When twelve mysterious alien spacecrafts appear around the world, linguistics professor Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is recruited by the U.S. military to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Alongside physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), Louise works to decipher the aliens’ complex language. As she learns to understand their nonlinear way of perceiving time, she experiences visions of her own future. These revelations lead to the discovery that the aliens have come to offer humanity a powerful gift: a tool for unity and understanding. The film explores themes of communication, time, and global cooperation.
Actor: David Lynch
David Lynch is an American filmmaker, artist, and musician known for his surreal and enigmatic style. Rising to prominence with films like “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet,” and “Mulholland Drive,” Lynch has established himself as one of the most influential and iconic directors in cinema history. His works often explore themes of darkness, mystery, and the subconscious, creating dreamlike worlds that blur the lines between reality and fantasy. In addition to his filmmaking career, Lynch is also a prolific painter, sculptor, and musician, known for his unique artistic vision across various mediums. With his unmistakable style and uncompromising creativity, David Lynch has left an indelible mark on the world of art and cinema, inspiring generations of filmmakers and artists alike.
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What to Watch in May
A life lived so vibrantly spotlighted as that of Amy Winehouse’s was ripe for the biographical pickings from the moment of her death, all too soon back in 2011. It’s an indictment of the day and age we live in. Nothing to be proud of. Back to Black is the first dramatisation out of the blocks. It follows, and skulks in the shadow of, Asif Kapadia’s superior 2015 documentary, Amy. Where that film dived deep, upsetting her family in the process, this one’s but a paddle in the shallow end. A superficial and underwhelming entry to the current vogue for jukebox biopics. It’s worse than that though. Back to Black hasn’t the self-awareness to recognise itself as being no better than the then paparazzi it vindicates.
Many, it is likely, will find the film entirely passable. Courtesy of Winehouse herself, it boasts a terrific soundtrack, allowing Sam Taylor-Johnson ample opportunity for montage. It’s an easy win for the Fifty Shades of Grey director, who shoots with eloquence and style. As for the lead, Marisa Abela certainly looks the part. She makes an impressive stab too at vocal impersonation, going hell for leather with song and script alike. Rote, simplistic writing – from Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’s Matt Greenhalgh – does Abela no favours but her effort and respect for Winehouse are palpable. There’s more to capturing Amy than the donning of a beehive and faux ‘Daddy’s Girl’ tattoo.
Amy has neither as the film opens. Back to Black joins her story just prior to the completion of Frank, her debut album, in 2003. It was an album born of anachronism, jazz in the age of manufactured pop. Amy is no f*****g Spice Girl and won’t be manufactured for anyone. She’s a family girl through and through, devoutly close to her nan, Lesley Manville’s Cynthia, and the apple of her parents’ respective eyes. Mum, Janis (Juliet Cowan), is unwell, we’re told, but the film has no further insight there.
More focal is Mitch Winehouse, who is played by a sympathetic Eddie Marsan. The real Mitch hated Kapadia’s documentary – which dared to critique his culpability in Amy’s downfall – but should find Back to Black more palatable. Here, he is a doting, kindly figure. Totally exonerated. True, he’s the man who said no, no, no to rehab but he’s the father that drove her there when she truly needed it. No mention is made of the exploitative documentary he made for Channel 4 just two years before her death.