Latest news with #JeanCharlesdeMenezes
The Guardian
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Four Seasons, A Complete Unknown and Model/Actriz: the week in rave reviews
Netflix; full season available Summed up in a sentence Tina Fey's starry comedy follows three middle-aged couples on a series of eventful holidays our reviewer said 'Part White Lotus without fatalities, part Golden Girls with men, The Four Seasons is full of properly funny lines, rooted in properly middle-aged experience. It captures the warm, weary affection for life and each other only old friends and enduring couples really know. Rest your aching bones and enjoy.' Lucy Mangan Read the full review Further reading The Four Seasons to Flintoff: seven shows to stream this week Disney+; full season available Summed up in a sentence Suspenseful four-parter about the notorious 2005 killing of an innocent Brazilian man by armed our reviewer said 'It is an enraging picture of what went wrong after the 7 July 2005 explosions – scenes of which start off the series, submerging us in a febrile, panicked atmosphere. Ultimately it is a reminder that the least Jean Charles de Menezes deserves is the whole truth.' Jack Seale Read the full review Further reading 'We didn't want to avoid the reality of what happened': the drama telling the true story of Jean Charles de Menezes ITVX; full season available Summed up in a sentence Two-part documentary telling the shocking story of Carol and Stephen Baxter, found dead in their Essex home by their daughter our reviewer said 'What unfolds is astonishing – told courtesy of interviews with the investigating officers, who only just manage to maintain the veneer of professional detachment as their recounting of the extraordinary case goes on, and with Ellena, who speaks with the stark honesty of someone just coming out of the first shock of bereavement.' Lucy Mangan Read the full review Apple TV+; new episodes Wednesdays Summed up in a sentence A tasty tale about Napoleon's renegade pastry chef cavorting around early 1800s our reviewer said 'As it scoffs and seduces its way through the Napoleonic era, it's hard not to fall for the extravagant charms of the Bake Off: Extra Spice. I know little about the real-life Carême, but this reimagining of him is stuffed to bursting. It is a rich, moreish and knowingly indulgent treat.' Rebecca Nicholson Read the full review BBC iPlayer; full series available Summed up in a sentence Three youngsters try to avoid being taken into care after their mother's disappearance in a heartbreaking, hugely funny our reviewer said 'Within each episode and over the entire series, Just Act Normal is beautifully structured and holds its many strands in perfect tension. It is altogether a wonderful thing.' Lucy Mangan Read the full review Further reading Just Act Normal is the best showcase for new talent since Adolescence In cinemas now Summed up in a sentence Documentary following three siblings as they clear out their childhood home, and reckon with some difficult memories in the our reviewer said 'This warm, gentle documentary from Dutch director Suzanne Raes is about a family – and a family home – that might have interested Wes Anderson. The family itself could be seen as charming or twee and insufferable. The film-maker persuades you that it's the former.' Peter Bradshaw Read the full review In cinemas now Summed up in a sentence Marvel's Florence Pugh-starring adventure is a charmingly unusual, if baggy, our reviewer said 'The globe-dominating franchise, biding its time until the next wave of Avengers movies, has been in desperate need of saving. And Thunderbolts*, which happens to be the best thing to come from the brand since WandaVision (still the high watermark), gets the job done.' Radheyan Simonpillai Read the full review Further reading Florence Pugh's skyscraper stunt positions her as the new Tom Cruise In cinemas now Summed up in a sentence The Wolverhampton rockers ride the giddy highs and brutal lows of the music industry in this re-released 1975 musical our reviewer said 'There's a creeping sense that it's all going to come crashing down. The best bits are always the band performing, with Holder's compelling rock'n'roll growl.' Peter Bradshaw Read the full review Further reading The Citizen Kane of rock movies': glam rockers Slade and their bid for cinema greatness Disney+ Summed up in a sentence James Mangold's Oscar-nominated biopic follows the rise of Bob Dylan, played electrically by Timothée our reviewer said 'Chalamet is a hypnotic Dylan, performing the tracks himself and fabricating to a really impressive degree that stoner-hungover birdsong. He is also good at Dylan's insolent comedy in art as in life: puckish, witty, insufferable and yet wounded. There is amazing bravado in this performance.' Peter Bradshaw Read the full review Further reading After decades of apathy, A Complete Unknown has turned me into a Dylan nut Available on digital download Summed up in a sentence A locksmith opens the wrong door in a tightly wound thriller that owes a debt to Michael Mann, but has a confidence all of its our reviewer said 'Brussels is probably not on the top of many lists of cities likely to serve as a setting for an exciting crime film. But this Francophone drama just goes to prove that, given enough moody lamplit street scenes and a bit of imagination, any city will work. It feels as grippy as duct tape throughout.' Leslie Felperin Read the full review Reviewed by Blake Morrison Summed up in a sentence Should rivers have human rights?What our reviewer said 'To the question 'Is a river alive?' Macfarlane wants to answer as simply and resoundingly as his nine-year-old son did: yes! And he wills himself to believe it by granting rivers human pronouns: instead of which or that, 'I prefer to speak of rivers who flow''. Read the full review Further reading Robert Macfarlane on the lives, deaths and rights of our rivers Reviewed by Anthony Quinn Summed up in a sentence A compassionate, darkly witty sequel to 2021's Double our reviewer said 'If there is a flaw in St Aubyn's dramas of consciousness it's the tendency of his characters all to think and talk in the same register of droll irony. Imagine a game of intellectual catch in which the best impersonation of Gore Vidal wins.' Read the full review Reviewed by Pratinav Anil Summed up in a sentence Meet the real-life our reviewer said 'Hatherley's heroes are the Jewish architects Berthold Lubetkin and Ernő Goldfinger, both unabashed Marxist modernists, the latter of whom was famously turned into a gold-loving Bond villain' Read the full review Reviewed by Lara Feigel Summed up in a sentence An intimate account of therapy by one of the US's most celebrated writers, taken from notes on her our reviewer said 'There's a crude fascination in seeing some of the raw material, but there's also something shameful about it. We're invading Didion's privacy – at times less as a mother than as a writer.' Read the full review Further reading: What do Joan Didion's therapy diaries reveal about guilt, motherhood and writing? Reviewed by Sana Goyal Summed up in a sentence This daring comic debut about Islamic State brides is shortlisted for the Women's our reviewer said 'Younis tackles radicalism and racism, faith and friendship, with dexterity, deep care and a large dose of laughter.' Read the full review Out now Summed up in a sentence The Norwegian experimentalist's ninth album is a personal journey through the past and our reviewer said 'An acrid, earthy scent drifts through the album as Hval recalls childhood memories and beloved pets, and retreads the stages of past performances. Iris Silver Mist shows music to be as transient as smoke, and yet an enduringly personal portal to memory, selfhood, the present and the dead.' Katie Hawthorne Read the full review Out now Summed up in a sentence A selection of 81 pieces from the composer's 10 volumes of miniatures, approved by Kurtág our reviewer said 'There are pieces that are fiercely expressionist, others that are sweetly lyrical, even sentimental, and others that are laugh-out-loud witty. Whole worlds of expression are encapsulated in just a few bars.' Andrew Clements Read the full review Further reading György Kurtág on depression, totalitarianism and his 73-year marriage Out now Summed up in a sentence The New York quartet's second album, inspired by Mariah and Kylie but full of jackhammer rhythms and our reviewer said 'Piroutte largely thrives on thrilling contrasts: between the band's tendency to cacophony and the taut control with which they play; between the sweetness of the tunes and the pummelling din behind them.' Alexis Petridis Read the full review Further reading One to watch: Model/Actriz Out now Summed up in a sentence Ideas of migration and self-discovery inspire the latest album from the drummer/composer and her imaginative our reviewer said 'Born in Incheon, South Korea, to a conservative family, Hong's teenage dream was to become a drummer. At 19, she moved to Europe and met her band of skilful soulmates. Her evolving music leans towards a European chamber-jazzy sound with occasional American hints.' John Fordham Read the full review Out now Summed up in a sentence The North Shields songwriter's third album pairs sharp vignettes with giant choruses – perfect for his series of stadium gigs this our reviewer said 'Whether his gaze rests on his past, or his present, there's an urgency about what he has to say. Whatever else Fender's unlikely fame may have changed, it hasn't dimmed the potency of his music.' Alexis Petridis Read the full review
Daily Mirror
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
New Disney+ drama leaves fans 'speechless' as they brand it a 'must watch'
A new four-part drama has landed on Disney+, with many TV fans praising it as 'brilliant' and a 'must watch' Disney+'s latest drama, Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, has left viewers "speechless", with many hailing the series as "utterly brilliant". The show, which dropped on Disney+ on Wednesday (30th April), is being touted as a "must watch". Based on a true story, the four-part series delves into the tragic killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, who was fatally shot by police after being wrongly identified as a terrorist during the London 7/7 bombings. The series aims to provide a multi-faceted view of the tragedy, exploring how "memory - both accurate and distorted - can be turned into fact and shape our understanding of the truth". The official synopsis further reveals: "This second set of planned attacks fails, setting off one of the UK's largest-ever manhunts and sparking a covert surveillance operation. "As tension and uncertainty rises across the nation, a series of extraordinary events unfolds, leading to a critical misidentification. "Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent young Brazilian electrician on his way to work, is mistaken for a terrorist and shot dead at Stockwell station. What follows is a family's fight for justice and answers, and the long-fought struggle to bring clarity to a situation that is clouded by confusion, and silence." Edison Alcaide portrays Jean, while Conleth Hill stars as former Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and Russell Tovey takes on the role of Blair's Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Brian Paddick, reports Surrey Live. The series boasts a stellar cast including Max Beesley, Emily Mortimer, Daniel Mays, Laura Aikman and Alex Jennings. Social media has been abuzz with viewers singing the drama's praises, with one fan posting: "Just watched #Suspect on Disney re #JeanCharlesDeMenendez killing. I'm speechless that Cressida Dick was not held accountable and at Sir Blair's actions, that both continued in Policing." Another hailed it as a "must watch", while a different viewer enthused: "Just watched all 4 episodes of Suspect The shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes on Disney. Up there with shows of the year for me! 10/10." "Started watching. It's breaking my heart. What an absolutely horrific situation for everyone. Glad the story is being told," commented another deeply moved fan.
Time Out
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
‘Suspect' writer Jeff Pope on his 7/7 drama: ‘I think that the Met still has questions to answer'
Londoners tend to remember where they were on 7/7. A coordinated series of suicide bombing attacks across the city's transport network – one of the biggest attacks on British soil since the Blitz – its traumatic aftermath lasted throughout the summer of 2005. For screenwriter Jeff Pope – at a primary school that day, helping his son with a project when the news came through – it wasn't the attack itself that piqued his interest, but what followed. Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes is Pope's gripping recreation of that tumultuous period in London's recent history. The four-part Disney+ drama is set in the aftermath of 7/7 and follows the lead-up to another, abortive Islamist attack on July 21, 2025, and the killing of an innocent man, Jean Charles de Menezes (played by Edison Alcaide). The Brazilian electrician was mistaken for a terrorist in a blundering Metropolitan Police operation and shot dead on a Victoria Line train at Stockwell Station a day later. At least, that's part of the story – and it's recreated in vivid, often upsetting detail. But for Pope, the plot thickened significantly in the ensuing days. The Met's top dogs, commissioner Ian Blair and the head of its counter-terrorist operation Cressida Dick, presided over a cover-up and a smear campaign against de Menezes. It was reported that he'd been acting suspiciously, wearing heavy clothing on a hot day and vaulting the barriers at the tube station. That he was a drug user who'd once committed sexual assault. It was, as Suspect explores, an attempt to gaslight an entire city – and it worked. To a point.'The second half of this miniseries is about [the Met] trying to tell us that what happened didn't happen,' says Pope. 'It has done a lot in its history to make us look the other way.' What was the starting point of this story for you? I didn't think about 7/7 in terms of a drama, because where was the drama? It was Islamic terrorists deciding to wreak havoc on the UK and that had been dealt with brilliantly in documentaries. When a producer friend of mine started to talk about John Charles, I had the same thought: (his killing) was an awful mistake, but it was kind of his fault because he jumped the barrier and ran down stairs, he behaved suspiciously and had bulky clothing on. But none of that happened – he didn't vault any barriers, he didn't run, he wasn't wearing any bulky clothing. As I started to dig into it, it wasn't what I remembered. I get that the Met was under a lot of pressure and was stretched like never before at that time, but the operation was poorly planned, poorly executed and it ended in the death of a completely innocent man. You show how misinformation could go viral even in the pre-Internet era. The idea that de Menezes vaulted the barriers seeped into our collective subconscious. Totally. If it happened now, the first thing people would do is get their phone out and film it. Most of the CCTV of Jean Charles on his way from his flat to the station has gone. There's a good explanation for [each of the things that have gone missing], but it's when you push it together again and again and again there's [a lot of] CCTV footage missing in the immediate post-7/7 era. We often think about the London Underground as a place of safety and refuge during the Blitz, and this show sort of turns that on its head. What was your relationship the location? I wrote a scene where there's an Asian guy on his way to work and everyone's looking at him. He turns the bag upside down and empties everything out: bag of crisps, laptop, and there's nothing in there. I vividly remember that feeling – of fear, because of what had happened, versus the politeness that we suffer from Londoners and as Brits. I remember how unfair it was for any Asian guy, God forbid, having a rucksack on the tube for years after 7/7. Like you say, in the war it was a place where Londoners could be safe, and that was turned on its head. The opening shows the aftermath of a 7/7 tube carriage. How did you recreate that? The design team were meticulous, and there were images that we could look at of the carriage that morning. It's very difficult to film in London – It's incredibly expensive and it's a huge city, so it's difficult to shut roads down and get into the tube system to shoot this stuff, but we were determined to make it as realistic as possible. I think that the Met still has questions to answer When you recreated the shattered bus from Tavistock Square, people complained that it showed disregard for the victims. How do you respond to that? We were in contact with victim support groups and we wrote to the 7/7 families a number of times to let them know what our plans were. We leafleted the area and told people what we were going to be filming. It's triggering, we get that, and we took our responsibilities to those affected by 7/7 very seriously, but it felt important to have that [shot] because it was the iconic image. The audience would look at that and know exactly where they were. Adolescence has recently shown the power of drama to start debates. Do you see Suspect as a live story that will make it back into news columns? I think the whole point of this series is that something went badly wrong at the Met that morning. In the 20 years, they've never properly owned up to that, and that is incredibly relevant now. In my opinion, something similar happened with the murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens. Ian Blair and Cressida both used the word 'regret' a lot in the aftermath of the death of John Charles. 'We regret what's happened.' Of course, you regret it – I'm sure his mother regrets it – but there's no culpability attached to regret. I think they still have questions to answer. A lot of young Londoners won't remember 7/7 and its aftermath. What do you hope they take away from Suspect? It's like my generation watching a Second World War movie – you're taken back to a time which is alien to you. It was dystopian: the entire city was locked down, everyone was scared to get on a tube train, and there were these bombers running amok. And beyond that, there are bigger themes around the truth. Because people weren't open and honest about what happened that day, it's been 20 years of agony for the de Menezes family. It's painful to them that people still think that he must have been a bit of a tearaway – he must have been involved in something. He was a young bloke, an electrician, an incredibly hard-working, completely regular guy, looked after his mum, and sent money home. He just wanted to go to work that day. He would have had no idea what was going on in the moments before his death. As a writer, what was it like to put yourself in his shoes in that moment? It haunts me. What I think happened is that he's sitting there wondering why the train is stuck at the station, then a bloke dressed in civvies bursts in and he's thinking, 'Who's this bloke? He's got a gun.' Bang. Police say that they shouted a warning – 'armed police!' – but 17 members of the public said they heard no warning. How did you go about avoiding any Four Lions comparisons with the terrorist characters? We did not want to reduce them to clichéd automatons – we wanted them to have a life and personalities. They go and play six-a side football. We took a lot of care with a scene where one of them is with his wife and they have three young boys. We tried to flesh them out so they weren't cartoon baddies. De Menezes was a young bloke and he just wanted to go to work that day One of the heroes of the story is police deputy assistant commissioner Brian Paddick, played by Russell Tovey. He stands up against the cover-up. Did you spend much time talking to him? I spent a lot of time with Brian. He's an inspirational figure in many respects: he was the first senior police officer to come out; he was borough commander when he called to legalise cannabis; and he's a man who is really interested in the truth. I hadn't realised this but Russell, who's also gay, idolised Brian. He was a massive help to us. We asked to speak to Ian Blair and Cressida Dick, but they declined. What do you want people to take from Suspect? I hope they get angry. Anger is an energy. Look at Mr Bates vs The Post Office, look at Adolescence – we want to wrestle with stuff. It's in our psyche more than just about any other country I can think of.
Metro
30-04-2025
- Metro
How innocent Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by police 20 years ago
On July 22, 20 years ago, electrician Jean Charles de Menezes left his home in Tulse Hill to fix a broken alarm. Stopping to pick up a copy of Metro, the Brazilian national descended the stairs of Stockwell Tube Station and boarded the next train. Unbeknownst to him, three officers – named only as Hotel 1, 2 and 3 – sat themselves around him. Moments later, he was shot seven times in the head by police, leaving his body 'unrecognisable'. His devastated mum Maria has been pushing for prosecutions ever since, saying her son was 'educated and civilised' and 'always respected law and order'. But what happened in those fatal few moments on the Tube, and why have the officers have not faced any disciplinary measures? They wrongly thought the Jean Charles was part of the previous day's failed second wave of bomb attacks three weeks after the 7/7 terror attacks. An address in Scotia Road, Tulse Hill, was written on a gym membership card found inside one of the bags where an undetonated bomb was hidden. Police carried out extensive surveillance in the area, where Jean Charles lived in one of those flats with his two cousins. As he left to respond to the faulty alarm, officers believed Jean Charles looked like the CCTV images of one of the bombing suspects Osman Hussain. Cressida Dick, who later became Metropolitan Police Commissioner, ordered Jean Charles be prevented from entering the London Underground. 22 July 2005 Jean Charles de Menezes shot dead by police at Stockwell Tube station 17 July 2006 CPS says no officers will be prosecuted, but Met Police will be tried for breaching health and safety laws 1 November 2007 Met Police found guilty of breaching health and safety laws and fined 22 October 2008 Inquest under way – coroner rules out unlawful killing verdict a month later 12 December 2008 Inquest jury returns open verdict 16 November 2009 Met Police settles damages claim with family 10 June 2015 De Menezes family take legal challenge to European Court of Human Rights 30 March 2016 Family lose challenge over decision not to charge any police officer over the shooting Officers followed him onto a bus and thought he was acting suspicious once he arrived at Brixton Station and found it was closed due to the previous day's bombings. Jean Charles boarded the bus again to Stockwell Station, went down to the platform and got on the train. Firearms officers boarded the train, with varying accounts of whether or not they spoke to the electrician or not. They had all sat around him, and when Jean Charles stood up, an officer codenamed Hotel 3 grabbed, pinned his arms against his torso and pushed him back into his seat. It is unclear what happens next. Two officers fired a total of 11 shots between them. Seven of them landed in Jean Charles's head and his body was left 'unreconisable'. Police said they had been told to fire directly at suspected suicide bomber's heads – which the Muslim Council of Britain described as a 'shoot-to-kill policy'. Later investigation found the event had the 'hallmarks of a special forces operation, rather than a police one'. No officers were prosecuted, but the Metropolitan Police force was fined for breaching health and safety laws. Jean Charles's family took the force to the European Court of Human Rights in 2016 over the decision to not charge any officers. But the family lost the challenge, with the force saying the circumstances around his death 'came at a time of unprecedented terrorist threat to London'. They have also been subject to numerous public inquiries, and two separate reports by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The Met said: 'No officer sets out on duty intent on ending a life. Our sole purpose is the complete opposite – the protection and preservation of life – and we have taken extensive action to address the causes of this tragedy.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Man's barefoot shows how filthy the London Underground is MORE: Porn star 'murdered couple, froze remains then took them to Clifton Suspension Bridge' MORE: Moment Sycamore Gap tree is 'felled by two friends' shown to court
Daily Mirror
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Disney+ Suspect boss reacts to 'controversial' backlash over recreating London bombings aftermath
Disney+ drama Suspect: The Shooting Of Jean Charles De Menezes has faced backlash for the recreation of tragic real-life scenes. Disney+'s drama Suspect, which recreates tragic real-life events, is set to premiere this week amidst controversy. The Shooting Of Jean Charles De Menezes, launches on Thursday, 30th April, and will first tackle the harrowing London bombings that claimed 52 lives twenty years ago before focusing on the shooting of Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes. During a screening, host Nina Hossain addressed the "backlash" over the dramatisation of the bombings. Executive producer Kwadjo Dajan responded to the criticism, saying, "One of the criticisms that we had was that we hadn't consulted with victims, groups of people associated with the real events but the reality is we had. "I actually have a personal connection. I knew one of the victims from 7/7 and we also spoke to various people and wrote letters." He acknowledged the sensitivity of depicting such stories, noting, "When you make these types of stories, there are understandably a lot of people who were impacted by it, they have a sense of ownership. "Their lives become defined by these events afterwards and so they feel it is for them to tell the story and nobody else." Dajan voiced his belief that there's been some "mischief making in the press" over claims that their programme failed to caution about the reenactment of a blown-up bus or police storming into the station. He stated: "We are responsible filmmakers. In reality, we spoke to lots of people over a number of weeks, contacted people, given people the opportunity to go into hotels while we were filming etc. "And a big giveaway that it wasn't a real event was that we had lights everywhere and a guy shouting action and cut every two minutes. "So just the way in which those things are reported, I get, if you write a story that they went about things really responsibly and everything was well managed, you're not going to really sell a lot of papers. "We don't take for granted the responsibility and the pain and the hurt they've experienced and for us, that was at the forefront of every step of the way." "Through our legal team, through Disney's legal team, and just morally, we felt an obligation to behave in a way that was fitting to this event."
