Reality is a sneaky thing.
Sometimes it’s out there and prominent, unmissable and sometimes undealable with; other times, it disguises itself as fantasy and myth and legend but behind all the bright songs and escapist gossamer gorgeousness it sits there still, waiting for you to discover it and deal with it.
These three films show reality in all its guises, quite obvious or not, but all of them, whether grittily intense, musically oppositional or fantastically dreamy, ask us to take a look at the world around us, no matter the form it’s taking at the time, and make our peace with it.
Reality may not be the easier thing to grapple with but with films like these opening the way to dealing it, it might be as scary or undealable as you think …
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical
SNAPSHOT
Matilda Wormwood (Alisha Weir) is a little girl with big curiosity, a sharp mind and a vivid imagination — and the worst parents in the world. While her parents (Stephen Graham & Andrea Riseborough) content themselves with trashy TV and dodgy money-making schemes, she loves to lose herself in the pages of her beloved books. Where they are loud, selfish and unkind she is a quiet observer, thinking up small and cheeky acts of rebellion and revenge. On meeting her inspirational teacher, Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch), Matilda is encouraged and begins conjuring her own fantastical tales. Excited to attend Crunchem Hall, Matilda is surprised to find the school is an ominous and oppressive place led by the huge and villainous Miss Trunchbull (Emma Thompson). Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical is directed by Tony Award-winning director Matthew Warchus, director of the films Simpatico, Pride, Present Laughter, Lungs, and Faith Healer, plus numerous stage shows. Screenwriter Dennis Kelly adapts the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production for the big screen, with original music and lyrics by Tim Minchin. (courtesy First Showing)
Roald Dahls’ Matilda the Musical premieres on Netflix on Christmas Day.
SNAPSHOT
In Lila Neugebauer’s film Causeway, Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence plays Lynsey, a military engineer who has returned from Afghanistan with a debilitating brain injury after an IED explosion. It’s a painful and slow recovery as she relearns to walk and re-trains her memory, aided by a chatty but tender caretaker (Jayne Houdyshell). But when she returns home to New Orleans she has to face memories even more aching and formative than those she had in service: a reckoning with her childhood. Staying with her mother (Linda Emond), with whom she shares a tense relationship, all Lynsey wants to do is return to her work as an engineer. Her doctor (Stephen McKinley Henderson) is wary, and so in the meantime, she gets a job cleaning pools. When her truck breaks down she meets James Aucoin (Brian Tyree Henry), who works at the auto repair shop and offers her a ride home. Slowly they start to rely on each other for company and solace. James, it turns out, is also suppressing his own past trauma. Causeway is directed by American filmmaker / theater director Lila Neugebauer, making her feature directorial debut after a few TV episodes previously. The screenplay is by Luke Goebel, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Elizabeth Sanders. This initially premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival last month. (courtesy First Showing)
Causeway premieres on AppleTV+ and in select US cinemas on 4 November.
SNAPSHOT
Slumberland takes audiences to a magical place, a dreamworld where precocious Nemo (Marlow Barkley) and her eccentric companion Flip (Jason Momoa) embark on the adventure of a lifetime. After her father Peter (Kyle Chandler) is unexpectedly lost at sea, the young Nemo’s idyllic Pacific Northwest existence is completely upended when she is sent to live in the city with her well-meaning but deeply awkward uncle Phillip (Chris O’Dowd). Her new school and new routine are challenging by day but at night, a secret map to the fantastical world of Slumberland connects Nemo to Flip, a rough-around-the-edges, lovable outlaw who quickly becomes her partner and guide. She and Flip soon find themselves on an incredible journey traversing dreams and fleeing nightmares, where Nemo begins to hope that she will be reunited with her father once again. Slumberland is directed by filmmaker Francis Lawrence, director of Constantine, I Am Legend, Water for Elephants, Red Sparrow, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire + Mockingjay 1 & 2, and Red Sparrow previously. The screenplay is written by David Guion and Michael Handelman. (courtesy First Showing)
Slumberland premieres on Netflix on 18 November.