By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Franka Potente
Starring: Aisling Franciosi | Derek Richardson | Jake McLaughlin | James Jordan | Kathy Bates | Lil Rel Howery | Stephen Root
Country: france, germany, netherlands
Year: 2021
Running time: 100
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10353704/reference
Michael says: “What’s that, you say? Franka Potente of RUN, LOLA, RUN fame? Yep! That Frank Potente. This was a surprise to me, and I must say a rather refreshingly positive surprise. Marvin returns to his home town after 17 years in prison for killing a woman. He’s not welcome by many, but maybe, just maybe by his mother, Bernadette, who’s spent many of those 17 years dealing with not only Marvin’s incarceration, but her other son’s suicide, and more recently, her husband’s death. Now her health is failing, and while there’s a part of her that is happy to have her Marvin come back to her, she’s a bit skeptical as well. Marvin knows he needs redemption thought, and unfortunately some of the less enlightened townsfolk aren’t that interested. There’s the young woman whose grandfather was Marvin’s victim though… she barely remembers her grandmother, and while at first she just wants nothing to do with Marvin, she ends up getting caught up in some of this town drama, where she struggles to get past judgement. There’s nothing too surprising here, but the writing is good, Potente does a nice job with the actors, and her choices are unfussy and restrained, and the acting, especially Jake McLaughlin as Marvin, and the always entertaining Kathy Bates, as Bernadette is strong. 3 1/2 cats“