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! :)

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.

Fletcher Dennis (Tom Burke) arrives in Northampton in search for a missing artefact. He dives into this world of supernatural oddities and darkness.

The big name here is writer Alan Moore. He has filled this story with imaginative ideas, characters, and weirdness. I've never heard of director Mitch Jenkins. He may not have the budget nor the skills to pull off Moore's visions. Burke has an intriguing look but his acting skills fall short for a cinematic lead. He's more fitting as an antagonist than a protagonist. The story feels overstuffed and somehow lacking in narrative drive. It feels meandering. This movie is very intriguing but the execution falls a little short.

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.

Lots of slightly unusual characters come together. It's a bit difficult to make sense of but it starts to make sense in the end. Ellie Bamber is just gorgeous as Becky Cornelius.