Cillian Murphy's and director Tim Mielants's followup to Small Things Like These (2024). Adapted by Max Porter from his own novel.
Murphy is the principal of a house for boys who have run out of chances. It operates on a logic much like Will Self's The Quantity Theory of Insanity (1991). There's some tepid comedy, some The Office squirm, loads of swearing and a baseline implausibility with too much going on on this particular day. Tracey Ullman plays his straight woman (work wife). Emily Watson as a humourless shrink. The kids are sometimes interesting but mostly aren't given enough time or diverse scenarios to really express their personalities.
The structure is documentary (but not a mockumentary though there are aspects of that). Each point of view gets its own video stock. I wonder how close it was to meeting the Dogme 95 manifesto. Some of the cinematography is quite fancy but is not sustained at length as in Adolescence (2025). I think they missed a trick by not haunting the house.
Natalia Winkelman at the New York Times. Peter Bradshaw. Brian Tallerico at Roger Ebert's venue.
