Short films by Michael Pearce, Ben Mallaby and Bafta-winner James W Griffiths are among the highlights of this collection
Bafta has begun an enjoyable new tradition in recent years: releasing its nominated short films as a feature-length package. The curate's egg is mostly very engaging. The prize this year went to Room 8, directed and co-written by James W Griffiths, a disturbingly surreal account of what happens when a man, played by Tom Cullen, shares a cell in a Soviet-style prison in eastern Europe. It's smart work, but my favourite is Island Queen, an excellent, laidback piece directed by Ben Mallaby, starring its writer Nat Luurtsema as a twentysomething who's bored with living on a small island, whose best mate Danny (Sam Pamphilon) is not-so-secretly in love with her and who decides to be a proper grownup by having a baby through sperm donation. Could Luurtsema and Mallaby develop this to feature length, perhaps by delaying the reveal about the sperm donor's identity? Anyway: good writing and likable performances. The most ambitious film was Keeping Up With the Joneses, written by Selina Lim and directed by Michael Pearce, which at 28 minutes felt like a trailer for a complete, but unformed feature film. Pearce is very good as the wife of a corrupt MP whose dodgy associates kidnap her. It looks and feels very accomplished, though a crucial transition in the relationship with Pearce and her kidnapper Geoff Bell comes a little out of nowhere. Never mind: it's impressive work.
Rating: 4/5 Reported by guardian.co.uk 6 hours ago.
Bafta has begun an enjoyable new tradition in recent years: releasing its nominated short films as a feature-length package. The curate's egg is mostly very engaging. The prize this year went to Room 8, directed and co-written by James W Griffiths, a disturbingly surreal account of what happens when a man, played by Tom Cullen, shares a cell in a Soviet-style prison in eastern Europe. It's smart work, but my favourite is Island Queen, an excellent, laidback piece directed by Ben Mallaby, starring its writer Nat Luurtsema as a twentysomething who's bored with living on a small island, whose best mate Danny (Sam Pamphilon) is not-so-secretly in love with her and who decides to be a proper grownup by having a baby through sperm donation. Could Luurtsema and Mallaby develop this to feature length, perhaps by delaying the reveal about the sperm donor's identity? Anyway: good writing and likable performances. The most ambitious film was Keeping Up With the Joneses, written by Selina Lim and directed by Michael Pearce, which at 28 minutes felt like a trailer for a complete, but unformed feature film. Pearce is very good as the wife of a corrupt MP whose dodgy associates kidnap her. It looks and feels very accomplished, though a crucial transition in the relationship with Pearce and her kidnapper Geoff Bell comes a little out of nowhere. Never mind: it's impressive work.
Rating: 4/5 Reported by guardian.co.uk 6 hours ago.