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The Whisperers (contains spoilers)
Well, this is a downer, isn't it? Luckily, my dog was nearby while I was watching it. Giving him a treat gave me a much-needed lift to my spirits. I did like it, though, and find it to be a worthy entry in the sub-genre of movies that observe the life of a senior citizen to reveal the system's cruelties like Umberto D and I, Daniel Blake. Great lead performances are practically inherent to such movies, and with Edith Evans' deservedly Oscar-nominated work as Mrs. Ross, that is also the case here. She is utterly convincing as a woman with little more than delusions to sustain her, whether they are paranoid ones about her neighbors or fantastical ones about the hefty inheritance that will someday come to her. It is heartbreaking that the only company people afford Mrs. Ross is financially motivated from her crooked son, who uses her apartment as a secret stash, to the grifter at the assistance office who uses the guise of friendship to raid her purse, especially since Mrs. Ross is hardly the kind of person a professional thief would target. Speaking of delusions, the magazine advertisements touting the paradise of the Bahamas, the police officer humoring Mrs. Ross's stories, etc. ably demonstrate that they're not always a product of senility. Oh, and did director Bryan Forbes and company find a destitute part of England to film in or what? If the endless blocks of charmless row houses, piles of garbage and colonies of discarded pets aren't enough, Forbes had the good fortune to film scenes where likely gentrification-motivated demolition was happening. The cruelty reaches its zenith when the movie shifts its focus to Mrs. Ross's erstwhile and no-good husband Archie, who naturally is more interested in shaking his wife down than offering her company and assistance. Even so, as his frequent trips to the betting office indicate, he too has delusions of grandeur to contend with. As you can imagine, this movie is hard to watch at times and I doubt that I'll ever watch it again. Regardless, I give it credit for how honest and uncompromising it is in revealing how heartless the system can be to those in it who deserve the most care and respect.
Well, this is a downer, isn't it? Luckily, my dog was nearby while I was watching it. Giving him a treat gave me a much-needed lift to my spirits. I did like it, though, and find it to be a worthy entry in the sub-genre of movies that observe the life of a senior citizen to reveal the system's cruelties like Umberto D and I, Daniel Blake. Great lead performances are practically inherent to such movies, and with Edith Evans' deservedly Oscar-nominated work as Mrs. Ross, that is also the case here. She is utterly convincing as a woman with little more than delusions to sustain her, whether they are paranoid ones about her neighbors or fantastical ones about the hefty inheritance that will someday come to her. It is heartbreaking that the only company people afford Mrs. Ross is financially motivated from her crooked son, who uses her apartment as a secret stash, to the grifter at the assistance office who uses the guise of friendship to raid her purse, especially since Mrs. Ross is hardly the kind of person a professional thief would target. Speaking of delusions, the magazine advertisements touting the paradise of the Bahamas, the police officer humoring Mrs. Ross's stories, etc. ably demonstrate that they're not always a product of senility. Oh, and did director Bryan Forbes and company find a destitute part of England to film in or what? If the endless blocks of charmless row houses, piles of garbage and colonies of discarded pets aren't enough, Forbes had the good fortune to film scenes where likely gentrification-motivated demolition was happening. The cruelty reaches its zenith when the movie shifts its focus to Mrs. Ross's erstwhile and no-good husband Archie, who naturally is more interested in shaking his wife down than offering her company and assistance. Even so, as his frequent trips to the betting office indicate, he too has delusions of grandeur to contend with. As you can imagine, this movie is hard to watch at times and I doubt that I'll ever watch it again. Regardless, I give it credit for how honest and uncompromising it is in revealing how heartless the system can be to those in it who deserve the most care and respect.