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The French have a knack for making excellent thrillers as they proved when they took Harlan Coben’s Tell No One and, despite transporting it across the Atlantic, crafted a brilliant film from it.

This time it’s an original story from co-writer and director Fred Cavaye about happily married couple Lisa (Diane Kruger) and Julien (Vincent London). They are still passionately in love and lead a normal life with their young son Oscar, but one morning their world comes crashing down around them as the police storm into the house and arrest Lisa for a brutal murder. She is quickly found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Julien is convinced she is innocent and sets about proving this and will stop at nothing it seems to get her out of prison and back with him and their son. How far will he go to save her though, and is she really innocent?

From the cracking opening sequence showing Julien speeding towards a mystery destination with someone bleeding in the back of his car you are thrown right into this film, and your intellect and powers of observation are tested throughout.

This story of a man who loves his wife dearly and will do anything for her and his son is a well-written and thought out idea that in American hands I am sure would end up being cheesy and clumsily handled.

First time director Fred Cavaye does extremely well in creating tension and suspense, and is helped massively by the excellent central performance of Vincent London who makes his character believable. Diane Kruger is good too although spending a lot of the film looking depressed and ugly when visited in jail, but it is London who carries the piece.

This is a cracking thriller that is intelligent enough to leave it up to the audience to decide whether Lisa is guilty or not and whether Julien’s actions in the film are justified in trying to save his wife. See this for sure!

Mark Cappuccio

Period dramas do seem to be an English speciality and are something that have travelled well around the globe, so this new film from director David Rocksavage set not in the distant past but the late 1960s is a wonderful portal into one small corner of the world then.

It tells the story of Hannah (Jean Simmons) who lives alone in a large house on the Norfolk coast. Retired now and getting along, the house is filled with old books and memories and she seems perfectly happy with her garden, her poetry and a much younger friend called Joe (Jamie Dornan) who visits her to help out around the house, chat to her and bring her cannabis to help ease her aches and pains.

But this tranquil existence is disturbed by Hannah’s visiting son Robert (James Wilby) with his daughter Kate (Ophelia Lovibond) and own son Sam (Toby Marlowe). Robert is shocked by his mother’s actions and her close friendship with Joe and is deeply suspicious of his motives; while Kate simply fancies him and her younger brother Sam thinks he could be a new friend. Tension mounts in the house and things occur that could either bring the family closer together or tear them apart.

Few films actually make you feel good and really involved with the characters therein but this is one of those rare ones. The story, by writer Margaret Glover and Rocksavage himself, is a simple one but culled from Rocksavage’s youth with Hannah based on an amalgamation of maternal aunts and people he knew and the role of Sam loosely based on the director. This semi-autobiographical feel to the film helps in creating a believable mood and feeling for the audience and the great performances only drive the narrative forward. It is stunningly photographed by cinematographer Milton Kam who captures the beauty of the English coastline in an almost magical light in places with the summer scenes often having an ephemeral quality to them. The music composed by Richard Chester also complements the film, and apart from the occasional 60s tune, the soundtrack remains timeless much like its rural remote setting.

The three central performances are all excellent with Simmons showing that despite her advanced age she can more than carry a film, imbuing Hannah with quiet dignity and strength. Dornan as Joe does well in his role as the mystery man who captures not only Hannah’s affections but those of Kate too and it’s good that he underplays his part in places as it could’ve easily become a gypsy cliché!

Wilby proves again to be a dependable English actor and suits his role as the father perfectly while the only slight let down is the rather simple acting of Marlowe as the young son and the giggly girl act of Lovibond. But this is a minor quibble in a film that is at times lonely, poignant and is after all a simple treaty on life and death and the bonds and understanding of a family.

It’s lovely stuff and the perfect way to while away a summer afternoon.

Mark Cappuccio

The biggest and (in our opinion) best in this series of competitions so far, The Void is super proud and like, really psyched, to be able to offer you tickets to see the Noisettes in an intimate London gig on Tuesday, June 9.

The band behind the mega smash hit Don’t Upset The Rhythm will be playing alongside Mr Hudson as Sony Ericsson presents Q The Music Club Live at Hard Rock Café on Tuesday, June 9.

Continue reading “COMPETITION: The Noisettes…. live!” »

Yes, it’s yet another teenage, bloodfest horror flick, but this time the kids are not in high school, they’re in a British school and there’s actually a serious message behind all the screams and silliness.

Welcome to suburbia and posh grammar school Fairview High. Here, the pouting princes and queen bees are Bradley (Alex Pettyfer), Alexis (Dimitri Leonidas) and their gang, and Tasha (April Pearson) and her followers. Head Girl Justine (Tuppence Middleton) steers well clear of them all, but when bullied fellow pupil Darren (Calvin Dean) commits suicide, the whole school, including all the nerds, goths and emos who never made it into the in-crowd, are thrown together in horrible circumstances. Although overweight Darren may be dead and buried, his ghost is out for vengeance against everyone in the school who bullied and tormented him. Soon, pupils are dropping like tenpins, dying from decapitation, drowning, scalpel slashes, penis chopping and guillotining.

Although the movie is played for laughs and has a definite whiff of MTV about it, its anti-bullying message comes through clear and strong. There are also a couple of sex scenes where the safe sex message is never mentioned but illustrated through the use of condoms. It’s firmly aimed at the teen market with the gore being of the blood sprayed across the whole room variety rather than anything remotely realistic and isn’t at all scary.

However, it does act as a showcase for plenty of young British talent with Olly Alexander as nerdy Jason impressing and Tom Hopper as Bradley’s minder Marcus coming on like a fresh-faced Freddie Flintoff.

Dee Pilgrim

After last month’s mega-popular competition to see The Rumble Strips, we thought we’d give away another pair of tickets, this time to see jazz genius Jamie Cullum.

Sony Ericsson presents Q The Music Club at Hard Rock Café is a monthly night presenting some of the hottest music acts around.

Hailed as the most successful UK jazz artist ever, Jamie Cullum will be performing some of his classics at the intimate gig on Wednesday, May 27.

With 4 million albums sold and Grammy, Golden Globe and Brit nominations under his belt, Jamie Cullum is a British success story around the globe. Take this rare opportunity to see Jamie live as he takes time out from recording his new album to perform at this very special gig.

We have a pair of VIP tickets to this ultra-exclusive gig to give away to one lucky reader. For your chance to win just answer this question:

How many albums has Jamie Cullum sold worldwide?

a. 4 million

b. 44 million

c. 4.4 million

Send your answers to competitions@the-void.co.uk by noon on Friday, May 22.