Midlands Review of Reality

midlandsmovies • June 29, 2022

Reality

 

Directed by Anil Mehra

 

2022

 

Beyond Truth Productions


Reality is a new hard-hitting drama that comes courtesy of West Midlands director Anil Mehra which shows a family’s struggle with mental health and dealing with their fractured relationships.


The viewer is introduced to Jason (Jamie Causer) who meets up with Amy (Laura Fleming) at a mental institute. There is no love lost between them as they snipe in a corridor. We then discover Jason is there to see his father Patrick (Matthew Chambers) who is revealed to also be the ex-partner of Amy herself.


Also joining them is Patrick’s daughter Natalie (Megan Oxtoby) and the film quickly pulls us into the trio’s conflicting issues.


As they continue to bicker, Dr. Glover (Tonia Daley-Campbell) arrives and explains that although Patrick was making progress, he’s now stopped communicating and has also assaulted a member of her staff.


Reality sets up its characters well in the first few minutes although it could have been considered that the story of Patrick’s recent behaviour be shown on screen rather than simply told to us by a character. The old mantra of 'show not tell'.


However, the three are soon led into a room ready for their intervention with Patrick. He seems surprisingly normal but although the group begin to chit-chat, it soon descends into more arguing and accusations.


The film is shot solidly with well composed camerawork yet although the white walls and blank corridors convey the feeling of a sterile and cold institution, the reality is that it’s not the most aesthetic thing to see on screen. Something more visually interesting may have really helped in the long run.


And it’s a small point, but by the end I noticed that the poor quality of the film’s poster undersells the excellent quality of the film. I’ve reminded filmmakers in the past to get designers in to create their marketing and here it requires a do-over. A HD screengrab of the film would, in my mind, be a step in the right direction, but as always this is subjective of course.


Aside from that, the film has a good script with lots of tense conflict. They mystery is well set-up providing the audience with the necessary intrigue of why Patrick is there and what’s currently going on which helps keep things engaging.


With the background to be uncovered and fingers being pointed, I’m very keen on drama created through dialogue too. As a fan of 12 Angry Men, putting a group of people into one room to slowly expose their resentments, secrets and biases can be a great narrative device.


And it’s put to good use here as well, as we eventually arrive at a moment of explosive outrage as Patrick accuses them of being self-centred and not helping him in his time of need.


As he gives context to his situation the audience is finally pulled in deep and we get some clarity and perhaps a little hope at the end of a struggling scenario. However, all may not be what it seems and the film has a gut-wrenching ‘rug-pull’ finale which mostly works but does un-do the heartfelt monologue preceding it a little.


By the end though, Reality has lots of things going in its favour. Some small tweaks to the visuals/location and a bit more effort to the poster (which doesn’t really matter but always helps entice more viewers to watch in the first place) could bump up the quality.


However, with five strong performances from the ensemble cast, a well-honed unpredictable storyline and plenty of conflict in the dialogue and script, this simple drama shows more than a lot of promise for the director Anil Mehra


★★★☆☆


Michael Sales

By midlandsmovies April 26, 2025
Up! (1976) Dir. Russ Meyer  Well, bi-Adolf Hitler BDSM is not something (a) I thought I’d ever see 5 minutes into a movie and (b) ever expected to write in my lifetime to be fair but this spicy start is pretty standard for the work of exploitation filmmaker Russ Meyer. Up! is a kind of r*pe-revenge softcore p*rn film (there’s gonna be a fair bit of self-censorship in this review so apologies in advance), the type Meyer is known for. I’d describe the plot in more detail but it’s mostly a convoluted and incoherent mess of double-crossing, murder, violence and lots and lots of humping. In short, a man called Adolph gets murdered and a woman investigates (kinda) the circumstances but as she does so, a group of locals blackmail, attack and screw each other with the murder mystery barely mentioned throughout. With so little narrative, it could be argued if it’s essentially p*rn? To be fair, not far off. It’s about extreme as you can go without simply making a s*x film. Is that a…no, it’s a belly button hole. Bookending the film (and also seen at various points throughout) is a Greek Chorus - simply a busty fully nude woman of course - who delivers dialogue like “Pummelling the scrotum with joyous supplication” and other such poeticisms. This artistic flourish is mostly pointless - the actress herself saying the words were tough to learn because it was utter nonsense. On a technical level, the editing is surprisingly well done and the 4k image is frankly fantastic. Someone somewhere must be putting together a post-modern take about the beautiful landscapes and cinematography of Meyer’s * ahem * output. But it definitely does have a kitsch artistry. It has certainly provided plenty of cinematic influence though. Elements of Tarantino grindhouse sensibilities are on show - Meyers likes bosoms as much as Quents likes feet - and there’s even a leather gimp early on. I can also see how its had an impact on Ti West X’s with a focus on sexuality and the body as well, more obviously, Anna Biller’s feminist-twist The Love Witch (2016). Suffice to say it’s not for the weak of heart. I think in this day and age you can’t go into this completely blind to its style, period and context though. It's an X-rated Carry On style that was bad taste then and it’s bad taste now. It revels in its sleaziness without a single hint of shame or apology. Simply saying 'deal with it'. The main negative though is the absence of plot - if the film can even be looked at like that - which is barely present. This is a shame as the whole thing could do with a bit more coherence rather than endless shagging. But it’s far from titillation, it’s mostly clowning - albeit a very adult version of it. More saucy than sexy. Trying to review this through modern sensibilities is almost impossible. It’s as offensive can be from the first scene through to the final credits - heck even this 4k menu is simply one of the film's many s*x scenes. But there are some progressive themes as it doesn’t shy from confronting sexual freedom, bisexuality, gay sex, BDSM and consensual exploration. There's moments of comedy thrown in and I enjoyed a frankly hilarious 5-minute monologue explaining the culprit’s intentions, which was a ludicrous way to deliver a slasher-style ending. I suppose the main thing about Up! (and Meyers’ work overall) is there’s a sort of love it or loathe it quality about the whole shebang. But it’s so unlike anything being made today - for good or bad - that it’s never anything other than unpredictably fascinating. More explicit than most Meyers films - in fact more than any film - it’s a lewd, rude and crude (s)exploration with a satirical edge and campy enjoyment bouncing from every frame. ★★★ 3 / 5 Michael Sales Severin Films releases Russ Meyers' UP! (1976) and MOTORPSYCHO (1965) on 28 April 2025 in newly restored and scanned 4k with hours of new and archival Special Features https://severinfilms.co.uk/
By midlandsmovies April 26, 2025
On the 24th of April, the Midlands Art Centre opened its doors to Gobby Flicks Productions for a night of live comedy. Proceeds were raised towards the production of new short comedy films, directed and written by women.
By midlandsmovies April 25, 2025
Ti West’s The House of the Devil makes a wonderful companion piece to his film The Innkeepers. Both maintain the director’s referential approach to horror, incapsulating it in a slow burning 90 minutes that manages to build and maintain tension while cheekily winking to the audience and showing the mechanisms behind the scares.
By midlandsmovies April 21, 2025
Read the full list of nominees for the Midlands Movies Awards 2025
Show More