Latest news with #psychological
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
The Names by Florence Knapp: what's in a name?
The Names Author : Florence Knapp ISBN-13 : 978-1399624022 Publisher : Phoenix Guideline Price : £13.99 Can a name shape one's destiny? Knapp's high-concept debut ponders this question with remarkable psychological nuance. The story begins in 1987 with Cora on her way to register her infant son's name, with her daughter Maia in tow. Cora's real concern is that she will 'formalise who he will become' based on what she names him. Her husband Gordon has instructed her to name the baby after him, to carry on the family's tradition. She fears that this would burden him with the abusive legacy of his namesakes. 'It feels like a chest-beating, tribal thing ... that will tie him to generations of domineering men.' She prefers the name Julian, which means sky father. Maia suggests Bear because it is 'all soft and cuddly and kind ... but also, brave and strong'. READ MORE This seemingly innocuous decision to name a baby is the sliding-doors moment in this novel that charts the destiny of this family in three alternate storylines. The chapters are spaced seven years apart and titled after each of the three names. Gordon is a reputable doctor but an abusive patriarch at home. The overarching theme of the three storylines is the repercussions of living under the fear of domestic abuse. In each storyline, guilt and trauma dominate the interior psychological landscapes of the three main characters – Cora, Maia and the boy. Knapp shrewdly weaves together three distinct permutations of this family's future into a single tapestry with perceptive insight. The narrative remains consistently emotionally engaging, which is no mean feat for a debut novelist. The story resonates on many levels. It depicts an evocative portrayal of children who grow up under the shadow of a narcissistic father, conditioning them to become hypervigilant and pander to authority. In a poignant moment, Cora observes this in how her nine-year-old daughter has learned 'to soothe, to placate' and is 'attuned to the undercurrents in a room'. In another devastating instance, the grown-up boy asks his sister Maia, 'Do you think Dad consumed me?' – a stark illustration of the tyranny of an abusive parent. The Names is an exquisitely layered story about the ripple effects of trauma and choices – and the legacy they leave behind.
Geek Vibes Nation
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Vibes Nation
'Bring Her Back' Review - A Deeply Unsettling Glimpse At Unchecked Grief
Danny and Michael Philippou, the Australian brother duo who captivated horror fans with their directorial debut Talk to Me, prove they aren't one-trick ponies with their latest release, Bring Her Back. Both films showcase a visual style and aesthetic that are a bit similar, but the latter is more of a psychological slow burn that pays off gradually with each scene of escalating horror. While some horror tropes are present and accounted for, the true horror of the film is human nature itself. What can happen to a person when they are so warped by grief that they lose all concept of right and wrong? This is a story of trauma gone awry, and with this story, the Philippou brothers have crafted something truly haunting and a piece of cinema that audiences won't be able to easily shake. The film focuses on Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong), a step brother-step sister duo who share a particularly strong bond, but with that bond comes its own share of issues. Andy is wounded by years of physical abuse inflicted by his father, and Piper is a victim of a childhood accident that has rendered her almost completely blind. During a harrowing opening scene, their father dies, which requires a social worker to step in to find them a new foster situation. Initially, the plan is to split them up, but Andy insists that they should stay together until he can legally apply to be her guardian in three months, when he turns 18. Although there is some hesitation due to a violent incident from Andy's past, they find someone delighted to take them both in when Laura (Sally Hawkins) enters the picture. Laura is more fond of Piper because she lost her daughter, Cathy, in a drowning accident, while she merely tolerates Andy's presence when they enter her home. Also living with Laura is her nephew Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), a mute boy who stares off into the distance and finds himself drawn to the property's drained pool. It's not long before it's obvious that something is wrong with Oliver, and something is also very wrong with Laura. Bring Her Back features deeply disturbing scenes, and they'll be enough to make even the most hardcore horror fiends squeamish. The Philippou brothers aren't afraid to let the camera linger on these moments as they know the audience will be fascinated and disgusted by their presence. One scene involves chomping on the blade of a butcher knife with obvious results, while a table and flesh also become a deeply unnerving snack. The best thing to be said about these scenes is that, despite their grotesque nature, they aren't gratuitous and are absolutely necessary to sell the depravity of the character in question. These moments serve the story, and that's something that many horror films can't say about their display of gore and violence. What is more frightening than any gore the audience sees is the film's depiction of grief and how it can be transformed into something very dark and unsettling. Bring Her Back is a downer of a film with very little levity (the early moments with Laura offer up some eccentric laughs), and this makes it a horror film that won't be for everyone. I left the theater drained by my experience watching it as if I had been punched in the gut, and I mean that as the highest compliment. It achieves its goal of sucking you into its world of despair and it doesn't let you go. I sat with the film for days, almost if I experienced my own loss, and that's the power of what these filmmaker brothers have created. The film is essentially a four-person show, and Sally Hawkins leads the charge with a wonderfully unhinged performance that has many layers. In the beginning, she is offbeat but likable, which is necessary as Laura's true intentions need to be hidden. Once her true nature begins to emerge, Hawkins is more than dedicated to presenting Laura's devilish manipulations. However, the true strength of her performance is that she's able to elicit sympathy from the audience, despite her evil ways. Laura has experienced a profound loss that has lingered with her, and anyone who has lost a loved one will feel her pain. One scene where she shares with Andy how she hasn't coped with losing her daughter proves to be one of her best due to its quiet but powerful resonance. The fact that she can hit all of these emotional levels without missing a beat is a testament to her talent. Providing more than capable support are Billy Barratt and Sora Wong, who form a bond that is the heart of the film, which leads to some heartbreaking scenes that shook me to my core. While Hawkins will get a bulk of the praise (and it's deserved), the film truly wouldn't work without the relationship developed between Barratt and Wong. Their affection for each other is genuine, and even though it's shrouded in pain, it's evident that they will do anything for each other, particularly Andy, as her big brother. A scene in which Andy confesses to a mistake he made as a child that hurt Piper is particularly strong because of the bond forged on screen before this pivotal moment. Lastly, Jonah Wren Philips has to go to some dark places as Oliver and has to do so mostly without saying a word. To say this performance is committed would be an understatement. It will be interesting to see if mainstream audiences respond to Bring Her Back in the same way they did to Talk To Me. Many horror elements in the film will please genre fans (it's drenched in atmosphere and its sound design aids in elevating some of the film's more horrific scenes), but at its heart, this is a deeply disturbing domestic drama about loss, trauma, and grief. To say it's a downer would be an understatement and there are moments that hit you so hard it's difficult to not be emersed in its sadness but it's because of its willingness to go to some dark and honest places that Bring Her Back works, making it one of the best horror films to come along in years. Bring Her Back is now playing in theaters nationwide courtesy of A24.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Rehearsal season two review – TV so wild you will have no idea how they made it
Season two of the Rehearsal opens in a cockpit, where the atmosphere is almost unbearably strained. With the plane apparently on a collision course ('we have those hills to the right of the airport, remember?!'), the co-pilot begins to panic, but the captain haughtily dismisses his colleague's concerns. Sure enough, the plane begins to plummet, before crashing into a fiery wreck. We zoom out to reveal a set, where Nathan Fielder stares and blinks into the camera gormlessly, having conducted this horrifying performance – one of many reconstructions of real-life disasters to come. This is, of course, the comedian's totally wild docuseries, in which he prepares people for big life events via elaborate (and occasionally unethical) walk-throughs. The first season culminated in Fielder possibly causing untold psychological damage to a child actor who was only too happy to accept him as his real dad (he apparently hadn't grasped the extent to which he was part of an intricate plan to help a woman who wasn't sure whether she wanted to have kids). This time around, Fielder tells us that he has decided not to involve any children. But if you're expecting something a little less problematic, you're in the wrong place. In fact, at the end of the finale (which aired in the US over the weekend), I realised that all I had written for the final 30 minutes was 'how on EARTH did they do this????' over and over again, like a bad version of the typewriter scene in The Shining. Indeed, there is much here that will remind you of a horror film, and many scenes you will surely watch with your fingers over your eyes. Which is hilarious, given that the premise of this season is so incredibly mundane. Fielder has theorised – largely through careful study of thousands of pages of dry government documents – that plane crashes are directly linked to a lack of communication between pilots and first officers. His new quest, he says, is to improve aviation safety by forensically analysing how those conversations unfold and how pilots can give one another better feedback. And, er, by creating his own replica of Houston airport. Of course, as he explains to the pilots, actors and experts whom he inveigles into the rehearsal, HBO will only open its chequebook if his potentially life-saving, industry-leading experiment is also a comedy. Cue another six episodes of wondering just how much anyone knows at any one time, as Fielder constructs another televisual hall of mirrors where the fake and the real collide with all the violence of his staged plane crashes. As with season one, the producers have managed to find civilians who are so uniquely awkward that they feel like integral parts of the chaos. These are people who blur the line between committed normie and aspiring actor so well that many have, in fact, been accused of being fake. But they are all real, from baby-faced first officer Moody, who is convinced his girlfriend is cheating on him with her customers at Starbucks, to Jeff, an older pilot who freely, maybe even proudly, admits that he has been banned from all known dating apps. As always, Fielder gets in way too deep with everyone – not least a lovely young man named Colin, who gets his own rehearsal-within-the-rehearsal about his faltering love life. It's one of many, many tangents in a series that also touches on dog cloning; Evanescence's gothy rap-rock hit Bring Me to Life; neurodiversity and mental health; and a fake singing contest called Wings of Voice, which led one contestant, Lana Love, to give a tell-all interview to Variety where she angrily stated that she had 'signed up to be a singer, not a lab rat'. These strands weave around one another as the supposed goal of improving aviation safety comes in and out of focus. There are frequent links back to Fielder's previous work, on shows such as Nathan for You and The Curse, which only makes the whole thing more meta. It does at times feel a little overwhelming, even for a man whose whole thing is essentially artful self-absorption. And yet, navel-gazing and the many ethical questions raised here aside, Fielder pulls it off spectacularly. He shows impressive commitment to the bit in episode three, where he undergoes a physical transformation that is as horrifying as it is sublime. And the last episode sees the end justify the means, as he channels all he has learned into a knockout conclusion. The Rehearsal is frequently plane-crash TV – but my oh my, does it stick the landing. The Rehearsal season two aired on Sky Comedy and is available on Now.
Geek Tyrant
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Aaron Paul to Star in James McTeigue's Psychological Thriller THE MIDNIGHT POOL — GeekTyrant
Aaron Paul is diving deep into psychological territory with The Midnight Pool , a new thriller from V for Vendetta director James McTeigue. This project marks a return to genre storytelling for McTeigue and gives Paul another complex role to play, this time as a grieving journalist whose pursuit of a big story takes him into a reality-warping rabbit hole. The film is based on a 2022 Black List script by Jonathan Easley ( Red Right Hand ), and it follows Johnny Black (Paul), 'a jaded journalist whom, after a personal tragedy, is lured into the shadows of an elite, exclusive society, where the pursuit of a career-defining story becomes a descent into illusion, manipulation and altered realities.' Think Eyes Wide Shut meets Jacob's Ladder . Paul was immediately hooked and he said in a statement: 'The moment Midnight Pool landed on my desk I knew I had to sit down with James. The world created by Jonathan Easley really stayed with me long after I put the script down. 'The idea of James holding the reins to tell this story got me extremely excited to tackle this world with him. We sat down in my backyard and spoke for hours about the love of filmmaking. 'After that meeting it was very clear we both wanted to lean in. I am such a huge admirer of James and I feel truly blessed to be on this journey with him and the rest of the team.' McTeigue, whose past work spans cult hits and blockbuster franchises, added: ' The Midnight Pool felt like the culmination of my career — a gripping psychological drama with mind-bending visuals and action,' he said. 'When Aaron Paul agreed to play Johnny Black, I knew we had something truly special.' Producer Zak Kristofek : 'Jason and I couldn't be more thrilled to bring to life with the extraordinary talents of James McTeigue and Aaron Paul. James's sharp eye for tension and psychological depth, combined with Aaron's magnetic intensity, makes this an exceptionally exciting collaboration. This is a film that will keep audiences on edge — and thinking long after the credits roll.' Source: Variety
