Badgley returns as deranged killer
SHE IS LOVE
BRENDAN Fraser is the bookies’ favourite for the Best Actor Oscar for his turn as a suicidally obese teacher in Darren Aronofsky’s drama.
I suspect that has more to do with Fraser’s personal story than the one that keeps this stagey and relentlessly miserable adaptation of Samuel D Hunter’s play ticking over.
By all accounts, the former George Of The Jungle hunk is a very likeable chap. And, after his life was derailed by an alleged sexual assault in 2003, the Academy may want to give this comeback story a happy ending.
Charlie [Fraser in a fat suit] can barely move around his airless Idaho apartment which he – and, it turns out, we – can never leave.
He teaches literature to students by Zoom, keeping the camera off so he can stuff his face with buckets of greasy fried chicken without making them gag [Aronofsky doesn’t extend us the same courtesy].
Charlie has a chronic heart condition and desperately needs to stop eating if he wants to survive the week. Ideally, he needs to be in hospital, but he has no medical insurance and doesn’t want to run up a bill.
So, whenever his overworked ticker plays up, he rings his long-suffering best friend (Hong Chau) who is available to rush over at all times while holding down a job as a nurse.
Other characters keep rocking up. There’s a church missionary (Ty Simpkins) who wants to save Charlie’s soul, and his angry ex-wife (Samantha Morton) and shrill teenage daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink). Charlie abandoned Ellie when she was eight but is desperate to make up with her before he dies.
His reasons for leaving her, and the root causes of his obesity, are revealed in the film’s talky confrontations.
Fraser is impressive, imbuing Aronofsky’s theatrical staging with filmic moments. His sad eyes and strained smiles skillfully make us root for an unlikely character.
Is good acting a big enough reward for sitting through this punishing film?
That depends on the individual. It seems my compassion has its limits.
NETFLIX’S bloody, violent, dramatic and hugely popular series You is returning for a fourth season.
Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg, despite being a stalker and serial killer, has captured the hearts of viewers since series one in 2018. We’ve watched him move from obsession to obsession, leaving a trail of blood and bodies in his wake, yet Badgley’s charming performance means that no matter how brutal or deranged Joe’s actions get, it’s impossible to look away.
As we look forward to new episodes of You landing on Netflix, with part one of season four about to start streaming, let’s recap where we left Joe Goldberg and look ahead at what’s to come.
Season three of You was as bloody and murderous as it comes, despite the fact that life in the Californian suburb of Madre Linda was supposed to be all about family.
Joe and his wife Love moved to the town to raise their newborn son Henry, but it’s fair to say life there didn’t really suit the unhinged couple.
As with any couple, the stress, sleepless nights and worry that comes along with a new little bundle of joy took its toll and put a strain on their relationship – but Joe and Love dealt with it in a very different way.
The tense finale of season three saw Love set out to murder Marienne, the object of Joe’s obsessions, but in a moment of clarity she tells her to run away, far from Joe.
So in season four, Joe is in London on his own, wanting to make his imagined life ‘happily ever after’ with Marienne and her daughter a reality. Going by the name Jonathan Moore, he’s a professor at a university.
He finds himself entangled with a group of posh London socialites, including party girl Lady Phoebe, her American boyfriend Adam, literature professor Malcolm, Kate, a gallery manager and Malcolm’s girlfriend, Nadia, a literature student in Joe’s class, and Rhys Montrose, an author now mingling with the elite.
When a serial murderer dubbed the ‘Eat the Rich killer’ instils fear in this elite group, Joe starts getting anonymous texts that send shivers down his spine. Is Joe back to his old tricks, or is someone else responsible for these mysterious, bloody deaths?
Part one of You’s fourth season lands on Netflix on Thursday.