Movies are made up of thousands of components. From the tiniest detail in one frame to the larger picture, these bustling moments all build up to a great movie. If one part of it is wrong, if something falters, it could throw the movies into a perpetual state of badness. It can make the audience sit comfortably and all the good things that happen around it falter. It’s a damn shame because Here and Now has the potential to be a stirring, beautiful drama. Except that it has one component that lets it down, becoming nothing more than a trivial teen romp.
The film is effectively a teen romp that is lifted from its ordinary settings by the powerful and compelling lead Andy Rush. A heartthrob in the making, as he stars in his first featured lead is masters the art of silent unnerving intrigue and a boy struggling with his emotions surrounding his father’s death. It’s in Say that you invest your energies and that is largely down to Rush’s stellar performance as he quietly broods in an earnest way. As he bounds towards the end and snippets of his troubles come forward, Rush enthuses Say with compelling sentimental development.
Here and Now is happily drenched in stunning cinematography that shows that Turner has an incredible eye for enhance the English countryside and making it beam. The visual strength of the work could, and should, pull the drama into a watchable affair. Added to the adult stories that are more enticing than the teens then a lot could generally work here in order for people to sit up and pay attention. But that one over bearing problem leaves it feeling flat and when the crushing crucial climax finally introduces deeper meaning, you are probably already snoozing in your chair. u find that you’ve fallen asleeCinematography
Here and Now will be playing East End Film Festival 17th of June at Genesis Cinema. Followed by a Q&A with director Lilse Turner, producer Martina Klich, and actors Andy Rush and Lauren Johns. Tickets available from the Genesis Cinema website here.
In Cinemas and VOD 4th July and the films website - http://www.hereandnowfilm.co.uk/ and Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/hereandnowfilm