Kaleidoscope (2017)
Directed by: Rupert Jones
Written by: Rupert Jones
Starring: Anne Reid, Cecilia Noble, Deborah Findlay, Karl Johnson, Sinead Matthews, Toby Jones
Kaleidoscope starts with a nothing! A 25 second stationary shot of an old styled living room that depresses you just by looking. Its interrupted by a loud knock at the front door in which we see our main character arise from a deep sleep from the settee to answer but there is no one there.
The camera stays on him as we watch him go for a glass of water when he notices a shade of lipstick on a glass. A broken chair on the bottom of the stairs, leads him upstairs to the bathroom where a dead body of young woman lays. Startling quick bursts of music erupts and we the viewer are sucked in.
Toby Jones won wide acclaim for his portrayal as the genius Alfred Hitchcock in the 2012 film The Girl so with its musical score, mystery setting and a domineering mother in the film, you half expect Hitchcock himself to be behind the camera of this British thriller that will test the brain cells, even if don’t get the awards for sticking with the twisty plot!
With Rupert Jones the man holding the lens – the brother of Toby, this family affair ticks all the right boxes in the moody and grim settings that make at times makes the short running time seem a lot longer than the short 90 minutes on offer.
Toby who as always his is usual reliable self, plays Carl, a fragile man who lives alone in a dingy tower block that oozes despair and sums up the life he has had so far. Engulfed with a black cloud hanging over him and having been to prison, Carl has had enough of the single life and seeks out company.
Enter “Kittengloves35” (Sinead Matthews), who he typically meets on an internet dating site, but the question is, how did she end up dead?
Kaleidoscopic is filmed like a Hitchcock but has shades of David Lynch film centered right in the middle of it! Even after the final credits starting to play, I was still trying to understand what happened, never mind thinking if I liked it!
Virtually taken place in that flat, its Jones who carries the picture through beginning to end with another stellar performance, nearly matched by Anna Reid who turns up as his “Mother” and yes, at times you do get a Norma and Norman vibe from both characters.
If I am being vague as possible its because I am not purposely avoiding spoilers for you, its just I am still trying to work out what happened through out.
One thing is for certain that Rupert Jones in only his second feature is certainly a director to watch as its beautifully filmed with a sense of doom and gloom from the off.
If you like a film that will test the brain cells and looking for something different to what is out there, then this may be for you, but I am guessing for the majority of us, its ambiguity narrative will be too much long before the credits roll!
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