We're back at it with bold musicals, queer desire and a nightmarish Copenhagen.
The End (2024)

Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Genre/s: Drama/Musical/Sci-Fi Length: 2 Hours 28 Minutes Language: English Countries: Denmark/Germany/Ireland/Italy/UK/Sweden
Cast: Tilda Swinton, George MacKay, Michael Shannon, Moses Ingram, Bronagh Gallagher, Tim McInnerny, Lennie James
Synopsis: An extremely wealthy family has been living comfortably in an underground bunker as the world outside ended. But one day a stranger arrives, throwing their lives out of balance.
My Take: Ground-breaking documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence) brings us a musical at the end of the world, his first narrative feature. Set in a bunker located deep in salt mines, the visual grandeur of The End is impressive – placing the entirety of the film within this isolated world constructed by a wealthy family who may or may not have contributed to the world’s demise. Oppenheimer’s documentaries are among the most powerful you will ever see – fever dreams that venture into the surrealistic nightmares of the human condition. Here, Oppenheimer’s concept fits the same bill, but what could’ve been a GREAT one-of-a-kind musical, quashes it with too many songs that feel too similar to one another - musical set-pieces lacking any real creativity or bite into what the overall messages of his film is trying to say. This is not to say the music is bad, I quite liked it. It hooked me early on with good compositions that would play into the sheer absurdity of the world and situation these characters find themselves in. But at a meaty two and a half hours, The End tends to drag on for too long as said-musical numbers end up feeling like bored obligations to its initial vision, offering no real variety in style or nuance.
In a year that has had many musicals, The End was 1/3 of the way to being the best of the lot, with its themes of class, wealth and most importantly, accountability, it could’ve placed Oppenheimer up there with Ruben Östlund and Bong Joon-Ho as the premier filmmakers tackling class in today’s society. It’s a shame that films like this and Joker: Folie à Deux had such great potential in being musicals, but completely squander it out of boredom or are completely ill-equipped at figuring out how to use it effectively. Shave thirty minutes off and minus the musical numbers, you then have an effective isolated, think-piece with interesting, flawed characters that let its themes stare deep into the abyss of the human condition much like Oppenheimer’s doccies. But, despite my grievances, I will always appreciate a huge swing, even if it misses. But unlike Todd Philips’ disappointing Joker-centric attempt at marrying the musical with that of a courtroom character drama, The End at least edges the ball, not quite making it to the boundary rope, but at least added an important run to the scoreboard in the process (cricket reference for anyone confused by this). It may not succeed as a musical, but as a critique on the aforementioned themes, it gets more than just halfway, and I welcome films like these getting made: ones with important things to say, going about in new and unusual ways. It’s just unfortunate that it couldn’t quite keep up with its grand, musical ambitions which unfortunately dries up all too quickly. Also, whenever you think Tilda Swinton can do anything, I can confirm she cannot sing. Oof.
Where you can watch it: Most VOD platforms (USA).
Queer (2024)

Director: Luca Guadagnino
Genre/s: Drama/LGBTQIA+ Length: 2 Hours 16 Minutes Languages: English/Spanish Countries: Italy/USA
Cast: Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Jason Schwartzman, Lesley Manville, Omar Apollo, Ronia Ava
Synopsis: Based on William S. Burroughs’ novel of the same name, American ex-pat William Lee (Daniel Craig) falls for and obsesses over a mysterious, young fellow American (Drew Starkey) in 1950s Mexico.
My Take: Queer knows how to be sensual, even playful – but most importantly, Queer knows when to be ugly, and when to remain as such. Few filmmakers conjure a sense of sensual desire quite like Guadagnino - a current that surges through all of his films, bleeding into accompanying themes of otherness and belonging. Here, that desire ties in with addiction, not just to the literal drug addiction of its protagonist, but to that of William Lee’s (Daniel Craig) addiction to Eugene (Drew Starkey), a handsome young ex-pat whose ambiguous mystery makes Queer a unique experience in unpacking character, motive and the arcs that come with it. William Lee’s motives and desires are in full view throughout the film. He’s an open book. But with Eugene, he’s an enigma – a mystery we feel the need to unpack just as much as Lee does. If he really is queer, but most importantly, if he will ever reciprocate the love that Lee desperately seeks to make him whole, or at least he thinks it will. Lee’s addiction to this mystery, is very much felt by us as well as we try to understand this character to almost no avail. It might just be Guadagnino’s most introspective and challenging work to date because of it; a deeply personal confrontation of addiction and desire’s toxic relationship with one another and the earth-shattering heartbreak that comes with the rejection and heartbreak that binds them – all while still keeping Burroughs’ themes and ideas intact.
Daniel Craig is astonishing as the needy William Lee, an all too relatable protagonist whom we both hate to love and love to hate as we see our own tendencies and desperations lingering within him. But Drew Starkey’s Eugene is so vital to what makes Queer pulse the way it does: offering a difficult performance of neither showing nor telling, a true mystery that unpacks and conceals itself in equal measure, making Lee’s desperation all the more difficult to endure and understand as his addiction to him begins to shape his entire being. Although its protagonist is in his 50’s, Queer is essentially a coming-of-age story – one that reminds us of the vices and addictions we may possess, how overcoming them may paint the triumphant portrait of our lives ahead, or how a loss to them may define a tragic future that refuses to let go of the past.
Where you can watch it: Most VOD platforms (USA).
Better Man (2024)

Director: Michael Gracey
Genre/s: Drama/Musical Length: 2 Hours 15 Minutes Language: English Countries: UK/USA/China/France/Australia
Cast: Robbie Williams, Jono Davies, Stevene Pemberton, Kate Mulvany, Alison Steadman, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Jake Simmance, Liam Head, Jesse Hyde, Tom Budge, Chase Vollenweider
Synopsis: The rise and fall of pop star Robbie Williams as played by a CGI monkey.
My Take: If a sweary monkey doing coke, heroin and getting a handy is on your movie bingo card, then I got good news for you: Better Man is here, without a doubt the wildest musical of 2024 that also happens to be one of the boldest movies of the year, regardless of genre. On paper, I should hate this based purely on the clichéd and tropey story beats of the music biopic: A nobody becomes a somebody, fame and success montage, cue drugs, failure and downfall montage; and then finally rising from the ashes where they reach their redemption arc. Or death. So, other than its protagonist being a monkey, what makes it so different from the rest? To be honest, I can’t give you a finite answer, but what Better Man possesses is a lot of heart, one that comes from being completely authentic to its subject. Musicals are normally glitzy and glamorous, literal escapes into fantasy using song as a means for characters to communicate how they really feel. Here, Better Man is gritty and confrontational whilst still possessing the spectacle of a grand musical. And despite the CGI monkey that could potentially plaster itself over the warts and all of its subject, it enhances it – creating a self-deprecating portrait of Robbie Williams himself as he comes to terms with addiction, family, fame and most importantly, the crippling self-doubt that lets the monkey avatar make perfect sense. It may be a mainstream film on paper, but its sensibilities skew towards the weirder side of things that culminates into a batshit-...sorry…apeshit bloody battle sequence between Williams and previous versions of himself in what I’m dubbing as The Battle of Knebworth.
It’s thrilling storytelling and filmmaking that makes the box office numbers and lack of interest seem woefully unfair, especially considering the critical acclaim and praise from pretty much anyone who has actually seen it. And despite its financial failure, we still need more mainstream films like this: ones that swing so hard for the fences and actually succeed in all that intends to do from a storytelling point of view. It may drag a touch towards the end, but Better Man is funny, sad, dark, weird and most importantly, completely authentic. Unlike other attempts at musicals from last year who took big swings, this one connects on all accounts. Simply put, the monkey absolutely rules. Expect this to be a hit when it comes to streaming, earning its rightful cult following.
Where you can watch it: In theatres (Worldwide).
The Girl with the Needle (2024)

Director: Magnus von Horn
Genre: Drama Length: 2 Hours 3 Minutes Language: Danish Countries: Denmark/Sweden/Poland
Cast: Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Besir Zeciri, Joachim Fjelstrup, Tessa Hoder, Avo Knox Martin, Anders Hove, Ari Alexander
Synopsis: Struggling to survive in 1919, Copenhagen, Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne) gives up her baby to an illegal adoption agency. Soon after, she begins working as a wet nurse where its dark secrets start to reveal themselves to her.
My Take: The Girl with the Needle unsettles you from its opening frames: a kaleidoscopic nightmare of contorting faces marred in sorrow, pain and some evolving into demonic glee. Inspired by the true story of notorious baby killer Dagmar Overbye, Magnus von Horn doesn’t look to make an origin story of the monster that inspired it. Instead, he uses her as the backdrop to the socio-economic issues and themes that would create and feed the beast, widening the shadow of societal pressures that loom over its people, with its focus on Karoline, a woman failing under the weight of it all. Everything ends up being a product of their environment, and what von Horn does well here, is generate empathy for its protagonist – placing us in a world that suffocates and frightens, eventually pushing her instincts of survival into actions of regret, doing her best to do what is right by her maternal instincts, but to also wash away said-regret of her own actions.
Thanks to its unnerving sound design and accompanying score, it’s unbearably tense, eventually snapping when it can no longer resist the bend of its oppressor. When we observe the past, we often do so in hopes of avoiding it in the future, and that’s what The Girl with the Needle often feels like: a warning. One that places its focus on the need for abortion rights, for childcare, for worker’s rights and most importantly, protecting those most vulnerable from exploitation and abandonment. And it’s the performances of Sonne, Dyrholm and Zeciri (as the characters Karoline, Overbye and Karoline’s disfigured WWI veteran husband) that allow for von Horn’s intentions to feel so real, so ugly - a moral tale reflecting the darkest of humanity's psyche back at us as, doing whatever it takes to survive and ultimately, live with those consequences.
Where you can watch it: MUBI (USA, UK), most VOD platforms (USA, UK).
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