A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life 
Starring Poppy Roe, Katie Brayben, Ben Lloyd-Hughes
Directed by Staten Cousins Roe

Self help gurus eh? Getting rich by telling people what they want to hear. It’s fine if you need that affirmation and are willing to pay for it, but there’s so many of them out there, using NLP or whatever to reboot your life. If it works, great, but it’s a subject ripe for parody, so little wonder this offbeat new British comedy drama has such rich subject matter to mine. 

It could also turn Poppy Roe into the hottest new talent since Phoebe Waller-Bridge. 
Her new film is described as “Sightseers meets Thelma and Louise”, and certainly echoes those classics. Thanks to a fine cast, including Olivier Award-winning Katie Brayben, Ben Lloyd-Hughes and Fleabag’s Sian Clifford, and assured direction by Staten Cousins Roe, the whole thing ticks over beautifully. 

The plot is simple enough: a self-help addict who cares for her unstable mother unwittingly finds herself on a killing spree with her unhinged life coach.
Cue tree-hugging campers and other new age-loving incidental characters. 
Once you get past the obvious comparisons with Sightseers, the movie takes on a life of its own. 

It’s skilfully constructed and is bound to attract a cult following in the months to come. Great films and TV shows often rely more on the unsaid than good dialogue, and Team Roe do a fine job on that front. The random looks between the lethal anti-heroines are more effective than any speeches. 

A lot of films cop out at the end, but this hits just the right note. There’s a twist during the finale which echoes a cult film from the 1990s; if I tell you it’ll spoil the surprise, but as someone who’s seen every trick in the book, I rarely got the urge to turn off. 
At a little over 80 minutes it’s the perfect length, and as good as the rest of the cast are, Poppy, who also edited the £30k movie, is blooming marvellous. I cannot wait to see what she and husband Staten Cousins Roe do next. 
Highly recommended. 

John Wick: Chapter Three – Parabellum
Starring Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane
Certificate 15
Director Chad Stahelski

Even if you’ve never seen any of the John Wick movies, this latest instalment is essentially a series of set pieces stitched together with moments of exposition. It looks like a hyper stylish video game where every knife in flesh sounds like a cabbage being pierced with cutlery, or celery being twisted. Yes, the foley artists must have had a field day with the sound effects, but those fight scenes are something to behold. There’s one in a library, another in a stables and one in what looks like a weapons museum which is so breathless, chances are you’ll need a lie down afterwards. 

Partly set in a mythical New York underworld where tattooed women keep score like a bunch of 1950s telephonists working for the mob, we’re left in little doubt that something bad is going to happen to the one-man army as assorted bounty hunters try to get their hands on the $14m eponymous target. Threading things together with effortless cool is series regular Ian McShane, while Keanu’s fellow Matrix veteran Laurence Fishburne pops up like New York’s answer to Jack Duckworth, waxing lyrical about the skills of homing pigeons as a safer form of communication than computers. 
As ever with action thrillers hoping for a sense of gravitas, there are scenes of ballet dancers, and it’s interesting that one dancer pulling off a toenail is more wince-inducing than much of the ultra violence that precedes it. However, a knife/eye scene comes a close second. 

The film looks phenomenal. Every shot is like a poster, though some of the dialogue sounds like it was penned by a 12-year-old. 
Halle Berry hasn’t had a decent action thriller to get her teeth into in years, so it’s good to see her chewing the scenery. 
Eventually Game of Thrones’ Jerome Flynn turns up as another all-powerful crime lord, and there is more talk of a seat at “the high table”, which makes me wonder if John Wick merely wants a high chair. (I’m sure a baby John Wick parody has been created somewhere riffing on the same idea). 

In a moment worthy of Britain’s Got Talent, Halle and her attack dogs enact a scene which plays like a weaponised version of Ashley and multiple (much missed) Pudseys. I can only imagine that playing at the Royal Variety Show. 
And there are so many scenes of generic assassins getting shot in the face at point blank range, I get the feeling the whole thing was choreographed by someone who spent too much time playing video games where those head shot points really add up, even if we can’t see them.  

(I’m guessing someone also created a version with the onscreen killings tally). 
It’s no surprise that returning director Chad Stahelski honed his craft in martial arts and on The Matrix. The line “Guns. Lots of guns” pays homage to that 1999 offering. 
The script by Ryan Condal and Kerry Williamson needed a lot more polish. There are also so many mentions of the phrase “ex-communicado”, I turned the sound off at one point and played Marillion’s old eighties track Incommunicado over the visually stunning finale, and it improved things 100 percent. (Try it around 105 minutes in and you’ll see what I mean). 

This was the most lucrative of all the movies, so that fourth film is inevitable. If you can’t wait, just watch someone playing Call of Duty for two hours and play Vivaldi and a techno soundtrack over the top. It’ll be just as rewarding. 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Starring Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega
Certificate 12A
Directed by JJ Abrams

Some films are like ships in the night. You cross paths; the movie finishes, you go for a burger then you might catch them on TV one night. 
Then there are life-long love affairs. The bolt from the blue. Love at first sight, and you’re smitten. For decades. 
But you both have your troubled years. In the case of Star Wars, those prequels were awkward, full of fireworks but no soul. In 2015, if you’re a fan, that teenage crush came back into your life, and The Force Awakens resurrected that old flame like a light sabre on dry wood. 
Then, in 2017 there was the fall out. The “It’s not you, it’s me”, case of The Last Jedi, when Rian Johnson tried to push the envelope with new characters and force powers, but wound up with a red-hued mess. It was the Catchphrase of the series. Good, but not right. 

Now comes the final chapter in a saga which has entertained the masses, off and on, for four decades. 
And the good news is it’s not only a massive improvement over episode eight, but also one of the best. 
Which does beg the question: was TLJ deliberately a bit rubbish so fans would be treated to something special for this closing movie? 
Well analysts can argue about that until the next film is unveiled in a new run of Star Wars adventures. Yes, while the nine-part series may be over, you don’t let a cash cow like this go without a fight. 

There is so much to unpack with this movie that one sitting won’t be enough for hardcore fans, which of course is the point. Star Wars has always been a multiple-viewing experience, and there’s a feast for the eyes and ears here. 
Thunderous stereo means those watching it on their phones in a few months will lose most of the impact, not to mention the scale. This is one of those films best seen as big as possible. The effects are also dazzling, and one scene I’ll cryptically call the ’Dunkirk’ moment will be freeze-framed by fans the world over when those Blu rays and 4K discs hit the shops. 

For the new saga which began a mere four years ago, this is a definite sense of closure, and while most of the cast are terrific, Daisy Ridley steals the show as Rey. She’s less jolly hockey sticks like in Force Awakens and now has a lot more agency. Adam Driver is excellent as the morally conflicted Ben Solo. Oscar Isaac is as terrific as usual as the alpha rebel, Poe, while John Boyega’s Finn also does a lot of the heavy lifting, co-leading the rebellion at the darkest hour.

Yes, for reasons that soon become apparent, the rebels are facing the might of the Empire once more, and it’s a showdown that makes Return of the Jedi look like a mere scuffle by comparison.
Using outtakes from previous movies, and no doubt a lot of clever CGI, the late Carrie Fisher is recreated to fine effect, although obviously your brain will spend a lot of the time figuring out how it was all done instead of just relaxing and enjoying it for what it is.

Admittedly the plot isn’t perfect. There is a McGuffin or two which drives some of the narrative forward, but it’s a shame some of the props look a bit Blue Peter.
There are also moments where you stop and think “Hang on a minute, what just happened?”, and “How come character A is still alive after something that was quite obviously them breathing their final breath?”, in one case decades ago. But as the original Star Wars reminded us, life is based on things “from a certain point of view”. And while director JJ Abrams plays fast and loose with credibility, even for a Star Wars film, you can forgive him pretty much anything because this is easily the most ambitious, satisfying chapter.

The special effects are out of this world; the sets are fabulous, and the editing is so tight and snappy you barely get a chance to catch your breath. 
As ever John Williams delivers the goods with a thunderous score which revamps old themes and delicious new ones, all of which make your pulse race faster.
There were several moments when my heart was in my mouth, and it got a little dusty in that cinema. It’s been one of those years which I don’t care to relive any time soon for one reason and another, but this bittersweet chapter is one of those films I’ll quite happily return to time and again, unlike The Last Jedi which I was quite happy to sit through just once on the big screen.

For hardcore fans there are plenty of cameos, including one supporting actor who swore he would never appear in Star Wars again, and I guess bosses at Lucasfilm offered him a large suitcase full of cash for his two or three second appearance. 
It’s great to see Billy Dee Williams back as Lando Calrissian for the first time since 1983, and good to see Richard E Grant slot into the saga as the obligatory Imperial bad guy. Naomi Ackie, last seen in terrific comedy drama The End of the F****ng World, is a great addition, slotting in as Finn’s sidekick; Rose (from TLJ) was given a back seat this time. 
And as for Anthony Daniels, he continues to be one of the series’ greatest assets, breathing life into See Threepio’s circuits and adding comedy and poignancy in all the right places. 
However, the ships are just as important characters, whether the Blockade Runner or array of A and B-Wing fighters, and a rather special X-Wing, whose majestic return will leave fans delighted. 
There’s a good chance The Rise of Skywalker will make $1billion in the next few weeks alone, though whether it tops Avengers: Endgame as the most lucrative film ever made remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: when Star Wars Episode 10 arrives in a couple of years, the next wave of the saga is in pretty good shape.
I for one cannot wait.

‪My interview with Elton John

By Roger Crow

One of the best interviews I ever did was last night, or rather this morning around 5am.

Elton John was charming, funny, naughty even despite the fact my recording devices wouldn’t work.

We “recorded” in a shop which was next door to where I was staying. ‬I popped up for the third part of our chat; I can’t recall the other two. Amazed that the place was unlocked. Anyone could have walked in off the street and pinched his stuff. Though why it was empty was amazing.

I’d just seen his performance on TV of ’I’d Do Anything for Love’ with David Walliams. Nice twist I thought, even if the guy I used to love on Spaced is now on everything.

Every time I’d ask Elton a question about his career I’d have one eye on a recorder. It kept blurting out old recordings or focused on the GPS coordinates of where the interview was done. None of them would take. He was chatting to some other older guy in the street. It looked like the shop was now actually Downing Street.

“I’m so sorry,” I apologised, rather embarrassed by the sound from an old chat. I’d normally have three recorders on the go for any phone chat in case of such problems. I’d been doing this for decades and now I land the biggest star on the planet and tech is defeating me.

“It’s okay,” he said, no doubt having experienced this countless times before. His hair was like straw I noticed. The mood lightened. “Why don’t you let me put it on a hard drive,” he said cheekily, a glint in his eye.

“I thought you were going to say ’Stop fiddling with your recorders or f*** off out of my shop’.”

He laughed. I was going to have to ask about Rocketman, and watch it later that day. So many questions.

“Maybe I was,” he smiled.

“You know I’d have to put that in the interview,” I replied. Even bad interviews where recorders don’t work can be spun in an interesting way.

Then I woke up.

Shame. It was a great “interview”.

The Irishman
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci
Certificate 15

I’ve no idea what the budget was for Martin Scorsese’s latest movie, but The Irishman looks like it cost more than his first five films put together. (Given the fact the cast list has 489 people, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Imagine the catering budget alone). 
There are times when it feels like ’Now That’s What I Call a Gangster Movie’. 
If you’re a fan of the director’s best work, there’s all your favourites: scenes of overly macho posturing; moments of domestic drama; mumbling; families; respect, or a lack of it; simmering tension; cars with fins; audacious overhead tracking shots. Then there’s the stellar cast. Bobby De Niro, Joe Pesci (making a fine return to form with one of his best ever turns as Russell Bufalino), the sublime Stephen Graham, and hoo harrrr, Al Pacino’s Jimmy Hoffa, turned up to 11. Obviously. I’d have settled for three-plus hours of them, sat around a table reading from the phone book, they’re that compelling. 
Alas women aren’t given much to do except stand around a bit looking like wallpaper. And occasionally emoting while a bunch of alphas stand off. 

There are times in the final act when it feels like every other scene is punctuated by people getting shot in the head, or cars with and without fins exploding. But there’s also much needed levity, and the odd random bit of life advice like never put a fish in your car. 
Nobody makes movies like Martin Scorsese, and thank heavens for that. 
The Irishman no doubt benefits from the big screen experience where you can absorb all 209 bum-numbing minutes in one sitting, but as I’ve reached the point where I can’t cope with punters on their phones in theatres, or folks talking around me, I’m glad I saw it in a few bursts on Netflix. It’s an epic feast for lovers of great cinema, and a treat to see masters of their craft sparking off one another. 

There are times when it feels like a remake of Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy, given the squashy faces of some of its anti heroes, but that’s no bad thing. I could have stared at Joe Pesci’s face all night. Oh, actually, I did. 
Some films are better on a second screening when you know who’s who and what’s what, so I may give it another look to savour it all. 
I’ve no idea how accurate the tale of union leader Hoffa (Pacino) and the gangsters who orbit around him is, but maestro screenwriter Steve Zaillian has no doubt done a great job of adapting the Charles Brandt book. 
If you can cope with the ketchup and violence, this is well worth a look. 

The Crown – Aberfan

Of all the British tragedies of the past 50-plus years, apparently none left a bigger mark on Queen Elizabeth II than Aberfan. The Welsh mining disaster of October 1966 claimed the lives of 144 people.

Many of them were children buried in their school.

Dramatised in episode three of series three of The Crown, it echoes the plot structure of The Queen, Peter Morgan’s Oscar-winning film which summed up Her Majesty’s reaction, or lack of it, to the death of Princess Diana.

Performances, script and production values are off the scale. It’s essentially a standalone drama peppered with appearances by the Netflix royals, but this is incredibly powerful TV, with Olivia Colman once more giving a Bafta-worthy performance as Elizabeth.

With solid support from Helena Bonham Carter as Margaret, Jason Watkins as PM Harold Wilson, and Tobias Menzies as Prince Phillip, it’s clear everyone has upped their already impressive game to make this must-see TV.

Ensure you watch it with a box of tissues. You’ll need them.

Spider-Man: Far From Home
Starring: Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zendaya
Director: Jon Watts 
Certificate 12A

By Roger Crow/@RogerCrow

There was a time I’d have been there on the opening day for a new Spider-Man film. It was an event, like Christmas, but with so many of them since 2002, it’s become something of a semi-regular occurrence. Every few years they roll another one out until the actors look too old or want too much cash, then they reboot. 

Howevever, in recent years Spidey has enjoyed something of a glorious renaissance. 
The sublime Spider-Man: Homecoming did a great job of relaunching the saga; boasted one of its best villains in Michael Keaton’s Vulture, and Tom Holland settled into the hero role nicely. 

Following a couple of terrific spin-offs, Venom and Into the Spider-Verse, the wall-crawler returned with an idea I’d long hoped for: Spidey outside of his native New York. 
For years it seemed the obvious choice to give Spider-Man a new lease of life by changing the city in peril. After all, six standalone films set in New York does tend to become a bit samey. 
Which bring us to Far From Home, a sort of National Lampoon’s European Vacation. Only funny. 
Following the teaser intro in which Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) encounter otherworldly protagonist Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), we launch into a terrific spot of exposition which fills in the blanks between Avengers: Endgame and this movie. 

The five-year gap caused by half of life in the universe being wiped out then eventually restored is brilliantly explained before we move on to Peter Parker’s holiday in Europe. 
He’s besotted with MJ (a superb Zendaya), but has to pick the right moment to confess his feelings. Sadly attempts on the flight backfire, his best mate Ned (Jacob Batalon) gets loved up, and our hero winds up being awkward in Venice as bad things start occurring. When Mysterio shows up and defeats elemental bad guys, the scene is set for a spot of bromance. But there’s more to the case than meets the eye. 

If you can get over those awful scenes where masks once more appear out of thin air thanks to nano particles (aka, a bunch of CG jockeys digitally painting the masks on and off Spidey or Mysterio’s face, to dreadful effect) the rest of SMFFH is outstanding. The whip-smart dialogue is excellent; Jon Favreau and Marisa Tomei have a ball as the covert, loved up guardians Happy and May (she’s still way too sexy to be Aunt May, but no complaints here), and the third act scene when Peter designs his own suit is lump-in the-throat, dust-in-the-eye brilliance. 

The pacing is excellent and though the twist when it comes is inevitable and far fetched even for a Spider-Man movie, it’s handled so well, who wants to argue?
Then there’s Tom Holland, who has now proved his worth several times as arguably the best screen Spidey to date. His chemistry with Zendaya is perfect, and they play the whole “Will they won’t they?” schtick beautifully. 

It zips along, features no end of gags (’Night Monkey’ being an hilarious Spidey aka), and when Parker does suit up, its nice to see some of that awful CG mask work put on hold. 
The fact I sat through this twice in a week is testament to its brilliance. And as someone obsessed with an Oscar-winning actor’s portrayal of a certain character for the first time in 12 years, the best is saved for last. 
Stan Lee would have been proud of how good one of his greatest comic/screen creations is right now. And as long as cast and crew don’t drop the ball with that third Spidey ’Home’ movie, for this life-long fan, that next adventure cannot come soon enough. 

Ad Astra
Starring Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga
Certificate 12A
Directed by James Gray

It’s a rain-lashed Sunday night and my plans have fallen through. Thankfully the nearby cinema is showing Brad Pitt’s much hyped new movie, and as it’s been one of those months where I need a huge dose of escapism, I’ve bought two hugely expensive tickets before Mrs C has had a chance to get her bearings. 
Now as it’s autumn, for the past few years there has been a tradition of launching intelligent sci-fi movies in the hope of landing a Golden Globe, and then an Oscar or two. 

The likes of Gravity, Interstellar and The Martian were all released in this season, so little wonder Ad Astra has also slotted in now the silly summer movies have been put to bed. 
As a lover of intelligent sci-fi, I have long been yearning for that next big epic which would dazzle my eyes as well as my brain, but what nearly always happens is solid actors go long distances and then the end is a huge cop out. 
Remember Jodie Foster epic Contact? That promised much, from its dazzling pullback from Earth through the stars to its intergalactic travel scenes… only to end with what looked like a Bounty advert. 

Interstellar was also a disappointment at the end, while Arrival was so achingly sad, I’ve not been able to watch it in years. 
Ad Astra is thankfully a lot more on the money. 
Brad Pitt is Roy McBride, the astronaut whose pulse rate rarely goes above panic level, which makes him perfect for any chaotic situation. 
When he’s involved in a Felix Baumgartner-style incident which sees him fall from space thanks to an energy pulse, we’re treated to a vertiginous action scene which probably leaves IMAX viewers feeling a tad queasy. 

It turns out the pulse has emanated from Neptune and is threatening life on Earth. 
The cause is man-made, and the antagonist behind said threat is Brad’s dad, H Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones). 
To solve the problem, Brad must blast off to try and reason with Tommy a mere 2.7billion miles away. 
Obviously not an easy task. First he must take a commercial flight to the Moon, where he and ally Thomas Pruitt (TLJ’s Space Cowboys co-star Donald Sutherland) run into some bad guys in a thrilling action scene involving buggies. (I was reminded of gloriously cheesy old Hammer flick Moon Zero Two). 
Then it’s off to Mars, where Brad broadcasts in a weird recording studio. (I hope somebody has done a Toast of London meme with the caption “Yes, I can hear you Clem Fandango”). 

The hope is that Tommy will pick up said broadcast, stop being such a bad dad on a galactic scale and come home. 
Eventually Brad blasts off for Neptune in a scene which is both baffling and nail-biting. Apparently there’s zero security at Mars’ rocket base, so anyone can get on board a ship. 
Yes, there are huge plot holes in Ad Astra, and while this is essentially Apocalypse Now in space, we have to sit through a good hour of Brad’s inner monologue. Which is fine if it’s as well written as Apocalypse Now, but there are times this really isn’t. 
It’s so ’Los Angeles’, with its scenes of introspection and shrink-worthy “Daddy never loved me”-style moaning, that I do wonder if Brad visited a psychiatrist and wrote off his sessions as research. 
Sadly there are times when it’s also reminiscent of Terence Malick’s horrendous Christian Bale flop Knight of Cups. (A bit like a pretentious feature-length Johnny Depp perfume ad). 
When I watch it on DVD, I hope there’s a version with just the score and no dialogue. 
As Elvis so wisely reminded us, a little less conversation, a little more action please. 
That said, the third act is fabulous. 

The emotional resolution is just the satisfying solution I was hoping for, and should resonate with anyone who had, or is having a troubled relationship with their ageing dad. 
As someone who lost theirs six months ago, it touched a raw nerve the way Contact didn’t, but that’s partly down to the brilliance of Tommy Lee Jones and partly down to timing. 
And if you’re a fan of Dark Star, as I suspect the filmmakers are, there’s a terrific ending in which our hero attempts to get from A to B via a perilous route. 

Ad Astra is both an intellectual art house film and a mainstream blockbuster. There are times it’s an uneasy fit, but as a cineaste who loves both, the fact I’m still thinking about it a day later is testament to its troubled brilliance. 

Director James Gray packs so much into the 122-minute running time that it felt half an hour longer. The fact I’d happily see it again is proof of how well it worked, despite its fuzzy science and the length of Brad’s beard between planetary jaunts, which bugged me almost as much as the excessive voiceover. 
Go in with low expectations and it works wonders. 

Script 7
Special effects 7
Score 8
Screenplay 8
Cast 8
Direction 8

On the Set of Dark Encounter
By Roger Crow/@RogerCrow

It’s the tail end of the beast from the east when I arrive at the set of Transcience in Bubwith. You’ll recall that fierce winter which rocked the nation to its core in 2018. 
The last time I was here, writer/director Carl Strathie was making his feature debut with Solis, the ambitious, microbudget sci-fi thriller. With just one on-screen actor, Steven Ogg, there was not a huge cast to juggle obviously. For his follow-up feature, Carl is pulling out all the stops. 
When I return to the same Bubwith studio, Alice Lowe (who lent her voice to Solis) is talking to co-star Mel Raido in the lobby. (You may have seen him in Krays drama Legend). 

As ever Goldfinch (aka Highfield Grange) Studios is a hive of activity with technicians helping to transfer Carl’s vision from script to screen. 
They’re more than half way through the five-week shoot, with all the exteriors already in the can. They’ve done a pretty convincing job of turning the local forest into American woods. Amazing what you can do with a US police cruiser and a cast dressed in authentic period costume at Escrick Park estate.

Set in the US during the 1980s, it’s the tale of an abducted child, and the family and relatives coming to terms with her loss a year after the event. 
There’s a strange sadness that drifts from the set, and that’s compounded by the mood of actors like Mel, Grant Masters and Sid Phoenix. 

I’d interviewed Grant years earlier on the set of superb twisted sci-fi chiller Await Further Instructions, also shot here. I barely recognise him when he says hello. The moustache and American cop jacket has done a good job of disguising him. 
Over a couple of visits I chat to almost the entire cast, from Laura Fraser and Alice, to Mel, Grant, Sid, Vincent Regan and rising star Spike White. 

The mood during one of those trips is as sombre as that I felt on set as tech crew set up the next shot, and I explore the impressive attention to detail. 
As I’ve not read the script, it’s hard how to gauge things. I can tell this not not going to be a screwball comedy, but it’s a while since the actual tone of a film has informed me before any actors open their mouths. 

Something bad has happened here. It feels like a crime scene rather than a movie set. That’s the power of the mood created by Carl and his crew. 
“You do feel a bit depleted, no matter whether you’ve really committed and you are ’feeling it’, or whether you are just getting into it,” explains Breaking Bad veteran Laura Fraser. “The overall atmosphere is… I suppose not depressing… upsetting. Yeah.”
While I’m chatting to the cast, Carl merrily strolls by and says hello. It’s hard to believe the weight of this film is not crushing him, but he’s like a kid with a new toy on Christmas morning. And why wouldn’t he be? He’s attracted an amazing cast; the set from his script has been recreated in meticulous detail, and the buzz from his first film Solis has helped give this a green light. I’m both hugely envious and incredibly proud. 
It’s hard not to flashback to that first day on the Solis set a while ago when I first met Strathie and producer Charlette Kilby. It was like meeting kindred spirits who gambled everything to make Carl’s dreams a reality. 

If Solis was the grandchild of Silent Running, Alien and Sunshine, then the obvious progenitor of Transcience is Close Encouters of the Third Kind. 
Sid Phoenix admits he’s had an amazing time making the movie, especially while watching “…a couple of drones the size of half a car flying around in the middle of the night.”

“It’s quite a unique film in the British independent landscape; very unique,” adds Mel. “With the emotional undertones of this, and a missing child and the drama of it, it’s really interesting.”
Spike, the 17-year-old co-star of Rob Brydon comedy Swimming with Men, was in college when he found out he landed the part of Noah. 
His dad joked that he’d failed all of his courses, but he had got the Transcience job. 
Earlier that day, he’d landed a new film with Ian McKellen. It’ll be very interesting to see his career trajectory in the next few years. 

Beverley’s own Vincent Regan (seen recently in Poldark) is no stranger to the studio. 
“I’ve worked here before. I did Dementamania here way back when… five years ago? I don’t know what happened to that. Quite an interesting project,” he explains. 
That 2013 offering may have vanished, but at least Yorkshire’s answer to Pinewood is going from strength to strength. 
“I always thought this (studio) was really great,” he adds. “It’s nice to see it’s still going. It’s doing really well.”
Alice is no stranger to life in front of and behind the camera. She directed cult black comedy Prevenge while pregnant, and has nothing but praise for her director on this project. 
“He works in a very different way to me actually. He has a very complete idea of exactly what he wants. He likes to do one set-up, and get the whole thing in one set-up without cutting away. I think it’s a very Spielbergian way of doing it.”

Fast forward to September 2019, and I finally get a screener for the movie, now re-titled Dark Encounter. Every piece of the jigsaw from my two set visits slot into place. 
With Carl Strathie now planning his third film, I can’t wait to see how that turns out. My gut feeling about him that first day on Solis was right. He’s one of the brightest new stars of the British film industry, and his second movie is testament to the fact. 

* With thanks to the cast and crew of Dark Encounter. It’s released on DVD & VOD on October 21.