Movie reviews: Time-travelling psychological thriller Flashback is gripping
Dylan O'Brien and Hannah Gross in Flashback
★★★★☆
It’s one of the oldest cinematic techniques of them all, but writer-director Christopher McBride gives us a (15A) with a difference in this time-travelling psychological thriller. The movie opens with Fred (Dylan O’Brien) struggling to cope with his dying mother’s dementia; Fred, who works as a data quantifier, angrily tells his wife Karen (Hannah Gross) that you are what you remember. And so Fred is profoundly disturbed when he experiences bizarre memories of a near-death experience that appear to be connected to a drug overdose that Fred simply can’t remember. Has his subconscious blotted out the traumatic episode? And if so, why is he haunted by waking dreams in which he seems to be living a parallel life with Cindy (Maika Monroe)? What follows is a fascinating exploration of ‘the greatest illusion of them all — time'. Indeed, the title is a bit of a red herring, because Fred doesn’t experience linear flashbacks: Christopher McBride’s complex storytelling involves timelines criss-crossing and whiplashing as Fred finds himself occupying a point where past, present, and future all collide. It’s an ambitious framework, and one within which Fred tries to investigate why Cindy seemed to disappear during their final year in High School — a mystery that is tied up with a lethal hallucinogenic drug that Fred’s friend Sebastian (Emory Cohen) was peddling at the time. The result is a gripping thriller that deftly plays with the viewer’s own perception of time, with Dylan O’Brien wholly believable as he blunders blindly through a fever-dream determined to belatedly do the right thing. (streaming release)
Elyse
★★★☆☆
Elyse (12A) is another movie that plays with perceptions of reality, although here the titular character, played by Lisa Pepper, is a married woman whose erratic behaviour causes her husband Steven (Aaron Bridges) and her mother Goldie (Fran Tucker) to believe that she requires psychiatric help. Diagnosed as a ‘narcissistic little brat’ by her less-than-sympathetic mother, and as a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown by Steven, Elyse is delivered into the hands of Dr Philip Lewis (Anthony Hopkins), who quickly realises that Elyse is in the grip of ‘a catastrophic depression'. Can Elyse find a way back to reality? And what is she prepared to sacrifice in order to be declared sane? Written by Audrey Arkins and Stella Hopkins, with Hopkins directing, Elyse is a meticulously crafted account of an agonising emotional and psychological rehabilitation. From the very beginning, when the stilted Elyse is first seen drifting through a grey world and engaging in archly cold conversations with her supposed nearest and dearest, we understand that she is suffering a mental blockage that she employs as a shield against the harsh glare of reality. Exactly what she’s hiding from is revealed during the course of her therapy, which doesn’t make for comfortable viewing: Dr Lewis prescribes regular electro-convulsive therapy, which veers into the realms of torture, even if it is inflicted for Elyse’s benefit. Lisa Pepper is superb at evoking the nuances of Elyse’s painful journey, and not least because the character spends much of the film in a semi-catatonic state, and she gets strong support from Anthony Apel as Elyse’s therapist, and Anthony Hopkins, who is by turns benign and terrifying as the god-like doctor who controls Elyse’s fate. (streaming release)
Alex Ferguson: Never Give In
★★★★☆
The most successful football manager in British history, Alex Ferguson suffered a life-threatening brain haemorrhage in 2018. Directed by his son Jason, (G) is a documentary about Ferguson’s road to recovery, a process that is rooted in a never-say-die attitude formed by a life that began ‘in the shadow of the Clyde shipyard’ in Glasgow. The film also charts Ferguson’s own sporting achievements, first as a centre-forward in Scotland, and later as the manager of Aberdeen and then Manchester United, when he led both clubs to unprecedented success on the domestic and European fronts. The archive footage will be familiar to most football fans, even if there are intriguing glimpses of Ferguson operating behind the scenes; what is far more interesting is Ferguson’s understandable obsession with memory, and his need to preserve his sense of self. The relentless competitor of yore has been replaced by a more sanguine character who seems happy to be given the opportunity to reflect on a decorated career, even if regrets occasionally surface about what was sacrificed — time with his family, mainly — in order to succeed. Some of his former players contribute straight-to-camera pieces, with Eric Cantona and Ryan Giggs both testifying to the manager’s ‘father figure’ persona, although Gordon Strachan, who played for Ferguson at Aberdeen and Manchester United, tellingly suggests that Ferguson was possessed of the ferocious drive of ‘a wounded animal'. (Amazon Prime)
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