Dev Patel in ‘Rabbit Trap’. Photo: Magnet Releasing.
In theaters on September 12th is ‘Rabbit Trap’, a horror mystery that represents the feature directorial debut writer/director Bryn Chainey.
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Dev Patel (‘Monkey Man’) stars alongside Rosy McEwen (‘Blue Jean’) in the story of married musicians looking to find a different sound for their work, but come up against a nightmarish folk tradition and supernatural experiences. The cast also includes Jade Croot (‘The Witcher’).
(L to R): Jade Croot and Rosy McEwen in ‘Rabbit Trap’. Photo: Magnet Releasing.
There is a particular branch of British horror that has its roots deep in folk tradition and the clash between outsiders and locals, with a vein of the supernatural running beneath it all. The likes of Ben Wheatley and Robin Hardy have explored the topic, and now here comes filmmaker Bryn Chainey.
Script and Direction
Dev Patel in ‘Rabbit Trap’. Photo: Magnet Releasing.
Chainey, writing and directing here, certainly knows how to conjure mood using visuals and, particularly sound. He brings an intensity to the look and feel of the movie, aided by solid work from Patel and McEwen, but does fall down a little in pacing.
There is plenty to admire here, but while the film definitely has its own unique style, the storytelling tends to get lost and the characters aren’t always given the room to develop.
Cast and Performances
Jade Croot in ‘Rabbit Trap’. Photo: Magnet Releasing.
‘Rabbit Trap’ is really a three-hander between Patel, McEwen and Jade Croot, who plays a mysterious child who shows up hunting rabbits.
The main pair are convincing when it comes to their connection (and their reactions to the increasingly strange circumstances around them), but they can’t quite keep the film from feeling like it was a good idea that doesn’t always work.
Final Thoughts
Rosy McEwen in ‘Rabbit Trap’. Photo: Magnet Releasing.
The movie has style and mood to spare, but ‘Rabbit Trap’ lets itself sink into both at the expense of a truly convincing narrative. While Patel, McEwen and Croot do good work, it gets lost in the noise around them.
It doesn’t help that the central theme (which gives the movie its title) is drummed into us at several points with all the subtlety of a hammer.
‘Rabbit Trap’ receives 65 out of 100.
What’s the story of ‘Rabbit Trap’?
When a musician and her husband move to a remote house in Wales, the music they make disturbs local ancient folk magic, bringing a nameless child to their door who is intent on infiltrating their lives.
Who is in the cast of ‘Rabbit Trap’?
Dev Patel as Darcy Davenport
Rosy McEwen as Daphne Davenport
Jade Croot as The Child Nicholas Sampson as The Shadow
Poster for ‘Rabbit Trap’. Photo: Magnet Releasing.
The new ‘Jurassic World’ movie is adding Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.
His role is unknown for now.
Gareth Edwards is in the director’s chair.
Anyone who watches Netflix’s series adaptation of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ knows that Manuel Garcia-Rulfo has proved –– at least as main character Mickey Haller –– can figure his way around a legal scrap.
Universal is mostly keeping the details of the new movie trapped behind fences and concrete barriers for now. What can we predict? Big-toothed beasts causing trouble for the humans that foolishly interact with them.
A bigger question, though, is which humans… It’ll reportedly be set in the ‘Jurassic World’ era, but won’t directly connect to the previous three movies, so an appearance from characters such as those films’ Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) or Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) appears unlikely for now –– though we won’t rule anything out at this point.
From the sounds of it, this new movie would take the franchise in a fresh new direction, so we’re also not predicting (for now) the return of ‘Jurassic Park’ trio Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and Jeff Goldblum’s chaotician Malcolm.
While Garcia-Rulfo joins Johansson and Bailey on the “confirmed” list, there have been other potential pieces of casting, though they remain in the rumor-sphere.
Among them? Dev Patel, who recently made a strong directorial debut with ‘Monkey Man’ (which Universal picked up to distribute when Netflix left it in limbo) and Colman Domingo, who was up for awards for ‘Rustin’ (and just appeared in Universal’s ‘Drive-Away Dolls’).
It remains to be seen if either of them graduates from the world of rumors to reality.
David Koepp, who wrote both the 1993 classic ‘Jurassic Park’ (directed by Steven Spielberg) and its 1997 sequel, ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ (also directed by Spielberg, to less critical praise, but still healthy box office), crafted the new movie’s screenplay.
Longtime producer Frank Marshall, who worked on all three of the ‘Jurassic World’ movies is on board this one also, and the studio seems bullish about the progress so far. And of course, Spielberg will weigh in since he helped birth the franchise.
When will the new ‘Jurassic World’ movie be in theaters?
The dinosaurs should be roaring onto screens on July 2nd, 2025.
Bailey, of course, is already aboard a big film (or two) that Universal is pinning its hopes on: he’s starring as Fiyero in the two-part adaptation of ‘Wicked’ that will launch this Thanksgiving.
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What’s the story of the new ‘Jurassic World’ movie?
Universal is mostly keeping the details of the new movie trapped behind fences and concrete barriers for now. What can we predict? Big-toothed beasts causing trouble for the humans that foolishly interact with them.
A bigger question, though, is which humans… It’ll reportedly be set in the ‘Jurassic World’ era, but won’t directly connect to the previous three movies, so an appearance from characters such as those films’ Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) or Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howards) appears unlikely for now –– though we won’t rule anything out at this point.
From the sounds of it, this new movie would take the franchise in a fresh new direction, so we’re also not predicting (for now) the return of ‘Jurassic Park’ trio Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and Jeff Goldblum’s chaotician Malcolm.
Who else might be in the new ‘Jurassic World’ movie?
Scarlett Johansson in ‘Fly Me to the Moon’. Photo: Columbia Pictures.
While Johansson is locked in and Bailey appears close to a deal, there are other actors whose names have been floated as potentials. Scooper Daniel Richtman has pointed to Dev Patel possibly taking on a role (his directorial debut, ‘Monkey Man’, produced by Jordan Peele, was picked up for distribution and released by Universal a couple of weeks ago).
And Richtman has also mentioned that Colman Domingo, of ‘Rustin’, ‘The Color Purple’ and –– the Universal connection –– ‘Drive-Away Dolls’, is being talked about as the movie’s villain. The human one, of course.
It remains to be seen if either of them graduates from the world of rumors to reality.
(L to R) Director Frank Marshall, Jimmy Buffet, Pitbull and director Ryan Suffern from the documentary ‘Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story.’ Courtesy of The Kennedy/Marshall Company. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
David Koepp, who wrote both the 1993 classic ‘Jurassic Park’ (directed by Steven Spielberg) and its 1997 sequel, ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ (also directed by Spielberg, to less critical praise, but still healthy box office), crafted the new movie’s screenplay.
Longtime producer Frank Marshall, who worked on all three of the ‘Jurassic World’ movies is on board this one also, and the studio seems bullish about the progress so far. And of course, Spielberg will weigh in since he helped birth the franchise.
When will the new ‘Jurassic World’ movie be in theaters?
The dinosaurs should be roaring onto screens on July 2nd, 2025, release slot.
While we may know Dev Patel best from his 2008 film debut in ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ he has quietly compiled a collection of performances since then that have incorporated literary classics (‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’), surreal fantasies (‘The Green Knight’), and tense true-life stories (‘Hotel Mumbai’). But now Patel has stepped it up several notches with ‘Monkey Man,’ a relentless and brutal action thriller that finds the young actor behind the camera for the first time as director.
While it may be derivative stylistically and overburdened a bit narratively, ‘Monkey Man’ finds Patel flexing his own action hero muscles more than ever before. But it also shows him to be an assured presence behind the camera, fearlessly taking on not just complicated and often tremendously violent fight sequences, but a personal story steeped in Indian culture and some of the turbulent political forces in the nation.
In an opening sequence, a young boy only known in the film as Kid (Jatin Malik) listens to his mother (Adithi Kalkunte) tell him the story of Hanuman, a Hindu monkey god who serves his people through his strength and courage. Years later, a now-grown Kid (Patel), wearing a monkey mask, works as a fall guy in an underground fight club run by Tiger (Sharlto Copley), getting paid to take a beating from more popular fighters.
But Kid has a plan: he works his way into the service of Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar), who runs a restaurant and social club frequented by the political, law enforcement, and criminal elite of the (fictional) city of Yatana. Once embedded there, Kid climbs the ladder to find himself working in the club’s most exclusive VIP area – the Kings Club — where he sets eyes on the person who has been his target all along: Rana (Sikandar Kher), a sadistic police chief who has a direct connection to Kid’s tragic past and the painful scars on his hands.
Along the way – and after taking a beating that leaves him nearly dead – Kid finds himself in the care of the hijras, a mystical, gender-fluid tribe led by Alpha (Vipin Sharma). The hijras not only join Kid’s cause – having suffered persecution themselves – but set him on a course of healing that allows the self-styled warrior to find new reservoirs of strength, courage, and power that turn him into his own version of Hanuman, ready to take on not just Rana but the sociopolitical forces amassed behind him.
Kid’s tale of grief, redemption, and revenge is, in many ways, a familiar one: the legend of Hanuman itself and other Eastern myths have had a longstanding influence on archetypal tales of heroes and their journeys. And it’s told through a directorial and esthetic style that boldly borrows – in terms of its sheer physicality and violence – from modern action classics like the ‘John Wick’ movies and Gareth Evans’ now-legendary ‘The Raid’ and its sequel. To be sure, there’s an air of predictability and a sense of numbness that both set in toward the end of ‘Monkey Man,’ but they’re mostly overcome by Patel’s poignant portrayal of Kid – which never loses its emotional grounding – and the sheer energy that Patel brings to the material as a director.
One way in which ‘Monkey Man’ stands out from its action and crime brethren is through Patel’s fearless embrace of all things Indian and Hindu. This is a film released by a major Hollywood studio (Universal) and backed by a formidable producer (Jordan Peele) that is largely non-English and is fully immersed in the culture of India even though the setting itself, Yatana, is not real (the film was largely shot in Batam, Indonesia).
In addition to channeling the myths he learned from his own parents and grandparents, Patel shows us the underside of Indian urban life as well as the corruption that can run rampant through the corridors of power in any society. A subplot involving a spiritual demagogue and sociopath (Makarand Deshpande) who is manipulating the populace and the government has reverberations both for modern Indian political affairs and those right here in the U.S. The plight of poor people being abused and fighting back against society’s upper echelons is universal, but also intensely related to the culture here.
Perhaps most fascinating is the story of the hijras, the enigmatic tribe with a long history in Indian culture who essentially represent a third gender. With several members of the tribe played by real hijra actors, the film focuses on a little-known and often ostracized segment of the Indian community with stark connections to the challenges faced by transgender people everywhere.
All this makes ‘Monkey Man’ one of the most ethnically immersive and complex films to get a major release in a long time, and Patel doesn’t spend much time explaining its many facets. While that may run the risk of alienating some viewers who are not familiar with the culture – it’s a lot to take on in one sitting – it’s still a bracing experience.
‘Monkey Man’ is a flawed film in several ways – its plot is familiar, and as noted earlier, Patel borrows from the action playbook of several recent hits. He also tends to fall into the first-time director trap of wanting to throw everything he can into the mix. The movie’s stew of violent vengeance, sociopolitical intrigue, and poignant, grief-stricken character study feels sometimes like it’s about to topple over from its own pile of thematic and narrative threads.
But Dev Patel manages to pull it all together, thanks to his own committed and complete performance, the colorful supporting cast behind him, the atmospheric portrayal of several different sides of Indian culture, and the muscular pacing and energy of much of the movie. ‘Monkey Man’ may not quite reinvent the action thriller as its director and star aspires to, but it certainly reinvents Dev Patel as a filmmaker to keep watching.
‘Monkey Man’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Monkey Man’?
A seemingly unobtrusive young man from the street named Kid (Dev Patel), who earns a living getting beaten up in an underground fight club, manages to work his way into the private clubs of the city’s criminals, elites, and power brokers. Once there, haunted by memories of his mother and the stories she told him of a Hindu deity, Kid begins a relentless course of revenge that has been years in the making.
Amazon’s upcoming anthology series based on the popular New York Times column “Modern Love” has just revealed its sprawling cast, and the starry ensemble is absolutely brimming with A-listers, award winners, and familiar character actors.
Among the biggest names in the bunch are Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey, John Slattery (who also stars in Amazon’s other high-profile, star-filled anthology series, “The Romanoffs”), and Dev Patel. And that’s not all.
The rest of the impressive cast includes: Catherine Keener (“Get Out”), Andy Garcia (“Ocean’s Eleven”), Cristin Milioti (“Black Mirror”), Brandon Victor Dixon (“Power”), Olivia Cooke (“Ready Player One”), Andrew Scott (“Sherlock”), Julia Garner (“Ozark”), Shea Whigham (“Homecoming”), Gary Carr (“The Deuce,” “Downton Abbey”), Sofia Boutella (“Kingsman: The Secret Service”) and John Gallagher, Jr. (“The Newsroom”).
Behind the camera, the talent is equally impressive. Emmy Rossum (“Shameless”), Sharon Horgan (“Catastrophe,” “Divorce”) and Tom Hall (“Sensation”) are all set to direct installments of “Modern Love,” and the series will also be written, directed, and produced by John Carney (“Once,” “Begin Again,” “Sing Street”).
“It’s like I woke up in the actor candy store,” Carney said in a statement. “We’ve managed to assemble a dream cast of my favorite actors. It’s a testament to the reach of the original column and of how, now more than ever, love is the only certainty.”
“Modern Love” will feature eight standalone episodes, and “explore love in its multitude of forms – including sexual, romantic, familial, platonic, and self love,” according to the show’s official description. It’s currently in production in New York City.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney and director Guy Ritchie are running down the clock to find the right two leads for a live-action version of “Aladdin.” Stars from Riz Ahmed to Dev Patelwere reportedly considered (and dismissed) after a global casting call was launched in March, and around 2,000 stars read for the roles of Aladdin and Jasmine.
The original casting call said shooting was planned “from July 2017 to January 2018, in the U.K., with rehearsals beginning in April.” But it’s now July and the search is still ongoing, with filming now meant to start in August.
THR said the male lead will likely be a newcomer, because “finding a male lead in his 20s who can act and sing has proven difficult — especially since the studio wants someone of Middle-Eastern or Indian descent (the animated film is set in the fictional Middle Eastern city of Agrabah).” It’s not so easy to find a diamond in the rough!
One agent whose client tested said “the test process was a mess,” with several rounds of tests in London, and actors coming in for up to two weeks at a time. Sources said the newcomers still being considered for Aladdin include Dutch actor Achraf Koutet, Canadian actor Mena Massoud, and American George Kosturos. In terms of Jasmine, sources told THR that “Power Rangers” actress Naomi Scott and Indian actress Tara Sutaria are in the running, but they can’t lock in the lady lead until the male lead has been cast, since that chemistry is so vital.
One role that has already been locked in is the Genie, who’ll be played by Will Smith. (Robin Williams famously voiced the genie in the 1992 animated movie.) THR’s sources said Disney is also after “known names” to fill the role of Jafar.
THR found a positive note on the lengthy search, saying it’s a sign that they’re determined to get the casting right, as they did in the past when extended searches led to Lily James for Cinderella and Daisy Ridley for Rey.
The first trailer for “District 9” director Neill Blomkamp’s robo-fable “Chappie” made it seem like a sweet, humorous riff on the same kind of existential conundrums that have defined science fiction stories that center around artificial intelligence. (Also: it looked kind of like “Short Circuit 2.”) With the new trailer for the March 6th release gives you a deeper sense of the world and emphasizes the story’s darker elements, which is odd since we’ve heard that it’s easily the filmmaker’s funniest movie to date.
In the world of “Chappie,” set in the near future, robotic police officers have been deployed in war-torn South Africa. On one side of the debate is a corrupt law enforcer (Hugh Jackman) and on the other, a deeply feeling scientist (Dev Patel). The titular robot (Sharlto Copley) is “the new step in evolution,” and one that is kidnapped and partially raised by two thugs (played by South African rap group Die Antwoord). It looks violent and weird and very, very heavily indebted to “Robocop” (none of that is a bad thing).
The marketing department behind “Chappie” still hasn’t given a great representation of what the film will be, tonally, but that’s always a problem with Blomkamp’s films. Hopefully this will be a lot livelier than his last film, the bloated studio movie “Elysium.” And despite some mild hesitation (and the fact that our girlfriend is very confused by all things “Chappie”), this film looks like it could be really, really special.
So don’t make it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯