User reviews

After years of faithful service to The Bank, Peter Riordan is given early retirement, first on his list list is a break with his brother in Benidorm, only he isn't there, he does however encounter his brother's business partner Alex.

It wasn't quite what I was expecting, or maybe not what I'd hoped for, but it was a relatively enjoyable movie. At two hours, it's over long, and there are some scenes that are painfully slow, but the story itself is interesting, and watching Peter unravelling his brother's disappearance is enjoyable.

It owes a lot to the brilliance of Timothy Spall, who elevates the film quite a lot. Sarita Choudhury was very good also, she had a definite presence.

I can understand why some say it doesn't really go anywhere, and for some I can see that it could frustrating, but as a character study, it's quite enjoyable.

6/10.

It starts off well, but gradually descends into banality as the viewing time progresses, as elements are introduced that disregard the Chekhov's gun principle. It simply confuses. The standout is Timothy Spall's character, an innocent man who believes his brother is still as dull as ever when it comes to enjoying life, but upon arriving in Benidorm to visit him, he finds that nobody will tell him where he is. It's a compelling plot that maintains good suspense, and the character's dramatic scenes capturing the essence of Benidorm are also commendable, but that device loses its quality in the second half of the film and becomes tiresome. Nonetheless, Benidorm strikes me as an ugly, extremely ugly city, and this movie has only increased my aversion towards it.

However, not all of the film is shot in Benidorm. The part where they showcase the abandoned amusement park is actually the Pola Park, a children's amusement park located in Santa Pola, where I used to go every summer as a child.

I liked this setting, it started sincere, narrated, introducing the protagonist and his peculiarities, tried to keep a mystery/suspense about the brother, but it didn't work very well, we know a little about the Bernidorm culture, however nothing very attractive besides, the story becomes dragged and long...

This starts off as one film and ends another, with a change mid way through; something I would find interesting but here it's taxing and very boring.

The usually reliable Timothy Spall is solid but I can help but feel he's getting more typecast as lonely, gruff middle aged men- see Mr Turner, Mrs Lowry and Son, The Last Bus and TVs The Sixth Commandment, that I could tell which direction his character would take .

I feel it would work best as a straightforward drama of a drab and lonely man ' finding himself' in Benidorm, with romance blossoming.

The stranger in a stranger land concept worked best with Tim Roth in 'Sundown', this could have aimed for that. Even a 'About Schmidt' plot would work.

The thriller aspect doesn't catch fire and is too slowly paced, doesn't grip either.

Coixet tríes bravely a new poetic film with some good points (Sylvia Plath in the old fishermen' s Benidorm), but losing rhythm and falling inadvertedly in some image and lyric topics

I get what the director and writer Isabel Coixet was trying to accomplish with It Snows in Benidorm. The idea was to create an ethereal story about a fish-out-of-water gentlemen who gets a new lease of life. The story about finding a missing brother is just a McGuffin. Nothing is resolved and that story just plays in the background as an excuse to meet new characters.

The problem with the film is not just the pacing but the idea that there is a degree of other worldliness with Benidorm. Lots of the shots are done in slow-motion with an esoteric soundtrack, to imply importance or mysticism. These are done when we watching a hen party, the nightlife or when Alex is seeking out Peter or visa versa. It is basically trying to be like the film Babel or Disconnect, but unlike those two films, ISIB has nothing to say.

This is a great shame because Timothy Spall is an amazing actor and in here he is wasted. The film either needed to be one thing or another. It either had to be about Peter trying all avenues to find his missing brother (think Get Carter) or it had to be about a shy reclusive man finally coming out his shell (think Being There). With the juxtaposition of the two story lines, it does not satisfy either one.

Finally the character of Peter did not feel real. As a deputy bank manager, Peter comes across as too naïve to feel credible. There was also a bit about a Spanish poet that obviously means something to Coixet but left me indifferent.

Also I very much doubt any Spanish taxi driver would be remotely interested in talking about Brexit, a subject even the Brits are fed up talking about.

Some reviews said too slow. I found it reasonabke as Tim Spall wanders through different paths in search if his missing brother and surprising discoveries as well as himself. The finality as it all does not matter as much as comfy sunsets at the beach. I like the way so much is revealed at the end. Enjoy my friends..consulted adds to the interest.

I like Timothy Spall as a actor and the fact i live near Benidorm made it a bit more interesting for me looking for cast extra's i know. The film started off great and then nothing happened. If anything it confused my as to why someone would spend such a budget and why Tim accepted this lead role.

Some of the scenes were plastic looking compared to the real life Benidorm, especially in the nightclub areas, it made the movie look like, almost amaturish. God knows why it was nominated, as after he arrives in Spain and realises his brother is missing, nothing else worth substance really happened. It got really boring, really quickly. It was so exciting, i couldn't wait till the end to start some housework.

What a waste of talented actors through bad direction. Even Timothy Spall cannot save this film as it sinks into suffocating banality. Painfully slow and unrewarding. What could of been an interesting plot sinks into two hours of navel gazing. Possible interesting characters are left to struggle with cheap dialogue and a storyline that stutters to a finish before it's time leaving you totally frustrated with the storytelling. Symbolism pops its head up constantly but rarely makes a point, even when it could have helped the film along. Sometimes the location can be the saving of a bad film but even this was frittered away.

This is truly an awful movie. Terrible acting, direction and badly paced. Why on earth do you have to make it this long with sooo little content.

Spall cannot hold a role like this himself, he needs help from people with a pulse and then he can potter around like a man muttering to himself in his nutter Englishman way he repeats in every role.

Every other actor from the cringy boss at the start to Sarita Choudry looks like this is their first role and acting natural is an alien concept.

Also lastly, why is it that I have to write reviews of 500+ words when there are so many shorter ones here, anyone know?

This is the first film review I've ever written but the film is so poor I feel it deserves a mention.

The title of my review is slightly misleading as Alien Outpost is actually the worst film ever. This is, however, a very close second.

Having just finished watching this film I'm still trying to figure out if anything actually happened in it and also if there is any way I can get the time back.

Utter drivel and a complete waste of time. And Netflix have the cheek to actually charge for this total garbage. Even worse, I have wasted even more of my time writing this review. Hopefully this will save others some precious time though so that's one positive.

Definitely one to be avoided if you value your time or money.

I feel a bit mean posting a poor review of this film. It is clear that the director is trying hard to create a visual language that is charming and menacing at the same time. The story, predicated on a man whose joyless life is upended when he tries to visit his brother in Spain only to find him missing and tied up in shady goings-on. Scenes are bathed in light and garish colour strongly reminiscent of Almodovar and which reflect the main character's escape from the drudgery of his routine life.

At times, the camera lingers on the bacchanalia of Benidorm's nightlife and presents an alienating, decadent and surreal world. All of this seems to be intended to to make us uncomfortable. Regrettably, the scenes are so stylised that they feel pretentious rather than disturbing. The film is trying way too hard to create a disconcerting atmosphere with it's blend of innocence and depravity and its focus on the bizarre details of Benidorm life.

The dialogue is stagey. Attempts at elliptical and thought-provoking conversation are grating and make the film feel longer than it's (already too-long) 2 hours. The police officer spouting Sylvia Plath, for example, is utter nonsense.

Going back to my original comment, the reason I'm uncomfortable leaving this film a poor is that I think the director has real creativity and visual flare. I just think she needs to rein it in and concentrate more on the plot, dialogue and editing, which is what makes this such a mess. It's also a real shame to see Spall, one of this country's finest, involved in this half-baked project.

Could have been a good plot but no finish & the film is just a vehicle to show Timothy's acting talents- no ending, pretentious for north london dinner parties to decide what the ending means- yes it's that bad!! The only plus is the showing of Benidorm in a real way so if you're interested on the benidorm tour you may be interested in this but otherwise it is not worth the effort on turning on the tv. The women just about save the show from being a complete disaster with the characters they play but are times that desperate they have to figure in this disaster? It's not relaxing or exciting or intriguing it's a waste of 2 hours.

Good grief, what can I say. I always believed that Timothy Spall was a brilliant actor but I take it back, fully. Talk about wooden.

I just could not see why this film was made. Pointless.

I adore Spain and the old town of Benidorm but this film even made one of the happiest places on earth seem dull.

The film is duller than dishwater.

Terrible story telling, awful direction and camera work, and the acting from everyone is appalling.

How I lasted the full two hours I don't know and I thought it was a new release on Netflix but it's actually 4 years old.

Do not waste your time on this.

It's totally and utterly pathetic.

It's set in Benidorm so I should have known better.

This is fractionally better than Eyes Wide Shut... but not by much.

Shame because Timothy Spall usually can be guaranteed to assume a good watch.

I need to write 600 words but this film isn't worthy of that.

The plot is lacking, there is no conclusion and I've no idea what the point of half the characters were.

The main character isn't unlikeable but if you were shut in a room with him for more than anhour you'd either die of boredom or frustration.

Life is too short to waste time on this film. Honestly... Going to the dentist would be more fulfilling...

I rarely turn off a film half way through but this pretentious little movie had me scurrying for the remote and deciding to empty the dishwasher for something better to do. From the minute Horace Wimp arrives at ...er .... Benidorm airport ( neatly giving Alicante the swerve) the film takes a humongous nose dive into film school self indulgence. As others have said Tim Spall is usually worth the admission price but here he grossly over eggs the pudding as the almost childlike sacked bank employee. By the time the burlesque performer pulls what looked like a piece of string out her front bum I was contemplating finishing today's sudoku. FC.