Stars: Clémence Poésy, David Morrissey, Stephen Campbell Moore
Storyline
A couple expecting their first child discover an an unnerving difference between themselves and the couple living in the flat below them who are also having a baby.
Cast: Clémence Poésy -
Kate
David Morrissey -
Jon
Stephen Campbell Moore -
Justin
Laura Birn -
Theresa
Deborah Findlay -
Tessa
Natasha Alderslade -
Babyshower Woman
Laila Alj -
Sonographer
Franc Ashman -
Jay
(as Frances Ashman)
Alex Avery -
Estate Agent
Grace Calder -
Kate's Friend
Tuyen Do -
Doctor
Jonathan Harden -
Mark
Christos Lawton -
Phil
Sam Pamphilon -
Tom
Robert Roman Ratajczak -
Polish Mover
Partly funded by the BBC and premiering at the Toronto and London Film
Festivals, The Ones Below is a demonstration of the lack of imagination
in British cinematic language that's really disheartening. British
cinema is often great from the eyes of an auteur with something to say,
such as Mike Leigh, Terence Davies and Shane Meadows, but when it comes
to something like this which is supposed to simply be a piece of
thrilling entertainment, it's disappointingly one- dimensional. I yearn
for more emerging voices to get this type of exposure instead. The Ones
Below is like a very good and expensive student film. Had it been
conceived from a recent graduate, it'd earn a bit more of a pass.
Instead, it's overthought and underdeveloped, too often opting for
cheaper tricks and easier melodrama.
Clémence Poésy, a familiar face from her role in Harry Potter, In
Bruges and 127 Hours, plays mother-to-be Kate who just moved into the
top half of a duplex with her husband Justin, played by Stephen
Campbell Moore. Apprehensive about their downstairs neighbours, they
avoid them until Kate discovers that Teresa, played by Laura Birn, is
equally far along with her pregnancy. They swiftly become friends and
she invites Teresa and her intimidating husband Jon, played by David
Morrissey, upstairs for dinner. Though friction with conflicting
personalities initially rustles tensions, it's an unbearable tragedy at
the dinner's end that sparks the film's ultimate story of parental
paranoia in the vein of Roman Polanski's memorable motifs on women in
apartments.
To be fair, Poésy really commits to the film in the first performance
I've seen from her which isn't somewhere between a bit part and a
supporting character. She combats the melodrama with a rawness that
really benefits the film. The problems come in the film's contrivances
and staging where each actor's hesitations and reactions are over
measured. Perhaps this is due to writer/director David Farr's previous
theatre background, as it very clearly shows his lack of nuance when it
comes to the bigger screen. Throughout the whole aforementioned dinner
sequence, Morrisey's eyes are shrouded in shadows as if the idea of his
menacing nature couldn't have been more subtly communicated. But
admittedly, in its simplicity it is entertaining and engaging, but it's
not satisfying to be so spoon-fed. The questions it asks are
superficial albeit acceptable if this was designed for Britain's
smaller screen.
There's not an inch of the frame wasted as they try desperately to make
this two-story narrative cinematic. It works, and it's thoroughly
attractive, but it's almost too full and vibrant, not reflecting the
rough tone that the film should have. Spending money on lights and
cranes which are just used for unmotivated movement remove the film of
a human grounding that it's begging for. It does offer this reflection
of how Kate feels later on as it grows more rugged and desperate, but
it doesn't stitch together in a way that really puts you in her head,
and by that point it's too late. The scenes feel more like examples of
feelings rather than following a strong narrative thread, developing
the characters beyond well worn archetypes. The language it uses is
based in clichés rather than speaking a compelling voice of its own.
Otherwise it's trying too hard to cover all ground as it shoehorns in a
subplot regarding Kate's relationship with her parents. We have a
distant mother who's unfathomably selfish and then some kind of
connection with her dead father as she for some reason must brave the
weather to visit her grave and leave her child in the hands of someone
she explicitly doesn't trust. The film often defies logic for the sake
of an empty gravitas. It's piling lots of ideas about relationships in
social classes and anxieties about motherhood but never really
exploring a single theme to a particular result. In fact, its
terrifying conclusion ends up being a relieving best case scenario.
It'd be unfair to call it a complete mess and its effort isn't wasted.
I just expect much better things from well-resourced British cinema
that doesn't resort to appealing to the least perceptive people in the
room.
6/10
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