Film reviews: Mea Maxima Culpa | Good Vibrations | I Wish | In the House
Mea Maxima Culpa (15)
Rating: * * * *
Documentary maker Alex Gibney is perhaps best known for his timely examination of the Enron scandal. Here he hits the Zeitgeist again, with a film that follows five deaf men who struggled for decades to have their abuse at the hands of a predatory priest acknowledged. The fury is unmistakable, the story heartbreaking – 200 more deaf children may have been affected – and Gibney tracks a disgraceful cover-up within the Catholic church.
Selected release: Glasgow Film Theatre, 29–31 March; Edinburgh Filmhouse, 2-4 April
Good Vibrations (15)
Rating: * * *
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Hide AdIrish biopic of Terri Hooley, a record shop owner who set up a record shop in Belfast’s most bombed street at the height of the Troubles and named it Good Vibrations. Directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn have got a good subject in the feckless, reckless Godfather of Ulster Punk, but their storytelling is predictable and pedestrian, and the film never gets to grips with Hooley’s frequent acts of self-sabotage. Also features a wasted performance by Jodie Whittaker as Mrs Hooley. High points include Hooley’s discovery and promotion of The Undertones. The low is the worst impersonation ever of John Peel.
Selected release: Glasgow Film Theatre, 29-31 March; Edinburgh Filmhouse, 29 March until 11 April
I Wish (PG)
Rating: * * *
Japanese drama about a young boy hoping to reunite his family by making a wish on a Japanese bullet train. The kids are great, but the film is on a slow and meandering track.
Selected release: Edinburgh Filmhouse, 29 March until 2 April
In The House (15)
Rating: * * *
François Ozon directs a drama about a quiet student (Ernst Umhauer) whose precocious essays strike a chord with a jaded French teacher (Fabrice Luchini). Seductive, playful and psychologically dark, but ultimately a piece of arthouse voyeurism. Kristin Scott Thomas gamely pretends to find this all an artful treat.
Selected release: Edinburgh Filmhouse, 29 March until 18 April; Glasgow Film Theatre, 29 March until 11 April