Split personalities
GLASS MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
Obsession and self-delusion threaten the world in this sly superhero sequel from supernatural horror devotee M Night Shyamalan. The writer and director of 1999 smash The Sixth Sense brings two of his previous thrillers together, with a trio of star names, in a clever but plodding exploration of group psychosis.
In 2016, low-budget mega hit Split saw Scotsman James Mcavoy play a monstrous predator with a multiple personality disorder, while 2000’s Unbreakable saw Bruce Willis star as a super strong vigilante alongside Samuel L Jackson, as the criminal mastermind Mr Glass. Now the three are incarcerated in a psychiatric institution where the wonderfully watchable Sarah Paulson plays a psychiatrist who specialises in delusions of grandeur.
She has only three days to persuade the men they do not have superpowers before they are permanently locked up, but the guys are resistant to her treatment and there is a plan to escape.
With an impressive range and physicality, Mcavoy is superb as he flips between more than 20 different characters, and is by turns scary, funny and compelling – his performance deserves a more entertaining film.
Jackson gives a purposefully twitchy performance, and Willis at least seems more engaged than in any of his recent films. Shyamalan’s indisputable craftmanship is undermined by his showmanship, and he alienates his audience by delivering a movie light on action, with major pacing issues and a low quota of scares.
Critiquing society’s obsession with superheroes is a daring exercise in the week the Aquaman movie becomes the latest billion-dollar behemoth at the box office, and may possibly turn off casual movie-goers who feel they were promised a more traditional superhero film – albeit with a twist.
However, in smartly making a distinction between what we’re told is happening and what we’re seeing, Shyamalan leaves us with an ending which is clearly transparent.
Cert 15 Running time 129mins
Cert 15 Running time 124mins
★★★ Irish-american actress Saoirse Ronan gives a royal performance in this solid historical drama which presents court politics from a female point of view.
The three-times Oscar nominee is on usual brilliant form as Mary, a passionate, playful and proud 18-year-old widow, newly arrived from France to rightfully claim the Scottish throne.
Surrounded by grasping and entitled men who use every available means to exploit, abuse, discredit and dispose of her, Mary’s only potential ally is the English Tudor Queen, Elizabeth I, played by Aussie star Margot Robbie. With a fake nose, face paint and bright red fright wig, here she increasingly resembles a pimped-up and cross-dressing circus clown.
And David Tennant has great fun as a preacher who brands Mary a strumpet.
Anchored by the excellent locations, set design and costumes, this is a watchable mix of sex, violence and intrigue, but it never achieves the epic stature it strives for and, though always watchable, is nothing to lose your head over.