Rare Beasts

This was a very intriguing/bizarre film. I guess you can call it a dramedy of love, faith and atheism. I just felt that it was a bunch of rare scenes that were so unfollowable. Was this a play, was it a film, honestly I'm still not sure. I so tried to follow this story but I still don't know where I ended up. I will say this....it was definitely rare.

I enjoyed the film, though definitely had overlaps with Billie Piper's series I Hate Suzie (which I must say I preferred). At times I couldn't work out if I was supposed to be rooting for her character and love interest to be together, and I found Pete's character rather confusing. But on the whole enjoyable and inventive, really intrigued to see what Billie comes up with next.

"I Hate Suzie" Draft 1 - before (scribe, executive producer, director & star) Billie Piper's co-creator & writer of the renowned HBO Max series (who previously worked with her on "Secret Diary of a Call Girl") Lucy Prebble came along to iron out the creases; "Rare Beasts" generally has the exact same premise ('Mandy' - a less refined & distinguished iteration of the later protagonist - is a mother who's emotionally disconnected from life, struggling to cope within the stifling confines of a dysfunctional family unit which frustratingly lacks the reassuring support she needs to cope & navigating the minefield that is parenthood & adulthood alone - exacerbated by the pressures unfairly placed on her, due to her gender - feels increasingly isolated & nihilistic whilst she simultaneously tries to prevent that unpalatable cynicism from polluting her child's outlook on life) so has a lot of similar stuff to say as a satirical social commentary (regarding the disenfranchisement many obviously feel with modern day society, disproportionately affecting women trying to make something of themselves alongside their male counterparts in an oppressive systematic structure - for instance, the patriarchy - & how unprocessed trauma created by this disparity of treatment can manifest itself within our behaviours & inadvertently be inherited from one generation to the next) but the film (despite being extremely well realised visually, playing out more akin to an expressionistic piece of theatre than a movie - & shot beautifully by DoP Patrick Meller, using this as a clear audition tape for "I Hate Suzie Too") doesn't really articulate the points it's trying to make as coherently - so the viewing experience is sadly stymied somewhat by the fact that although it clearly has a lot to say... It also conveys very little, ironically.

Plus, since stories usually tend to require a narrative's progression to evolve with a sense of purposefulness in order to retain an audience's engagement, I can sympathise with those who found the overwhelming aura of futility & meaninglessness as hard to sit through - since that seemingly contradicts the very reason for continuing any further.

However, I'd argue the purposelessness is a justifiable purpose, in & of itself & additionally, although she arguably bites off more than the feature's able to satisfyingly chew within the run-time, I'll always commend a filmmaker for boldly imbuing their project with ambition, even if the execution of said concept unfortunately falters slightly. Hence, I enjoyed the topical tale, irrespective of the imperfections & would still recommend, nonetheless.

This is not easy to watch. I do not know if some of the misogynism is imagined or based on actual events. There is more self-criticism here than some people could tolerate. This is the worst situation, when you can see how a person is trapped, but they don't realise it. No angels or saviours inhabit this space. There is no redemption. Here is real life, and it is not pretty. I can't see this being popular, as it is disheartening. Nobody is cast in a positive light. That is realism. This reminded me of Mike Leigh's films, but this is bleaker. I believe that Billie Piper should continue directing. She is needed.

I couldnt keep up. I think I understood the concept, that it was meant to show her interpretation of the unfiltered versions of what was inside peoples heads rather than the external versions of what they actually say. But with that in mind, I still dont know what this film was trying to portray.