The Hit List

YOUR GUIDE TO THE BIGGEST ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES EACH WEEK

WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE

At long last, movies are reappearing in cinemas, and one of the first cabs off the rank is Cate Blanchett’s latest offering Where’d You Go Bernadette.

This comedy, based on Maria Semple’s 2012 bestselling book of the same name, explores architect Bernadette Fox’s – played by Blanchett – battle with agoraphobia.

When her daughter Bee (Emma Nelson) requests a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for good grades in school, Bernadette is reluctantly forced to endure the trip. And then things get really weird. Bernadette befriends a scientist and learns the research station will need to be rebuilt – and an architect is needed to formulate the plan. But Bernadette’s husband Elgin (Billy Crudup) and daughter can’t understand Bernadette’s sudden desire to stay on the ice.

“I think there’s a little bit of Bernadette in everybody,” says Blanchett. “We’re all pretending to be one thing when we’re actually something else.”

That she would get to perform with Kristen Wiig – as Bernadette’s nemesis Audrey – also drew Blanchett to the role. “I adored every scene with Kristen,” she says.

Directed by Richard Linklater, this quirky comedy does the book justice and works as a standalone piece too. Blanchett is as terrific as ever.

(In cinemas Jul. 16)

Blanchett is currently filming Nightmare Alley, which is also based on a book. Bernadette (Blanchett) and daughter Bee (Nelson) enjoy an exceptionally close relationship.

Blanchett says she “loved” the book but wondered if the movie would ever be made.