scrubber Reviews

The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2024)

A disturbing but also moving series

[9/10 · 13 May 2024]

This is a fine series recounting the horrors of the nazi death camp, auschwitz. The story is told by Lali Sokolov, played in old age by Harvey Keitel who is recounting his story to budding Australian writer Heather Morris played by Melanie Lynskey.

It tells us how Lali became the Auschwitz tatooist which means he tatoo's the prison number on the arm of all new arrivals. In doing this he meets Gita, Anna Prochniak, and they immediately bond so he then seeks her out in the femail quarters where their relationship develops.

As the tatooist has relative freedom in the camp, with even his own room, an SS officer, Stefan Baretski played by Jonas Nay is appointed to supervise him. This, for me, was one of the most fascinating aspects of the story. A strange relationship develops between captive and captor. While Baretski demonstrates his evil side with violence and killing, including beating Lali occasionally, he is clearly not a happy soldier and uses Lali as an emotional crutch. To show a slightly more humane side to his character he often enables private meetings for Lali with Gita.

While auschwitz is shown as an evil place with frequent views of the gas chambers and incinerators, I still think that life for the average prisoner was much worse than portrayed here.

However this is a disturbing and also moving watch which I highly recommend.

In an era when 'Nazi' and 'Fascist' is frequently used to tarnish people for simply having a different opinion, often by people who should know better, this serves as a reminder of what Nazism and Fascism really is.

The Red King (2024– )

Crime drama on a weird island

[7/10 · 27 April 2024]

Grace, Anjli Mohindra, is a police sergeant transfered, as a punishment, to replace Guffud,Mark Lewis Jones, the recently retired sergeant on a remote island off the Welsh coast. She is in charge of the entire island force. That is her and a constable, Owen, played by James Bamford.

This series has obvious similarities to the classic film 'the Wicker Man' with a solitary outsider police officer and a local population unwelcoming to incomers, although in this case Grace does slowly get Owen on side in the investigation of a local boy who went missing a year previously. She conducts a search of the island and inevitably finds a body and challenges Guffud on his inept handling of the investigation when he was in charge.

Trying to get the truth from a population that all seem to be members of a weird cult and spend much of their time wearing strange masks. Full marks to Grace for taking up the challenge.

I enjoyed this series and found Anjili Mohindra a very engaging character and definitely wanted her to suceed.

Renaissances (2022– )

A bit contrived, but worth viewing

[8/10 · 20 April 2024]

I watched this French series courtesy of Walter Presents on channel 4, with subtitles. It is set mostly in Biarritz but partly in Antwerp and involves a woman,Florence, who has a heart transplant and seeks out the donors family. She meets the father, Simon, of the young woman, Ana, who died in a car crash. The father thinks that it was not an accident and, improbably, enlists the help of Florence to find evidence for the police to open an investigation. Only a short time after her transplant she is rushing around like an olympic athelete, so well done to the French health service.

Meanwhile we have some domestic drama with Florence and her husband , Vincent, in constant dispute with their adopted 15 year old daughter, Zoe. Coincidentally, of course, Simons daughter, Ana, is also adopted. To add to the plot Zoe is black with a 25year old boy friend so we have some racial tension and paedo issues thrown in to the pot.

We also get frequent short flashbacks of Ana's life before her death which tells yet another story.

It all sounds a bit complicated and contrived but is actually well worth viewing, and with just six 40 minute episodes it moves at a good pace.

Ripley (2024)

Great production, but Italy deserves colour.

[7/10 · 8 April 2024]

I've never read the book or seen 'The Talented Mr Ripley', or any other adaptation, so unlike most reviewers was not familiar with the story. The photography was great although I find filming in monochrome a tad pretentious in an attempt to be 'arty'. Much of the direction appeared to be a homage to Hitchcock and was none the worse for that.

I liked the controlled perfomance by Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, playing the serial killer perfectly and thought all the cast did a fine job. I particularly liked the superior expression on the face of the all knowing cat.

So, this is a fine series and I will now watch some different versions to make a comparison. I would have given this a nine, but have to dock a couple of points for not filming the gorgeous Italian scenery in colour.

Huset (2023)

Prison, Danish style.

[7/10 · 13 March 2024]

I am a retired UK prison officer and hardly ever watch prison drama's, but watched this because I thought it would be interesting to see how another European country, Denmark, runs their jails, albeit in a work of fiction.

The story concentrates on four officers and their interactions with the prisoners and to a lesser extent with their families. The prison appears to be an old establishment, not too dissimilar to the one I worked in. All the usual ingredients of prison dramas are included, violence, drugs, staff corruption and trafficking. Sophie Grabal plays the mature officer who has problems with her druggie son, David Dencik is the officer who turns a blind eye to the drug culture to have a quiet life, Youssef Wayne Hvidtfeldt is the naive rookie and Charlotte Fitch is in charge of the wing who has to oversee the clampdown on discipline to please the prison inspectors who are threatening to close the prison down.

One thing I found odd is that all the staff had the same rank insignia, including Fitch who was the boss.

Anyway, despite the usual cliches in this sort of drama, I found it an enjoyable series and at just six episodes never drags.

I have no idea if this is a realistic depiction of a Danish Jail, but certainly many of the procedures would not be permitted in a UK establishment. All the actors were good, particularly David Dencic as the unlikable Henrik.

A slightly grim, but entertaining series.

The Fall (I) (2013–2016)

First series great, second OK, third tedious.

[6/10 · 3 February 2024]

There are three series of 'The Fall' and I wrongly assumed that each would be a different story, but that is not the case. Even though the police have identified the killer by the end of series one, they manage to stretch it out for another twelve episodes.

Gillian Anderson plays the met police superindent called in by the Northern Irish police to lead a team hunting for a Belfast serial killer, played by Jamie Dornan. Both are good in their roles with Anderson playing an unsmiling, softly spoken attractive woman with an interesting approach to sex. Dornan plays the loving family man with a deeply sinister and cold dark side.

The first series was great and I give it a 9 and they should probably have stopped there. The second series was OK but unnecessary, I'd give it a 6, but the third was very tedious and totally unnecessary, I'm being generous giving it a 3. So to sum up watch series 1, try series 2 and give series 3 a miss.

The Day Will Come (2016)

Well worth watching, but not to feel good.

[9/10 · 10 January 2024]

This is the story of Erik, albert Rudbeck Lindhardt, and his younger brother Elmer, Harald Kaiser Hermann, who are sent to an orphanage/school when their mother is taken ill and can't look after them.

It is late sixties Denmark and has constant references to the American space programme and moon landings, which Elmer is obsessed with. However, the story is about the terrible cruelty and violence, including sexual, that the boys suffered while there.

The head is played by Lars Mikkelson who approves and partakes in the violence, but it is all done for their own good. Of course it is.

The only teacher with an ounce of compassion is played by Sophie Grabal, who is shocked by what she see's but finds it difficult to give real help due to feeling isolated as a woman among many men. Incidentally this teams Grabal and Mikkelson again, who were both in the excellent 'the killing' a few years earlier.

Well worth watching, excellently acted but definitely not a feel good movie. It's what I would have expected from Victorian Britain not Denmark in the swinging sixties.

Mr Bates vs. The Post Office (2024)

The best drama you'll see in 2024.

[10/10 · 7 January 2024]

2024 is less than a week old, but I confidently predict I will not see a better TV drama series this year. It is a dramatic reconstruction of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history.

It tells the story of the little people, village postmasters, against one of the biggest institutions in the UK, the Post office. Toby Jones plays Alan Bates as the stubborn Post master who refuses to give up the fight against his employer, the PO, as they accuse him of fraud, while he insists it's the new computer system, Horizon, that is at fault. He is the only one one that has this problem the PO says.

Dogged Mr Bates seeks out other Post masters and gradually more and more come forward with their stories which include finanacial ruin, prosecution, prison and four suicides. The cast are brilliant and believable and it is hard to hold back the tears in this very moving story which spans over 20 years and is still not fully concluded. Nobody has ever been prosecuted for this appalling corporate behaviour, but I understand a police investigation has now commenced. It should have started years ago.

The CEO of the PO at the time, Paula vennells played by Lia Williams, has recently received a CBE for services to the Post Office. You couldn't make it up. She should hand her award over to Alan Bates.

Well done ITV for this superb docudrama.

Underbelly: Vanishing Act (2022)

Fine performance by Kate Atkinson

[8/10 · 21 December 2023]

I note the generally poor reviews for this series and think that they are wrong. This is a good series and at only three episodes can hardly be described as too long. Having seen footage of the real Melissa Caddick I was struck by how good Kate Atkinson was at playing Caddick. The story of how an intelligent woman, inspired by the infamous Bernie Madoff, was able to persuade all her family, friends and wealthy people she met to hand over all their money for her to invest seems a bit far fetched, but of course it actually happened. How a woman can rip so many people off, particularly her parents, relatives and her best friend is beyond me, but fortunately few of us have that mindset. As well as being entertaining it also serves as a warning to beware of charismatic sociopaths promising the world. Well worth watching, particularly for Kate Atkinson's performance.

Caliphate (2020)

A fine effort from Sweden

[9/10 · 14 December 2023]

A great Swedish series, clearly inspired by recent events concerning the radicalisation of young western women and inspiring them to leave the comfort and safety of their homeland, in this case Sweden, to join a caliphate in Syria, although for obvious reasons the Syrian scenes were filmed in Jordan. It is a well paced drama, and concentrates on young women discovering the reality of living the Islamist life in a caliphate and police in Sweden trying to stop a terrorist threat. The story is told in a restrained way without dwelling too much on the extreme violence which is always present in the background. A fine effort from Scandinavia.

Hidden Assets (2021– )

Fine Crime Drama

[8/10 · 9 December 2023]

Fine crime drama about a joint operation between Irish and Belgian police involving murder, terrorism, money laundering and corruption. I have watched both series and rate both highly. Although series one has a satisfactory conclusion it does leave a few questions which enables series two to continue the story. Nearly all the main characters from the first series continue into the second with the one obvious change where the lead Irish detective Angeline Ball is replaced by Nora- Jane Noone, both are good but personally I preferred Angeline. The main Belgian detective is played by Wouter Hendrickx, I really enjoyed his underplayed performance. Again the second series ends satisfactorily but leaves an oportunity for another series, but I have no idea if this is planned. If you like a coherent crime story without over dramatic CGI nonsense this is well worth ten hours of your time.

Payback (I) (2023)

Excellent Scottish crime drama

[8/10 · 10 November 2023]

Excellent crime drama from ITV set in Edinburgh. Lexi Noble, played by Morven Christie, loses her husband in a street stabbing by a group of young thugs. It turns out he was the accountant for a major crime lord, Cal Morris, played by Peter Mullen ably assisted by Malky Roberts played by Steven Mackintosh and was completely ripping him off. Lexi is unaware of this until she is approached by Cal who is demanding to know where his money is. Under threat of harm to her two kids she is forced to use her own accountancy skills to track the money through a web of fake companies and foreign bank accounts. It was well acted and a very entertaining ride. ITV have produced plenty of rubbish recently but this was definitely a good offering. Highly recommended.

The Body Collector (2016)

Absorbing true story

[8/10 · 8 November 2023]

Absorbing true story about a Dutch journalist attempting to expose the evil attrocities carried out on Jews in wartime Poland during world war 2. Pieter Menten is now a wealthy business man who started his empire with money from stolen art works. While the flashbacks to the 1940's are not especially graphic, they still convey the horrifying reality of the inhumane and cruel treatment handed out. With just three episodes it moves at a brisk pace and kept my interest throughout. The investigation takes place in 1976, and although I was an adult at that time I do not remember the story, maybe it was not widely reported in the UK.

What made it more potent for me was that I watched it just after the horrific massacre in Israel on the 7/10 which has been reported as the worst attack on Jews since the holocaust. A reminder that evil anti semites are still with us.

Försvunnen (2011)

Horror in a Swedish forest.

[8/10 · 14 October 2023]

This is the first Swedish horror film I have seen, although a very mild version of the genre. It features Malin (Sofia Ledarp) who is moving to the north of Sweden. She has a long drive ahead of her and is towing a trailer with her belongings. She happens to be followed by Mannen (Kjell Bergqvist). At first she thinks it might be co-incidental that she keeps seeing him but eventually he freaks her out so she contacts the police, but unforunately they have no available officer to help in this remote part of the country. This is where Malin makes a big mistake. Instead of driving on to the nearest town, she stops for a rest on this remote, empty road. It is no surprise that Mannen turns up and kidnaps her. He knocks her out and she wakes up in a dingy cellar, with no idea where she is. This is where the story really starts but I will not go into any details, but just say I found it quite suspenseful and entertaining, with a sympathetic victim and plenty of shots of Swedish forestry.

The Ruins (2008)

Return of the Triffids

[7/10 · 21 September 2023]

An entertaining horror that may have been inspired by John Wyndams 'Day of the Triffids'. Two young couples, Eric, Amy, Jeff & Stacy enjoying a standard beach and booze holiday meet a German who invites them to join him on a visit to an archaelogical site not normally visited by tourists. After some initial reluctance by a couple of the tourists, surprise,surprise they agree to go. The local taxi driver does not want to take them, but is easily persuaded by the American dollars. They arrive at the maya ruin to be greeted by some unfriendly locals, to get away from them they climb to the top of the ruin, and thats where nearly all events take place, but they are not attacked by the local tribesman but by the killer plants. No real horror scenes but some very harrowing shots of surgery carried out by Jeff, who 'luckily' is a medical student. So, a decent budget horror with mostly likeable characters and well worth a watch.

Quicksand (2019)

Starts well and then drags.

[6/10 · 11 September 2023]

This show started well and the first couple of episodes were excellent, but then it seemed to run out of steam and started to drag.

The main charcter, Maya, played a typical drippy teenage girl who fell for the arrogant son of a wealthy business man, who showed off his money on a flashy yacht, drove a Porshe and held large drug fuelled parties. From the first episode Maya is held in prison on suspicion of the murder and attempted murder of school friends, with the story unfolding in flashback.

I am not familiar with the Swedish prison system but it is never made clear why she is kept in solitary confinement with no privileges, which includes no visits from her parents. I thought Sweden was known for it's liberal outlook and humanity. That would certainly not happen to a teenage girl in the UK. If Maya had had some interaction with other prisoners and visitors, other than a few guards and her lawyer, the story would have been made more interesting. By the final episode I was losing interest but kept with it expecting an amazing twist at the end. I was disappointed.

The Stranger (II) (2022)

Boring and dreary

[2/10 · 12 August 2023]

If you like a well paced crime drama with interesting characters and a well plotted story, don't watch this. It is boring, dreary and much of it is filmed in the dark. Most of the dialogue is mumbled making the limited plot even harder to follow.

It is apparently based on a true story, but as the film ends I am still unclear as to whether there are any arrests because just as the film becomes slightly more interesting, it ends.

Maybe I am old fashioned, but why do so many films these days have mumbling actors and very poor lighting that move at the pace of an injured snail? So unless boring and dreary is your thing, give it a miss.

Unbelievable (2019)

Excellent

[8/10 · 29 July 2023]

Apparently this is based on true.events, which just adds to the poignancy of Marie Adler, played brilliantly by Kaitlyn Dever, who is raped and not believed by the police. Because she has had a troubled childhood, in and out of care and foster homes the police deem her a fantasist. She is even charged with making false claims and fined 500$. Meanwhile in another district a series of rapes are being investigated by a pair of female detectives, one young and idealistic, Merritt Weaver, and the other experienced and a bit cynical, Toni Collette. This is a compelling series, a very well acted police procedural and a moving drama where the viewer is hoping for some happiness to enter Maries life. Excellent.

Money Heist (2017–2021)

Complete tosh

[3/10 · 28 July 2023]

I noticed this had a very high IMDB rating so I had no hesitation at giving it a go and to be honest I found the first two episodes quite intriguing. It revolves around a very carefully planned raid on the Madrid mint led by a very annoying 'professor'. In the mint at the time of the raid are 67 people comprising staff and visitors who are taken hostage. So far so good but we soon learn that this is not going to be a quick raid but that it will last a very long time as the gang are going to print more money. With no end to the raid in sight the time is take up with ridiculous interactions between the robbers and hostages.. The police who surround the mint are led by an emotional police negotionator who inadvertantly befriends the 'professor' in a nearby cafe, giving him useful info about the police tactics. How incompetent is that?. After episode six and more absurd situations between the captives and captured I gave up. Much of it is like a badly written soap opera. Complete tosh.

L'absente (2021)

Dreary

[5/10 · 15 July 2023]

This was certainly a dark drama. Was there a powercut in France when this was filmed, as much of it is hard to see with so little light? It starts interestingly enough when a young girl missing for eleven years turns up, to the delight of her parents. Unfortnately she has amnesia so can't remember anything that has happened. How convenient. That's a plot line that has never been done before. But there is a suspicion, not least from the father, that she is not who she says she is. The investigation is led by a detective known as 'the shark', maybe whale would be more suitable as she is in the last stages of pregnancy and should certainly be on maternity leave. I found the first couple of episodes OK but then it becomes confusing and dreary, not helped by the poor lighting.

The Privileged (2013)

Wife swapping, almost, and violence

[7/10 · 3 July 2023]

I enjoyed this Canadian film about a lawyer, Richard, who has messed up and likely to lose a major client who is invited to visit his boss, Preston, and his wife at their island retreat with his wife, in an attempt to resolve the situation and save his job. As soon as he arrives on the island his boss who has come to meet him is in an angry confrontation with a local man. We soon learn that a local family, the Lynley's, were in financial difficulties and Preston had acquired their land for nothing. In the evening while enjoying food, wine and wife swapping their is a knock at the door and this is where the trouble escalates. The Lynley's are set on revenge for the land grab, so clearly there will be some violence soon. While not a suspensful film it moves along at pace, so never becomes boring and I was never quite sure how it would end.

Rendez-Vous (2015)

Not bad, but a bit slow

[7/10 · 21 June 2023]

Simone and Eric, and their two children, move from the Netherlands to a remote, dilapidated farmhouse in France which Simone has inherited from her estranged mother. There she soon meets a chap who offers to take full charge of renovating the house. Naturally, without doing any checks the offer is accepted. Simone is soon writing lot's of cheques and dallying with a handsome builder while her husband has to return home on a family matter. To help out at this time her sister comes to stay. No mention of any inheritance for her, which I found odd. Eric returns to France and we learn that in his absence Simone has become pregnant. This is a slow moving drama and I found myself waiting for the major incident which is flagged up in the very beginning of the film.

The version I watched on Amazon was dubbed into English and some of it was very wooden, particularly the voice for Eric. I would have preferred sub titles to be honest.

Not a bad watch with beautiful French scenery and attractive actors making strange decisions, but a bit slow.

The Owners (2020)

McCoy & Tushingham, a great pairing.

[7/10 · 12 June 2023]

I watched this when I noticed that Rita Tushingham was in the cast, since I have enjoyed watching her since her great performance in 'A Taste of Honey' in the early 60's. Here she is paired with Sylvester McCoy of 'Dr Who' fame. The story has the common theme of a group of young robbers targeting a 'vulnerable' elderly couple and things not going according to plan. The four young actors playing the home invaders I have never seen before but they put on a good show, especially Masie Williams (I have never watched 'Game of Thrones'). McCoy plays a creepy Doctor and Tushingham his mad, demented wife, totally different to the character she normally plays. Williams has the most screen time of the robbers, and the one who never wanted to be involved at all, but was sucked in by her boy friend, played by Ian Kenny. A well put together Brit horror with not too much gore but interesting characters.

Proof (2004–2005)

Good Irish crime drama

[8/10 · 4 June 2023]

Irish thriller encompassing politics, people trafficking, police corruption, and murder. Moves along at a good pace as a disgraced journalist acquires a computer disc revealing the funding of a new political party which is about to surge to victory in the forthcoming election. As other people have commented, as it contains such politically expolosive material, why were no copies of the disc made? Anyway, if we ignore that slight plot fail this is a good story, well acted and over 4 episodes is not long enough for boredom to creep in.

Having said all that I was a bit disappointed at the ending, which seemed a bit flat.

Savages Crossing (2010)

Wolf Creek meets Neighbours

[7/10 · 23 April 2023]

Surprised this has such a low IMDB rating as it is not that bad. When a group of people are forced to take refuge in a road house during a storm they are unaware that one among them is John Jarrett who seems to be reprising his role as the Psycho from 'Wolf Creek'. Just released from prison he is seeking his wife and son to claim his share of his wife's money. He then goes on to terrify them and the other people marooned in the roadhouse. The hero standing in his way is Craig McLachlan of 'Neighbours' fame, who just happens to be the person who rescued Jarrett from an overflowing river at the beginning of the film. Running for just 80 minutes this deserves a much better rating than the 3.6 it has as I write.