B&B (2017)
Starring Tom Bateman, Sean Teale, Callum Woodhouse
Directed by Joe Ahearne
Discrimination against one’s race, color, creed or sexual preference is a damning transgression that unfortunately seems to be gaining speed, even in this day and age, and in director Joe Ahearne’s latest film, B & B, the act of partiality and ignorance plays a heavy role, fueling a slow-burning thriller, Hitchcock-style. Step on in, cause I’m fairly sure this country inn won’t have the most glowing reviews on a trip-inspection site.
Fred and Marc (Teale and Bateman) are a happily united gay couple in London, and after winning a lawsuit against a discriminatory inn owner, they’ve returned one year later for a relaxing weekend…and maybe just to rub a little salt in the wound as well. Josh (Paul McGann), the inn’s owner, isn’t at all happy about the return of the duo and he’s taken a bit of a precautionary measure: removing ALL of the cottage’s double-beds – the tit-for-tat parcels are in order, but the loving couple has no idea what’s really in store for them. With the inclusion of Josh’s son (Woodhouse), a man who’s got some serious fatherly points of contention, and a Russian stranger who has a stare that could shatter a cinder block, it’s apparent that this convergence of personalities under this roof will all meter up to some trouble, and murder just might be on the menu.
The story does take a bit of time to ramp up, but it has its method of construction – you can feel the revulsion towards the twosome’s lifestyle from Josh, and it’s of a most palpable nature. Ahearne effectively uses the intolerance-factor to act as the backbone of this film, and it works to a frightening level. The performances from all actors under this production give off real-life portrayals of people facing adversities of their existences – I’ve always felt that the conveyance of a particular story can only be strengthened if the characters you’re watching could reel in an audience by their actions, and this film pulls it off nicely. If there were a downside to this film (and some might find it to be a hindrance), it would be the extremely slow-moving pace, however if you want tense, tightly-wrought dramatic celluloid, then B & B is the rest-stop you should be paying a visit to – make sure to give this one a look when it becomes available.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
