The Walk In: A distressing look into the spread of far-right hate
Stephen Graham is on top form as a reformed neo-Nazi in Jeff Pope’s mini-series.
The Snow Girl
Watch on Netflix
There is an unearthly quality to Milena Smit, the Pedro Almodovar muse whose star-making turn came when she was cast alongside Penelope Cruz in Parallel Mothers. She is an indomitable on-screen presence, and, at just 26, has an acute and inquisitive emotional knowingness that belies her age. She is also incredibly beautiful, with skin verging on the translucent, and a goth mane. In The Snow Girl, a new Spanish thriller with a Nordic-noir bent — that’s currently topping the Netflix charts — Smit plays a bold young journalist with a secret wound. Who, over the three timelines, is following the case of a little girl who was snatched at a Christmas parade in Malaga. The mystery is by-the-numbers, but by the end of the first episode, you get the sense that this miniseries will continue to subvert your expectations.
Sleeping Beauty
Watch on SBS World Movies, Saturday, 10:35pm
It’s time Juliet Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty got its dues. Crucified by Australian critics upon its release, it landed dead on arrival overseas. Its star, Emily Browning, should have been a household name a la Margot Robbie. This smart, cold, and sensuous drama stars Browning as a cash-strapped student who turns tricks for money — which she does by picking up losers at bars. That’s until she takes a job at a mysterious escort service — where her duties include lingerie waitressing at exclusive dinners for the elite, and later, for more money, committing to being sedated so that shrivelled and slobbering old men may spend a night sleeping beside her. There is a “no-penetration” rule, but the deeds are harrowing all the same. Spiritually, the film feels very European — the exquisite set design and pallid colours feel plucked out of the Rainer Werner Fassbinder playbook — and perhaps that’s why it flopped in Australia.
The Walk In
Watch on SBS on Demand
Well, well, well, if it isn’t Stephen Graham, the finest working small-screen actor (see: This Is England, Time, The Virtues), back with another top notch drama. Jeff Pope’s factual miniseries, about the insidious spread of far-right hate, stars Graham as a reformed neo-Nazi who now works as a journalist for an anti-racism organisation that is attempting to infiltrate one of the UK’s most threatening and elusive groups, National Action. This is not pleasant viewing: the opening episode is framed by two horrific, real-life events: the attempted murder of Sikh dentist Sarandev Bhambra in 2015, and the murder of MP Jo Cox in 2016, both perpetrated by members of the far-right. The story’s emotional lightning rod Andrew Ellis (who played Gadget in This Is England), a paunchy, aimless, single and disenfranchised young man, and the newest recruit to NA.
Help
Watch on Paramount+
With Stephen Graham on the mind, you should watch Help. A weighty made-for-TV movie that lays bare the horrors the coronavirus pandemic inflicted on our most vulnerable. Graham stars alongside fellow Liverpudlian Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), a 20-year-old carer who has found her calling looking after the residents of the Liverpool nursing home. She gets on with them, taking on feeding and “the glorious pad change” with ease, and forms a bond with Graham’s character — an emotionally troubled resident with early onset Alzheimer’s, who frequently escapes the home in search of his mother who died years prior. Comer is still in her probation period when the pandemic hits and derails everything. There is one truly gutting scene, a 26-minute single take, where Comer, 20 hours into her shift, is stranded. Left to single-handedly cope with an overnight shift, and a dying patient. The film loses its steam with an unconvincing third act, but the rest is well worth watching.
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Watch on Binge
Everything Everywhere All at Once is up for just about every award this year. So if you’re inclined to keep up with the Oscars discourse (it’s netted 11 nominations), you can watch it on Binge. Everyone seemed to love this film, and it’s easy to see why — it’s wild and inventive; the humour is silly (think googly eyes, butt plugs, hot dog fingers, and puppets); and its multiverse spin is sure to resonate with fans of comic book movies. The performances are great across the board — especially Michelle Yeoh — and it’s sweet seeing Ke Huy Quan, the kid from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Lost Doom and The Goonies, back on the screen. Saying a disparaging word against this film, which almost immediately achieved cult status, feels like messing with a ouija board — and some of us aren’t trying to tango with violent forces while trying to do their day job. Let’s just say that some people might find it too long, too turbo, and too much of a racket.