The Herald - The Herald Magazine
A funny all-inclusive trip to Greece
Damon Smith reviews the latest new releases to watch in the cinema
TWO TICKETS TO GREECE (15)
Girls wanna have fun but have forgotten how in the coming-ofmiddle age comedy drama Two Tickets To Greece, which gallivants through Aegean islands in the company of French actresses Olivia Cote and Laure Calamy.
Their odd couple dynamic is dialled up to ear-splitting volume.
The former portrays a shy, socially awkward divorcee, who thinks too much before she speaks and often forgets to speak at all; the latter embodies a fun-loving, outgoing chatterbox, who is the life and soul of every party with a relentless exuberance that has earnt her the nickname Tinnitus.
Mamma Mia! splashed through similarly picturesque Greek locations and there are moments in writer-director Marc Fitoussi’s undemanding, feelgood jaunt when audiences may be muttering, “Here we go again...” as his script distils familiar life lessons.
Sisterly solidarity is the name of the game. Narrative detours to islands in the Cyclades, southeast of mainland Greece, sustain a breezy pace and introduce colourful supporting characters to act as peacemakers during inevitable bickering between the central duo.
Kristin Scott Thomas materialises astride a quad bike after an hour as a British aristocrat by birth, nickname Bijou, who rejected a life of privilege in Kent to become a nomadic jewellery maker on Mykonos with an artist lover (Panos Koronis). Her self-confessed freeloader’s casual, bohemian attire is reminiscent of Meryl Streep’s ebullient matriarch in the Abba musical.
It has been two years since electrotherapy technician Blandine (Cote) separated from her husband after he left her for a woman young enough to be a friend of their 20-yearold son Benjamin (Alexandre Desrousseaux). The child fears his painfully uptight mother will become a recluse as he prepares to fly the nest.
Consequently, Benjamin arranges a secret reunion for his mother and her schooldays best friend, Magalie (Calamy). In 1989, 15-yearold Blandine (Leelou Laridan) and Magalie (Marie Mallia) swooned over the soundtrack to The Big Blue and dreamt of a pilgrimage to the
Greek island of Amorgos featured in the film.
Decades later, they fly to Santorini to experience the dazzling blue waters of the Aegean. A disastrous ferry ride to Amorgos necessitates a detour to the small island of Kerinos, which has no tourist industry besides archaeological tour groups and surfers.
“I came for The Big Blue but I find myself in Point Break,” bitterly complains Blandine.
Two Tickets To Greece offers an all-inclusive package deal of gentle laughter, dewy-eyed reminiscence and empowerment. Calamy and
Cote are an appealing double act, the former wholeheartedly embracing her firecracker’s casual attitude to full frontal nudity.
Fitoussi’s tour of self-doubt following a relationship breakdown and trauma does not stray from a well-trodden path but the scenery is consistently gorgeous. Rebirth, reinvention and healing in a sunbaked crucible of civilisation.
6.5/10
IF (U)
A Quiet Place writer-director-actor John Krasinski trades extraterrestrials that hunt by sound for child-friendly fantastical beings in a life-affirming comedy adventure set in a world where imaginary friends (IFs) are real. Twelve-year-old Bea (Cailey Fleming) cast aside childish things after the death of her mother and the girl has largely forgotten the joys of being young as she prepares for her father (Krasinski) to undergo vital heart surgery.
Living with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw) in New York while her father is in hospital, Bea gatecrashes the solitude of upstairs neighbour Cal (Ryan Reynolds), who has set up a matchmaking agency for abandoned IFs.
Bea discovers she possess the same ability as Cal to see these wondrous beings, who have been abandoned by the children they once helped. These crestfallen creations include purple furball Blue (voiced by Steve Carell), English ballet dancer Blossom (Phoebe WallerBridge), trench coat-clad private detective Cosmo (Christopher Meloni) and rainbow-loving ball of energy Unicorn (Emily Blunt).
To take her mind off the possibility of losing her father, Bea pledges to help Cal find new homes for the IFs.
In the process, Bea heals her deep psychological wounds and she promises to find a perfect IF for a young hospital patient named Benjamin (Alan Kim).
HOARD (18)
7.5/10
Childhood trauma reverberates into anguished adolescence in an emotionally charged drama written and directed by Luna Carmoon.
Ten-year-old Maria (Lily-Beau Leach) lives with her hoarder single mother, Cynthia (Hayley Squires), who scavenges bins for discarded treasures and out-of-date food.
Maria accompanies her parent on these late-night jaunts and bears witness to the devastating impact of a obsessive-compulsive disorder on their clutter-filled home.
Several years later, Maria leaves school, she is happily settled with a foster mother who lavishes her with kindness and affection.
Out of the blue, one of Michelle’s previous wards, late 20-something Michael, returns for a visit. He becomes fixated on Maria and unlocks destructive sexual desires that threaten to propel the teenager to the brink of a mental health crisis.