Dialogue is, of course, one of the most emphasized elements of Peaky Blinders. No character ever leaves a scene kicking themselves for not saying that clever thing they thought of too late. Everyone has plenty of little sets to flourish theatrically.
The most surreal action, however, takes place inside Tommy’s head, whether it’s flashbacks to World War I or him truly losing his mind at the thought that his daughter has been cursed by a another gypsy.
Throw in some stunning locations and production design, and it’s a wild but fitting finale that’ll give fans a gory, bloody ride to the end.
Midwich Cuckoo Clocks ★★★½
Stan*
One of many seriously scary children in John Wyndham’s latest version of the 1957 novel Midwich Cuckoo Clocks.Credit:Stan
1957 novel by John Wyndham Midwich Cuckoo Clocks has been adapted twice into films titled The village of the damned. So you know what we’re talking about here: scary kids. Really scary kids. Real little hells sharing the same hive mind and giving their terrified parents demonic death stares and sometimes forcing one of them to, say, burn their hand in a pot of boiling water.
The fun begins in the cozy little town of Midwich, where the lights go out one night and all the women of childbearing age wake up pregnant the next. Women as a whole take this with a lot more serenity than you might think – especially troubled young Cassie (Synnove Karlsen), whose own mother, family therapist Susannah (Keeley Hawes), doesn’t think she’s ready for motherhood.
The government seems to know exactly what is going on, and everyone must immediately sign their lives under the Official Secrets Act. Series creator David Farr (The night manager) and its roster of directors do the spooky stuff well, though seven episodes seems a bit long for the story.
The summer when I became pretty
Prime Video, starting Friday
Lola Tung in coming-of-age drama The summer when I became pretty.Credit:Amazon Prime
It’s a coming-of-age story for nearly 16-year-old Belly (seductive newcomer Lola Tung), whose novelist mother (Jackie Chung) isn’t rich but takes her to spend long lazy summers in the beach house of wealthy friend Susannah (Rachel Blanchard). This year, however, hormones are making Belly and Susannah’s teens see themselves quite differently. Based on a novel by Jenny Han, it’s well-written and distinctly tender in places, with the added dimension of also being a coming-of-age story for moms. Pleasant.
Shadow game
I wonder
The Afghan refugee SK walked 5000 kilometers to arrive in Greece.Credit:I wonder
iWonder’s new documentary series coinciding with World Refugee Day on June 30 includes this heartbreaking film that follows many teenage refugees risking their lives to cross European borders. SK, 15 – who arrived in Greece after traveling 5,000 kilometers from Afghanistan – is among those who have to travel another 1,200 kilometers through Eastern Europe, braving trackless frozen forests, brutally violent border guards and even minefields in search of safety. Illuminating, compassionate and important.
Follies
Shelter, from Monday
Britain’s follies are more than just architectural whims that wealthy eccentrics have built on their estates over centuries past. Series presenter Rory Fraser, a suitably idiosyncratic expert on the follies, explains that they have been catalysts for architectural innovation and focal points of literature, landscape and art that remain portals to the story. The short but fascinating episodes include a look at a defiant Roman Catholic folly built in fervently anti-Catholic Elizabethan times, and the tower that inspired Saruman’s Tower in The Lord of the Rings.
Glory to Satan?
Stan, Docplay
A scene from the enlightening documentary Glory to Satan?.Credit:Stan
The Satanic Temple is an organization created in 2013 to promote the separation of church and state in the United States – usually by making legal demands for “satanic” monuments to be placed next to Christian monuments already erected on courthouse and government building grounds across the country. This has made the temple widely hated, but at the same time it has become something of a family for the culturally disgruntled. This gripping documentary illuminates many facets of an overseas circus with serious purpose.
* Stan belongs to Nine, the owner of this masthead.
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