THE FORGIVEN
****
Director: John Michael McDonagh
Screenplay: John Michael McDonagh, based on the eponymous novel by Lawrence Osborne.
Principal cast:
Jessica Chastain
Matt Smith
Ralph Fiennes
Abbey Lee
Caleb Landry Jones
Christopher Abbott
Country: UK
Classification:MA15+
Runtime: 117 mins.
Australian release date: 28 July 2022.
John Michael McDonagh not only directed but also wrote the screenplay of The Forgiven, an adaptation of Lawrence Osborne’s eponymous novel, set in the desert and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. It centres on a group of wealthy English, European and American friends and acquaintances who gather for a weekend of festivities hosted by an expat Brit in his fabulous villa in the desert, which is maintained by a staff of local Moroccans employed to service every whim of the rich owner and his spoiled, entitled guests. McDonagh, who wrote and directed The Guard in 2011 and 2014’s Calvary, is the older brother of fellow writer/director Martin, maker of films like In Bruges and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. There must be something in the McDonagh family genes because they’re a very talented pair although, based on their output, neither brother seems to hold their fellow man in high regard.
We join Anglo-American couple, David Henninger (Ralph Fiennes), a successful London surgeon, and his wife Jo (Jessica Chastain), a now-uninspired writer of children’s books - who have what appears to be a rather fractious relationship which David, in particular, is attempting to drown with alcohol - as they speed off into the Moroccan desert heading for the property. En route, they hit and kill a young Berber boy who stepped out on to the road in front of them; panicked, David puts his body in the back of the car and they continue their journey. When they arrive at the splendid estate of Richard Galloway (ex-Doctor Who Matt Smith) and his partner Dally Margolis (Nitram’s Caleb Landry Jones), they fess up to the accident, hoping it will amount to nothing. Soon, though, the boy’s father, Abdellah Taheri (Ismael Kanatar) arrives at the villa and David is shamed into travelling with him to take the body back to his mountain village home for burial. In the meantime, Jo enjoys the non-stop revelry in the compound, playing a game of sexual cat-and-mouse with an attractive guest, Tom (Christopher Abbott). As two days and nights pass, the racist and superior attitudes of the outsiders reveal their emptiness and the cultural differences between the Westerners and the locals emerge.
Albeit often very funny, The Forgiven can be an uncomfortable viewing experience as you observe the entitlement of the foreigners compared to the dignity of the Moroccans and Berbers - the partygoers show complete disregard for local customs and contempt for correct behaviour in a Muslim country (Australian actress Abbey Lee, playing an always out-of-it reveller, is the best example of this; she’s a hoot). McDonagh’s sparkling, intentionally appalling dialogue bears this superior attitude out as the rich West clashes with the poor East. It is full of blistering wit and searing disdain. From an acting standpoint, however, all the performances of the large ensemble cast are stunning: Fiennes is caustically verbose and thoroughly vile as “a high-functioning alcoholic”, a character role he’s adept at executing - think back to his performance as Harry Hawkes in Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash - although this time there’s a very bitter edge to his David Henninger; Chastain’s is a sterling performance that manages to bring poignancy to her role as a spoiled, but once-independent, woman who’s been undermined by her bullying partner; and Smith and Caleb Jones are excellent as the jaded gay couple who cynically observe and comment on their guests’ foibles. The remote, beautiful terrain of the setting is another highlight, providing an atmospheric backdrop to the darkly compelling drama that unfolds as the narrative takes a turn to the dark side.
The Forgiven can be forgiven if it doesn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts - it still has a lot more to say about humans behaving badly than most movies you see.
Screenplay: John Michael McDonagh, based on the eponymous novel by Lawrence Osborne.
Principal cast:
Jessica Chastain
Matt Smith
Ralph Fiennes
Abbey Lee
Caleb Landry Jones
Christopher Abbott
Country: UK
Classification:MA15+
Runtime: 117 mins.
Australian release date: 28 July 2022.
John Michael McDonagh not only directed but also wrote the screenplay of The Forgiven, an adaptation of Lawrence Osborne’s eponymous novel, set in the desert and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. It centres on a group of wealthy English, European and American friends and acquaintances who gather for a weekend of festivities hosted by an expat Brit in his fabulous villa in the desert, which is maintained by a staff of local Moroccans employed to service every whim of the rich owner and his spoiled, entitled guests. McDonagh, who wrote and directed The Guard in 2011 and 2014’s Calvary, is the older brother of fellow writer/director Martin, maker of films like In Bruges and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. There must be something in the McDonagh family genes because they’re a very talented pair although, based on their output, neither brother seems to hold their fellow man in high regard.
We join Anglo-American couple, David Henninger (Ralph Fiennes), a successful London surgeon, and his wife Jo (Jessica Chastain), a now-uninspired writer of children’s books - who have what appears to be a rather fractious relationship which David, in particular, is attempting to drown with alcohol - as they speed off into the Moroccan desert heading for the property. En route, they hit and kill a young Berber boy who stepped out on to the road in front of them; panicked, David puts his body in the back of the car and they continue their journey. When they arrive at the splendid estate of Richard Galloway (ex-Doctor Who Matt Smith) and his partner Dally Margolis (Nitram’s Caleb Landry Jones), they fess up to the accident, hoping it will amount to nothing. Soon, though, the boy’s father, Abdellah Taheri (Ismael Kanatar) arrives at the villa and David is shamed into travelling with him to take the body back to his mountain village home for burial. In the meantime, Jo enjoys the non-stop revelry in the compound, playing a game of sexual cat-and-mouse with an attractive guest, Tom (Christopher Abbott). As two days and nights pass, the racist and superior attitudes of the outsiders reveal their emptiness and the cultural differences between the Westerners and the locals emerge.
Albeit often very funny, The Forgiven can be an uncomfortable viewing experience as you observe the entitlement of the foreigners compared to the dignity of the Moroccans and Berbers - the partygoers show complete disregard for local customs and contempt for correct behaviour in a Muslim country (Australian actress Abbey Lee, playing an always out-of-it reveller, is the best example of this; she’s a hoot). McDonagh’s sparkling, intentionally appalling dialogue bears this superior attitude out as the rich West clashes with the poor East. It is full of blistering wit and searing disdain. From an acting standpoint, however, all the performances of the large ensemble cast are stunning: Fiennes is caustically verbose and thoroughly vile as “a high-functioning alcoholic”, a character role he’s adept at executing - think back to his performance as Harry Hawkes in Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash - although this time there’s a very bitter edge to his David Henninger; Chastain’s is a sterling performance that manages to bring poignancy to her role as a spoiled, but once-independent, woman who’s been undermined by her bullying partner; and Smith and Caleb Jones are excellent as the jaded gay couple who cynically observe and comment on their guests’ foibles. The remote, beautiful terrain of the setting is another highlight, providing an atmospheric backdrop to the darkly compelling drama that unfolds as the narrative takes a turn to the dark side.
The Forgiven can be forgiven if it doesn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts - it still has a lot more to say about humans behaving badly than most movies you see.