Total nightmare

I may be the only one who hasn’t heard of director Philip Ridley prior to watching this, having never seen any of his movies – but I now know why.

Not only does Ridley try too hard to use the ‘hoodie’ culture in London to scare up an art-house horror film, but he also squeezes too much into the longest 114 minutes of confusion I have ever experienced.

The movie, which was shown at Cineco, goes deep into the director’s socio-psychological worries and acts as a hallucinogenic nightmare.

The story focuses on the morbidly shy 25-year-old Jamie Morgan (Sturgess). Jamie is born with an overwhelmingly large heart-shaped birthmark that’s splashed across half his face and takes up most of the left side of his body.

He is a victim to playground taunts, which has resulted in him living the life of a reserved recluse, and uses his camera as an escape, following in his departed father’s footsteps, a professional photographer.

Living in a dangerous area of the city with his mother, he decides to go on a lonesome pursuit that leads him into an isolated field next to abandoned buildings. While taking pictures of his way through the rubbish, Jamie accidentally takes a shot of a hooded figure with a reptile face and metal fangs for teeth. Somehow, he’s immediately convinced it’s a demon.

When a gang of these hooded creatures kills his mother in a seemingly random act of violence, Jamie goes on a quest for revenge … and everything starts to get complicated from here on in, taking viewers off the map.

Jamie finds his way to the master of all the demons, Papa B (Joseph Mawie). He grants Jamie a birthmark-free body in exchange for one murder.

Not only does it take two minutes to convince Jamie that making a deal with the demon is a good idea but it also brings in another plot involving his love interest, Tia (Poésy). With his life on the rebound, Jamie learns there is a price to pay when Papa B returns with more demands.

The story is dark and disturbing but most importantly, it tries too hard. The over-the-top visuals and the scare-tactics, as well as the director’s need to make things go bump in the night takes away from the surprisingly good acting in this movie.

Sturgess anchors the wounded Jamie perfectly and provides a distressed and enthralling character worth following. He is possibly the only reason viewers will try to figure out what is going on.

His character was disturbing and ironically serene. And although the bizarre the plot held me back from engaging with the aimless story, Sturgess’ acting made it film-worthy, giving the emotions one would expect from someone in his position.

But so many questions were left unanswered. Filmgoers are forced to use their imagination to fill in the huge gaps in the plot.

In addition, the worthless character of Belle, a young girl played by Nikita Mistry, had me ripping my hair out. She randomly appeared half way through the movie as Papa B’s servant and then, somehow found her way to becoming Jamie’s daughter … who was she and why was she calling Jamie ‘dad’?

I’m not exactly sure if Ridley was trying to convey the theme of beauty within, but the only subject matter I got from this film was be careful what you wish for – something that has been repeatedly shoved down our throats in every Disney movie since childhood. It left me with no meaningful message to ponder.

If you’re in the mood to watch a worthless movie that explores the dark side of someone else’s psyche, then this is the film for you. I wish I had given it a miss.