It’s been a minute since we’ve had a new Robert Pattinson movie to obsess over, but here he is, back with a new flick.
While it’s not exactly a comeback, Belgian is the next best thing.
Based on the bestselling novel by Joe Hill and with excellent performances from its young stars, this latest offering from the former Twilight star is a return to form for the actor.
Let’s take a quick peek at Robert Pattinson’s latest cinematic ventures, shall we?
Belgian
Belgian is a comedy-drama film that follows a group of teenagers who live in a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business.
One day, the teens find themselves confronted by the reality that none of their games and adventures will actually matter in the end.
Cut to four months later, and the town is buzzing with excitement as preparations are made for the annual Mardi Gras festival (translation: ‘Fat Tuesday’), where the town square will be taken over by a circus-like atmosphere, with performers from all over the world.
The film then cuts between scenes of the daily lives of the teens, as well as sequences from earlier in the season, featuring a very different group of people.
The story centres on 19-year-old Amelie (Sasha Baron-Cohen), who spends most of her time trying to help her mother Lola (Joey King) cope with her father Max’s (Robert Pattinson) infidelity.
When Amelie’s mother ends up in hospital following a tragic accident, the young girl decides to take matters into her own hands and enlists the aid of her loyal friends Pieter (Kevin Zegers) and Jules (Ludivine Sagnier) in order to bring Max’s philandering ways to light.
Hill’s debut novel The Fireman, on which Belgian is based, was an international bestseller and was reportedly the fastest-selling novel in the history of the UK.
And it would appear that Hollywood took note of this young author’s success, with a number of studios vying for the rights to make it into a movie.
But none of them quite matched the vision that Joe Hill and screenwriter Jac Schaeffer have concocted for the big screen.
A coming-of-age tale with an unexpected twist, Belgian is a movie that demands to be seen.
The Rover
The Rover is, effectively, the post-Twilight version of Pattinson’s character, Alfred Mcquire.
Pattinson plays an unassuming man living in a small English town who is unexpectedly called upon to act as a sober companion to a famous explorer (played by Peter Sarsgaard).
Though the film is set in the present day, it is an adaptation of the classic Agatha Christie mystery, The Man in the Brown Suit.
In adapting this iconic tale for the big screen, director Guy Ritchie (of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword fame) and his crew have crafted a movie that feels all the more authentic for being set in an alternative, somewhat archaic England.
With its beautifully crafted locations (including a recreation of Christie’s legendary study), sumptuous costumes and extraordinary soundtrack, The Rover is certainly an all-time favourite of mine, and not just because of the opportunity to feast my eyes on Pattinson’s luscious, pouter-pigged features.
The film also marks the third collaboration between Ritchie and Pattinson following their successful outings together in 2011’s The Rum Diary and 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Though it is unlikely to ever match the worldwide critical and commercial success of its predecessor, The Rum Diary, The Rover will at least go down as one of Pattinson’s most personal and endearing flicks.
Pride
Pride is, in many ways, the ultimate comeback film for Pattinson, who returns to the big-screen following a four-year absence, having starred in some of the most lucrative films of the 21st century so far, including The Martian, Alien: Covenant and The Lost City of Z.
Based on the acclaimed novel by Joe Hill and starring Anna Paquin and Stephen McHale, Pride follows a hapless bus driver (Pattinson) as he tries to navigate his way through Los Angeles, a city he knows very little about, following a tragic accident that left his family dead.
Lacking any sort of support network, the grieving bachelor is forced to rely on the kindness of strangers as he struggles to adjust to his new life and come to terms with the deaths of those he loved the most.
This is a very different side to Pattinson, and one that viewers have not seen before.
Though he does his best to keep a stiff upper lip throughout, the actor almost immediately opens up to those around him, revealing a side of himself that fans of Twilight and The Rover may not have seen before.
The film also stars Lena Headey and Carice van Houten, who provide support to Paquin’s eponymous lead as she copes with her own grief and loss.
This is a heartbreaking story of unrequited love, and Stephen Hawking’s son, Alex, delivers an astonishing performance as Christopher, a young boy whose imaginary friend Ennis serves as a lifeline to his broken family.
In adapting this harrowing storyline for the big screen, writer-director Ruben Östlund and his team have crafted something that is both moving and funny, as well as bringing to life the kind of terrifying visions that the brilliant mind of a theoretical physicist can conjure up.
Östlund won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for his 2013 offering, The Square, and he continues to amaze us with his cinematic reimaginings of classic stories.
Deep
Walking Dead star Chandler Riggs plays the titular role of Deep, a foul-mouthed, gun-toting truck driver who is, for some reason, under the impression that he is starring in an Alfred Hitchcock movie, though in truth he is being hunted by a biker gang in the desolate Nevada desert, where the air is thin and the heat extreme.
Though it was initially reported that Deep was to be directed by John Wick, it would appear that Deep is, in fact, more in line with the chaotic vision of its star, Chuck Jones.
Lacking a script, Jones improvised most of what we see, using a technique that he called ‘free association’, allowing him to respond to any situation that might arise on set.
While it is evident throughout that Jones’ character is prone to fits of rage and anger, it is also made clear that he is a well-balanced individual who knows how to keep his head even when provoked to the brink.
As the title of the film suggests, at times Deep can seem like a character out of Kindergarten Cop, but he is also clearly a kindred spirit with Robert B. Parker’s Spenser character, whose brand of old-school noir jazz we often hear emanating from his truck’s hi-fi.
Though this could undoubtedly be Jones’ biggest undertaking to date, and one that will surely divide opinion, it is, nonetheless, an exhilarating experience that serves as a fascinating insight into Jones’ creative process.
You may also be interested in:
The Lobster
Coming soon: our review of The Lobster, the bizarre and brilliant new comedy-drama from director Yorgos Lanthimos.
In the meantime, here’s what we know about the film so far:
Set in a dystopian future where single men are banned from being alone with a woman, a group of men are forced to live together in a lobster incubator where they are expected to breed and to fight to the death for dominion over the tanks.