The Show

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.

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.

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.

Private investigator Fletcher Dennis (Tom Burke) arrives in the town of Northampton, England in search of a bejeweled golden cross for his client Patsy Bleeker (Christopher Fairbank) who alleges the cross was stolen from his daughter by con artist James Mitchum (Darrell D'Silva). As Fletcher searches for clues to the crosses whereabouts, he encounters a cast of eccentric and bizarre characters and surreal episodes as his case may not be as simple as it initially seems.

Alan Moore is one of the most widely known names in the medium of comic books having established himself with his re-interpretation of Swamp Thing and cemented his reputation with the enduring classic Watchmen. While Moore is known mainly for his comic work, Moore has ventured into other areas such as his novels Voice of the Fire and Jerusalem which like The Show are set around Moore's hometown of Northampton. The Show teams Alan Moore's screenplay with first time feature director Mitch Jenkins who's primarily known for his photography work and after having photographed Moore in 1986 for an issue of Q Magazine became friends. Aside from some individual shorts Jenkins made in collaboration with Moore, The Show marks Jenkins' directorial debut in feature filmmaking and with Alan Moore's captivatingly bizarre screenplay and a terrific cast of British talent, The Show is the type of film just itching to be discovered for its inevitable cult audience.

From the get go, it's clear that Mitch Jenkins has an affinity for the stylings of David Lynch and Terry Gilliam as we enter the bizarre and surreal world of Alan Moore's Northampton via our proxy, Fletcher Dennis, as a seemingly simple search for a stolen cross leads to "masked superhero" librarians who know all and see all, voodoo gangsters, quirky performers (both living and "possibly" dead), and East End hoodlums who curse up a storm. The lines between dreams and reality are continually blurred as Fletcher encounters Northampton's that run the gamut from a couple of pre-pubescent private eyes, to "possibly" vampiric hospital staff, and flamboyant nightclub owners with every character a memorable oddity in a town filled with oddity.

Tom Burke of BBC's Three Musketeers and playing Orson Welles in David Fincher's Mank is fantastic as our private investigator Fletcher Dennis who concocts all manner of aliases spinning legends as easily as he breathes air but makes for a solid anchor for the audience against the weirdness both he and the audience encounter. Siobhan Hewlett is fantastic playing a self-asphyxiating journalist named Faith who forms a partnership with Fletcher as the two find themselves experiencing shared surreal visions that are tied together by information they shouldn't know. Even Alan Moore shows up playing one half of a supposedly dead comedic duo in Frank Metterton and despite the fact that he's more or less playing himself it fits in the context of the world the movie creates and the design of his costume where his hair, face, and beard are shaped into a crescent moon is a sight to appreciate. Special mention to Andrew O'Neill who plays Brenden, a neighbor in the flat Fletcher rents who gives some of the most engaging line reads that result in some of the funniest moments.

The Show like most fantasy many similar fantastical and surreal films like this is often times opaque and confusing, but it's such a visceral experience with unique and interesting characters and an immersive world that I didn't care that the "why" behind certain scenes was elusive with characters such as Frank Metterton seeming to operate on a level above the characters that they and we were outside the comprehension of mortal thought. While that type of storytelling and filmmaking technique is very hit and miss with certain directors trying to build themselves upon it and coming up with more duds than successes, The Show understands what makes compelling storytelling and characters and earns leeway from its nebulous explanations of the fantastical nature of its world.

The Show is a movie that people will love or hate for the exact same reasons. Regardless of your feelings about the movie it'll undoubtedly be an experience you remember long after the ending credits (which with the selected soundtrack are as compelling as the movie itself). If you like the films of Terry Gilliam and David Lynch then you owe it to yourself to give The Show a chance.

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! :)