Marina Grand Prix circuit whereby Vanderberg Enterprises will be showcasing their new racing car. The magicians land up getting caught in a sandbox quickly filling with sand while Vanderberg seems to escape into the Arabian night.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t has great entertainment value judging by how fill the cinema was when I saw it. It is a sleek and visually impressive film with a great ensemble cast and sufficient tricky to wow the viewers into being captivated by every sleight of hand and misdirection.

With multiple screenwriters contributing to the screenplay, the narrative is outlandish and pure escapism but that is what magic is all about.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is pure entertainment with no violence, lots of action and loads of magic helped by a truly talented ensemble cast. Recommended viewing.

After the Hunt

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Cast: Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Michael Stuhlbarg, Andrew Garfield, Chloe Sevigny

Running Time: 2 hours and 18 minutes

Film Rating: 6 out of 10

THIS FILM IS ONLY AVAILABLE ON AMAZON PRIME

Sicilian director Luca Gudagnino follows on from the success of his previous film Challengers which was lavishly shot with a strange psychological thriller in which he attempts unsuccessfully to capture the zeitgeist of the early 2020’s in his new film After the Hunt.

Fortunately Oscar winner Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) centres this uneven and ultimately disappointing film which unravels from the middle onwards.

Roberts plays an ambitious philosophy lecturer Alma at the prestigious Yale University where by her and her fellow lecturer Hank superbly played with hyper masculinity by Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge, Tick Tick, Boom) are embroiled in a dangerous and toxic game of accusations and counter accusations when an arch manipulator and troubled student Maggie brilliantly played by The Bear star Ayo Edebiri disrupts their comfortable and privileged lives.

After a particularly boozy party at Alma’s house hosted by herself and her husband, clinical psychologist Frederik expertly played by Michael Stuhlbarg, Hank accompanies Maggie home.

The next day Maggie, Alma’s star philosophy graduate student comes to her professor with a shocking accusation that Hank tried to touch her inappropriately. There is no proof, only insinuation and hearsay.

Simultaneously Hank tells Alma that Maggie has plagiarised her philosophy dissertation and then when he gets accused and fired by the University faculty he explodes and tells Alma that he is a victim of this shallow cultural moment.

After the Hunt unfortunately doesn’t dwell on specifics in a meandering narrative which will leave the viewer slightly confused. Director Luca Guadagnino was keen to make a film that captured the zeitgeist of the MeToo movement in an academic setting but he doesn’t capitalize on a narrative which could have been explosive and challenging. After the Hunt suffers from a poor script and an overlong narrative which makes the film economically unviable.

Despite some great scenes between Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield, the entire film seems to virtue signal about a cultural moment which hasn’t finished running its course, so it’s true impact is impossible to quantify. After the Hunt will challenge viewers perceptions but will not entertain them.

After the Hunt has great potential, but sags in the middle causing the morally questionable characters to unsuccessfully sustain a narrative which lacks resolution.

Luca Guadagnino should go back to the formula which made his hit films so brilliant. After The Hunt fails to equal the brilliance of Call Me By Your Name or even Challengers.

After the Hunt gets a film rating of 6 out of 10.

The Running Man

Director: Edgar Wright

Cast: Glen Powell, Lee Pace, Sean Hayes, Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin, Jayme Lawson, William H. Macy, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones

Running time: 2 hours and 13 minutes.

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Baby Driver director Edgar Wright tackles with freneticism a remake of the 1987 action film The Running Man which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso and Yaphet Kotto.

This time Top Gun Maverick and Twisters star Glen Powell takes the lead role as a poor man Ben Richards with anger issues that has to enter a reality TV show about how to survive without getting murdered in a Dystopian America set in a hyper contemporary future which strangely reflects the 2020’s.

The production design by Marcus Rowland is amazing in The Running Man as the story, with a screenplay by Edgar Wright and Michael Bacall based on the novel by horror writer Steven King, tracks the bizarre adventure of Richards as he enters The Running Man reality TV show in a vibrant and often violent game of hide and seek. As Richards travels from Co-op city to New York then Boston and onto Maine, he meets an assortment of fascinating characters. The most notable is forger Molie played by Oscar nominee William H. Macy (Sideways) and Elton Perrakis as the conspiracy theory weird dude who lives in a rambling house in Maine with his mother, brilliantly played by Michael Cera (Juno, Barbie).

The reality TV show is a dystopian colosseum as hordes of viewers eagerly watch the hunt of Ben Richards with bloodlust as the host of the show Bobby T whips up the crowd in a frenzy. Bobby T is flamboyantly played by Oscar nominee Colman Domingo (Rustin, Sing Sing) as he answers to the shady corporate TV network producer Dan Killian played by Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (Milk).

The Running Man is absolutely crazy and frenetic. Unfortunately Edgar Wright over directs this dystopian thriller but what saves this film is the charisma of Glen Powell whose good looks and gusto will make the film audience want Ben Richards to stay alive and save his wife and child and beat the show at its own murderous game all skilfully orchestrated by TV ratings and audience participation.

Some superb scenes in the film include a fight scene between Ben Richards and ruthless hunter Evan McCone played by Lee Pace (Captain Marvel) on a jetliner while a horrified captive Amelia Williams played by rising British star Emilia Jones looks on.

The Running Man is The Hunger Games on steroids, a fantastically crazy action film which is loud, brash and over directed by Edgar Wright who often gets the pacing of the film wrong. It is thoroughly entertaining especially watching the hunk Glen Powell outwit the crazy hunters and take revenge on the evil TV producer Killian.

Despite bad editing and a lack of pacing, The Running Man gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is an entertaining action film with outlandish characters and a leading man in which everyone will be cheering for as he goes up against an oppressive social system in which the rich willingly crush the poor purely for entertainment value.

The Running Man is certainly dystopian but very familiar in the current media climate. Recommended viewing for those that love high adrenalin action films set in a bizarre futuristic world.

Roofman

Director: Derek Cianfrance

Cast: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Peter Dinklage, LaKeith Stanfield, Ben Mendelsohn, Uzo Aduba, Juno Temple, Tony Revolori

Running Time: 2 hours and 6 minutes

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Derek Cianfrance returns to the director’s chair after a nine year absence in his new film Roofman starring Channing Tatum and Oscar nominee Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog).

Unlike his previous films The Place beyond the Pines and Blue Valentine which both starred Ryan Gosling, Roofman is much lighter in tone and focuses on the bizarre escapades of an unmanageable father Jeffrey Manchester superbly played by Channing Tatum (Foxcatcher) in an Oscar worthy performance who robs a McDonalds in North Carolina, gets arrested for that crime then escapes out of jail.

The escaped convicted then hides in plain sight in a massive Toys R Us store in Pineville, North Carolina on the outskirts of Charlotte, the state’s biggest city.

Roofman follows the captivating but ultimately heart breaking story of Jeffrey who falls in love with single mother Leigh Wainscott brilliantly played by Dunst in a role which is so opposite to her previous film roles. Kirsten Dunst was once the art house darling of such directors as Lars von Trier and Sofia Coppola. Think Melancholia or Marie Antoinette.

She is now playing a regular mother and employee at a toy store which ironically is managed by the evil boss Mitch superbly played by Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones). When Leigh asks her boss for toys for a local toy drive for her church, he abruptly tells her that Toys R Us are in the business of selling toys and not giving them away.

Leigh belongs to a North Carolina church in which she finds comfort and community. The congregation is run by Pastor Ron and his wife Eileen, played by Ben Mendelsohn and Uzo Aduba. Leigh introduces Jeffrey to this church and integrates him into her life, not knowing that he is a wanted criminal.

Jeffrey’s contact in the criminal underworld is a forger Steve played by Oscar nominee LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah) and his girlfriend Michelle played by Juno Temple (Atonement).

Roofman is a character driven film about a charismatic thief who falls in love with a divorcee who is desperately looking for Mr Right. Channing Tatum is excellent in a role which requires him to bare all both physically and emotionally. There is a hilarious scene with him naked in the Toys R Us store being discovered by Mitch, the store manager.

The slow pacing of Roofman is a trademark of Derek Cianfrance’s films, yet the crime comedy delivers a fascinating tale of a criminal falling in love with a regular citizen whose love affair is ultimately doomed. As Steve, the forger, advises Jeffrey that once you get a new forged passport and plan on leaving the country don’t go back and say goodbye to anybody that you have become attached to.

With great performances by Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst, Roofman gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is a true American story of love, escape and destiny set in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bizarre but worth seeing.

Tron: Ares

Director: Joachim Ronning

Cast: Greta Lee, Jared Leto, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Jeff Bridges, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson

Running Time: 1 hour 59 minutes

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

It’s been 15 years since Tron was released in 2010 and 43 years since the original Tron was released back in 1982. The good news is that Jeff Bridges stars in all of them.

2025’s Tron: Ares directed by Norwegian director Joachim Ronning who also did Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge.

Tron: Ares is not a bad film and the visual effects are amazing. The cast is sufficiently varied including Greta Lee (Past Lives) as video game founder Eve Kim and her nemesis, Julian Dillinger played with villainous mischief by Emmy winner Evan Peters (Mare of Easttown). Then there are the programs that Dillinger creates, Ares played by Oscar winner Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) who is a digital being who wants to escape being disintegrated every 30 minutes and Athena played by the fabulous British actress Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim)  rocking a particularly retro Grace Jones look.

As Eve and her sidekick Seth Flores played by the Guatemalan star Arturo Castro discover the permanence code which allows advanced AI programs like Ares and Athena to exist forever. Dillinger’s corporation which he is trying to wrestle control away from his overbearing mother, pursue Eve and in a flashy motorbike chase through a nameless city, Eve discovers that she is weirdly attracted to Ares, even though he is a computer program.

Ares realizes that he is a disposable program in which Dillinger can reconstitute at any moment, so he teams up with Eve who sends him back into the original 1980’s video game where in this retro computer world reminiscent of 1980’s arcade games, Ares meets Kevin Flynn played with reverence by Oscar winner Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), video game creator of the original Tron grid.

Tron: Ares has lavish production values with cutting edge visuals assisted by a catchy soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode. Of course Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Oscar winners for best original score for David Fincher’s The Social Network also assist with making this Tron soundtrack edgy and slick.

The best scene is when Ares meets Kevin Flynn in the original 1980’s computer grid of Tron, the first film which captured my imagination as a 10 year boy back in 1982.

If you enjoy the Tron world and the sleek visual aesthetics, then catch Tron: Ares now in cinemas. The acting is not brilliant but the storyline keeps the characters afloat in a treacherous digital world in which artificial intelligence is fighting raw human emotion.

Tron: Ares gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is worth seeing purely for the entertainment value and this time Disney managed to capture a futuristic world which is hyper contemporary and surprisingly relevant. Recommended viewing for those that love cool science fiction and watch it in the biggest screen possible.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

Director: Kogonada

Cast: Colin Farrell, Margot Robbie, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jodie Turner-Smith, Kevin Kline, Billy Magnussen, Sarah Gadon

Running Time: 1 hour and 49 minutes

Film Rating: 5 out of 10

To understand what a brilliant film is, you also have to watch a terrible film. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is possibly one of the worst films I have ever seen and to think that Oscar nominees Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Margot Robbie (I,Tonya) signed on to star in this film has a lot to be said for their agents.

One the major problems with A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is that the Korean director Kogonada while displaying some odd visual flourishes just delivered possibly one of the most boring cinematic experiences ever made about two singletons, David and Sarah who meet at a wedding and are two of the most uninteresting characters ever created.

There is no conflict at all in an episodic and bizarre storyline by screenwriter Seth Reiss focussing on the surreal journey of David and Sarah as they revisit key moments of their past lives both painful and memorable. With the exception of a brief musical number in which Colin Farrell proves that he is no match for Ryan Gosling in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, the rest of the story is darkly lit and involves the odd couple driving in a car at night in some stylistic version of America which is somnambulistic and tiresome.

There is one other brief scene involving the two main stars along with their ex-lovers played by Billy Magnussen and Canadian actress Sarah Gadon in a crowded restaurant which is vaguely entertaining, otherwise the rest of this film is obscure, lagging any direction and zero conflict. Conflict drives narrative and lifts the characters off the screenplay into sentient beings filled with strong emotions which cause action. Unfortunately David and Sarah are cardboard cut-out characters which frankly Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie should have known better than to even agree to such a terrible script.

After watching brilliant cinema like Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is slow and bizarre, with a convoluted script and direction so bad that I am surprised Sony released this film.

If audiences enjoy boring love stories, then catch this film online or just skip it completely.

Unfortunately A Big Bold Beautiful Journey gets a film rating of 5 out of 10 and goes nowhere except through a series of doors. An unmitigated disaster of a film.

Under the Volcano

Director: Damian Kocur

Cast: Roman Lutskyi, Anastasiya Karpenko, Sofia Berezovka

Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Film Festival: European Film Festival

Language: Ukrainian with English Subtitles.

Polish director Damian Kocur’s film Under the Volcano explores the effect of the 2022 Russian Invasion of the Ukraine has on a blended Ukrainian family on holiday in the Canary Islands in Tenerife at the time of the invasion.

Kocur’s family drama focuses on a father Roma played by Ukrainian actor Roman Lutskyi and his new wife Nastia played by Anastassiya Karpenko, and their son Fedir aged 6 and Roma’s daughter from another marriage Sofia played by Sofia Berezovka.

The happy go lucky Ukrainian family are enjoying the sites of Tenerife and when their plan to return to Kyiv in the Ukraine is thwarted as they discover that Russia has invaded. Their flights are cancelled and the Spanish hotel manager says they can stay in Tenerife for as long as is required.

Their stranded situation in Tenerife is amplified when Sofia, the teenage girl meets an African immigrant who came to Tenerife by boat. Their stilted relationship reflects two people stranded in a geographic location in which they had no choice to be there and seemingly cannot escape from.

The main tension in this family drama comes from the strained relationship between husband and wife as Roma realizes that when he returns to the Ukraine he will have to join his friends in the military front lines. Nastia will have to remain in Warsaw as a refugee with her young son Fedir and her mother.

Unfortunately, Under the Volcano does not have a good script and many scenes are drawn out and just involve fighting. The pace of this film is very slow and there is no dimensionality to an otherwise fascinating topic – what do families do when they are away from their own country when it has been invaded?

Besides the beautiful settings of Tenerife, Under the Volcano could have been a much better film, but its narrative meanders pointlessly so that one crucial scene of the family getting lost on a mountainous hike sums up the efforts of a mediocre scriptwriter.

Director Damian Kocur’s film about refugees and war’s effect on the family needs to be sharpened in terms of pace and tone. While Under the Volcano is not a bad film, it could have been so much better. There was so much more to unpack on this subject and the director seem to hold back.

Under the Volcano gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10 and is a slow paced family drama about the effects of an ongoing European war which has reshaped that continent security concerns.

One Battle After Another

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast: Leonardo di Caprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti, Tony Goldwyn, Wood Harris, Alana Haim

Running Time: 2 hours and 41 minutes

Film Rating: 9 out of 10

Acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson who produced such brilliant films as The Master, Phantom Thread and There will be Blood returns to the big screen with his most audacious and relevant film One Battle After Another starring Oscar winners Leonardo di Caprio, Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro.

One Battle After Another is set in a semi-satirical world of America in which migrants have flooded into sanctuary cities and there is an urban terrorist group called the French 75 who are anarchists and there to disrupt any conventional authority whether this is freeing the migrants from internment camps or blowing up banks and federal buildings. Within this radical environment a love affair develops between Perfidia Beverly Hills and Bob, a paranoid loser who is incredibly good at explosives.

Perfedia Bevely Hills is a full on radical urban terrorist, brilliantly performed by Teyana Taylor (Coming 2 America) who deserves a best supporting actress Oscar nomination.

Perfedia is a strong and militant black woman who has an affair with the blue eyed Caucasian Bob, excellently played with the right balance of zealous and uncertainty by Oscar winner Leonardo di Caprio (The Revenant) who channels a similar crazy energy to his role in The Wolf of Wall Street except this time swapping the Wall Street suits for a dirty nightgown and black sunglasses. Di Caprio just hits the right amount of panic and paranoia especially as the film develops and he is the one looking after their love child, their daughter of the revolution, Willa superbly played by newcomer Chase Infiniti.

Auteur Paul Thomas Anderson always paints a broad and multi-dimensional cinematic canvas and in this film he creates the perfect villain in the form of Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw played with precision and brilliance by two time Oscar winner Sean Penn (Milk, Mystic River) and he definitely deserves an Oscar for this role.

Penn is absolutely electrifying as the fanatical army colonel who is out to destroy the French 75, the dangerous lunatics, the scum of the earth that has stained the heart of white America. Lockjaw is one of Paul Thomas Anderson’s best characters, an evil and slightly kinky army colonel who had the military on his side but whose fanaticism drives him to join a secret society of men that cherish racial purification involving a bizarre scene featuring Tony Goldwyn as the suave, yet sinister Virgil Throckmorton.

Lockjaw’s aim is to capture Bob and his daughter Willa and soon a bizarre and bloody chase ensues which ends in some startling revelations.

On one level One Battle After Another acts a satirical film about the social ills of 21^st century America from immigration to gun control, but on another it is a perceptive exploration of patriarchy and the woman that resist it, with names like Jungle Pussy and Perfidia Beverly Hills.

With an original script by Paul Thomas Anderson and outstanding performances by Di Caprio, Penn and del Toro, One Battle After Another is an exhilarating ride through the dark and deceptive underbelly of American society touching on every facet from racism to urban terrorism, from military power to the flaws of an underground movement that has lost its agency.

With a brilliantly shot car chase scene near the end to the captivating musical score by Oscar nominee Jonny Greenwood (The Power of the Dog, There will be Blood), One Battle After Another is an outrageous satire on contemporary America packed with dark humour and ominous warnings.

Drawing inspiration from Tarantino and the Coen Brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson creates a modern day masterpiece with One Battle After Another about subversion, conversion and the product of a love affair during the heady time of social revolution.

One Battle After Another gets a film rating of 9 out of 10 and is original cinema, expertly crafted with some memorable scenes which will imprint on the viewers psyche forever. Highly recommended viewing and a definite 2026 Oscar contender.

Unicorns

Directors: Sally El Hosaini & James Krishna Floyd

Cast: Ben Hardy, Kate Lindsey, Jason Patel, Sagar Radia, Ali Afzal, Taylor Sullivan

Running time: 1 hour and 59 minutes

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Festival: European Film Festival

PLEASE NOTE THIS FILM IS NOT FOR SENSITIVE VIEWERS

Unicorns is an odd mixture for a British film, at times fascination and other times, disturbing. From directing duo Sally El Hosaini & James Krishna Floyd, Unicorns explores the strange sexually charged relationship between a mechanic from Essex, the brawny Luke, superbly played by Ben Hardy (Bohemian Rhapsody, X-Men: Apocalypse) and Aysha, an Indian drag queen well played by Jason Patel.

Aysha also known as Ashiq actually comes from a conservative Muslim family in Manchester but when living in London he transforms himself into the flamboyant and radiant Aysha, a sparkling drag queen for the Gasian community also known as the Gay Asian community.

Luke is a single dad to a 5 year old boy played by Taylor Sullivan but has split from the mother of his child, Charlie, a confused young woman who abandons her son and lets Luke take charge.

Sexually, Luke is an enigma as initially in the film’s provocative opening shot he is having sex with a woman on an open field outside an east London housing estate.

Aysha is all glamour and attitude and her pronouns are Legend and Icon. The two meet when Luke mistakenly walks through the back room of an Indian restaurant into a secret Gasian disco complete with drag queens and muscle boys, one in particular is Faiz who is Aysha’s designated driver.

Let’s face it drag queens don’t drive themselves to parties. Faiz is played by Industry star Sagar Radia who was brilliant in the British TV version of Succession as the foul mouthed, coke sniffing gambler Rishi Ramdani who marries into WASP privilege in the smart London set.

At the heart of Unicorns is the complex story of two people from very different worlds who meet, fall in love and ultimately navigate a tricky world between conservative Indian culture and the non-descript world of a working class mechanic in Essex who is dazzled by Aysha, a fascinating drag queen whose identity as a cross dresser is ultimately threatened in a vicious queer subculture which is as much about making money as it is about cutting edge glamour.

As Luke becomes Aysha’s driver around England usurping the sulky Faiz, their relationship gradually transforms from transactional to emotional.

While some of the Gasian subculture scenes are very frenetic and overdone, it is really the performances of the two main actors who make this uniquely queer love story riveting, while transcending traditional social, cultural and religious conformities.

The fabulous but gritty Unicorns gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is recommended viewing for those that enjoy queer love stories.

Le Mohican

Director: Frederic Farrucci

Cast: Alexis Manenti, Mara Taquin, Paul Garette, Marie-Pierre Nouveau

Running Time: 1 hour 27 minutes

Language: French with English subtitles

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Festival: The European Film Festival

French director Frederic Farucci combines the beauty of Corsica with a shadowy mafia in his new thriller Le Mohican (The Mohican) about a goat herder Joseph Cardelli who has a beautiful plot of land on the coast which greedy developers want to take from him and which he refuses to sell.

Cardelli well played by Alexis Manenti becomes a fugitive on the island and soon reaches folklore status after he accidentally kills the nephew of a Parisian crime boss, and subsequently goes on the run.

His tech savvy niece Vannina played by Mara Taquin makes Joseph an island hero on social media using the hashtag #LeMohican as he deftly evades the gangsters who also have the police on their payroll. Despite his efforts to escape to Sardinia, Joseph needs to confront the gangsters and protect his right to exist in an island which is beautiful yet increasingly becoming a target for crime, overdevelopment and urbanization.

Le Mohican had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Festival and is worth watching with a strong narrative about a fugitive, a decent and honest goat herder who stands up for his rights to continue existing in a pastoral fashion and not give in to the greed and corruption of organized crime.

With exquisite cinematography by Jeanne Lapoirie, Le Mohican is a gripping action film about survival and resilience while the continual threat of being hunted takes its bloody toll on the hero Joseph Cardelli. The violence is systemic and shocking while the storyline is straightforward with sparse dialogue which could have been elaborated upon.

Like many islands in the Mediterranean, Corsica is in danger of being over commercialized and Le Mohican shines a light on this issue as greedy mobsters plan on developing land meant for farming.

Le Mohican focuses on the story of an ordinary man’s survival and his niece’s uncanny ability to turn him into a local hero with the nickname the Mohican, the last of the coastal goat herders.

With a beautiful backdrop, Le Mohican gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is recommended viewing as a genre action film about one ordinary man fighting the mafia in a storyline which is distinctly French and unassuming. Worth seeing.