The Show

As soon as you see and hear Tom Burke at the films start, well, you just know something is not right, and that continues throughout the drama! Just what the writer and director want you to feel; so its off to a good start!

There is definitely a bit of the Rocky Horror Show's strange, but beautiful, oddness going on...but with more of Circus/Carnivàle, mixed with a little Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter lunacy, thrown (If you remember the short lived American television series, 'Carnivàle' (2003-2005) you will know exactly what I mean. Nothing is as it seems and with weirdness interspersed with weirder still, you are very much entertainingly engrossed. If not! You probably think it sucks...as its one of those presentations that is devoid of the "well it was okay" decision!

Its definitely more of a TV Film and whether you 'Love it or Hate it'...its entirely up to your good selves! :)

Surreal detective story packed with quirky characters which plays out half in dreamland and half in Northampton ( because why not Northampton?) To say this is a bit hard to follow would be an understatement but maybe that's the point; you're not supposed to understand it because most of it doesn't make any sense. It's still a very enjoyable watch, often hilarious, sometimes shocking, regularly disturbing. It could do with being 20 minutes shorter though. I'm really glad that there are still people willing to take artistic risks with film in these days of formulaic Hollywood blockbusters.

Famous comic writer Alan Moore's first film feels like one of his graphic novels. He most likely wrote a comic script and gave it to a director instead of an illustrator. The pacing is more akin to a comic book than a film. With a comic you can slow down and read it at your own pace, but with a film some things fly by too quickly and things, like the dozens of similar names and faces, can be missed. This lead to the ending not hitting like most other shocking and satisfying Moore endings, but I can see how it would play better on a rewatch. The film had probably the most realistic dream sequences in film, the nightmare scenes felt like they filmed inside an actual nightmare. Love the immense detail in the production, sound, and costume design, even with the obviously smaller budget. Great performances, even from Moore himself, and great direction from Jenkins. Definitely will play better on a rewatch.

I don't have enough drugs for this movie. Alan Moore's mind is terrifying and beautiful all rolled into one.

Give it a try, it's a strange ride. It's a very beautiful ,unusual and interesting film.

This is a journey not a destination film. Used to be a lot of films like this. Today, not so much. That said, for its genre, it is top of class. Burke has an everyman look and attitude which Jenkins uses to advantage. The characters, all superb, are people you want to meet once in your life, but only once. Recommended.