Here are two strong films that can boast of impressive ensemble acting. One is a period drama with casting that’s wonderfully color blind, while the second traverses the genre of Horror, but uses acting to help provide the tension.
Mr. Malcolm’s List (Video on Demand, Amazon Prime) - Looking back to 2019’s The Personal Life of David Copperfield, one of the highlights of the film was the colorblind casting of Dev Patel in the title role. It was like the producers just said, ‘Here’s a fine actor, and let’s be impressed by his performance, without even making mention of his skin tone or provenance’. That was an admirable way to cast, and it threw type-casting out the window in a wonderful manner. That’s pretty much the approach of this new film directed by Emma Holly-Jones, and ii’s based on the romance novel of Suzanne Allain. It’s about courtship and romance in Regency England, and the three major roles are portrayed by Zawe Ashton, Freida Pinto (of Slumdog Millionaire fame), and leading man Sope Dirisu.
Unlike say Bridgerton, which is set in the same period but took pains to try and explain why a person of African descent would be living in a palace and mixing with English society, Mr. Malcolm’s List doesn’t even try to explain it’s casting choices. Ashton is Julia Thistlewaite, while Pinto is her childhood friend with no real prospects Selina Dalton. Attacking his role as Mr. Malcolm, in a manner that would make Sidney Poitier proud, is Dirisu. And there’s Theo James as Captain Henry. The premise revolves around how Malcolm has this list of attributes he would want any future wife to possess, and when Julia fails on one item , Malcolm drops her, and she seeks revenge by enlisting Selina. If you think about this list, it’s no different from how dating apps today are configured; so this may be Regency England on screen, but it resonates to this day.
Barbarian (video on Demand, Amazon Prime) - The horrors that can be found within one own’s home, like the attic or basement, is a recurring theme in horror films since time immemorial. So what writer-Director Zach Cregger does in this new film is utilize the premise of what if it’s an AirBnB that acts as the setting of the film. You arrive in Detroit one rainy night, you’re a woman, and Tess (Georgina Campbell) finds that the house she booked is already occupied by a man, Keith (Bill Skarsgård), who says he also has a receipt for the booking of that particular night. Deciding against all logic to share the house until they can clear things up the following day, we soon find out that sharing a house with a complete stranger, is the least of Tess’ worries.
Bill Skarsgård in Barbarian.
To add texture to the film, there’s AJ (Justin Long) as a Hollywood film actor who’s about to be accused of sexual misconduct with a fellow cast member. With mounting legal fees on the horizon, he jets to Detroit to liquidate some of his assets, and one of them is the house occupied by Tess and Keith. On top of the strong performances, you’ll love the old school use of simple open and closed doors, passageways cloaked in darkness and the sudden jump scares, to build up the tension and scares that this film promises and delivers on. They’re seemingly very basic devices, but with the devilish camera angles, ominous soundtrack, and lighting (or lack of it), much is made of these film techniques, and there is genuine suspense created. Enough plot twists to keep us engaged and admire the work done on this film. Plus knowing Skarsgård played Pennywise in IT, makes us anticipate the worst in his scenes.