Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories. M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant. Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon in The Morning Show. Apple TV+ launched its streaming service with some of Hollywood’s biggest hitters, although critical appraisals have suggested that all the star power in the world doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. So how is the tech behemoth kicking off its slate of British-made programming? With a low-key, eight-part comedy-drama from an up-and-coming writer and a rock-solid cast of actors who have, historically, tended to favour quality over scale.
In Trying, Rafe Spall and Esther Smith star as north Londoners Jason (TEFL teacher) and Nikki (call-centre worker for a car-rental company), a couple in their mid-thirties who learn that they cannot have children. After a period of devastated soul-searching – “How can I miss something I’ve never had?” – they decide to adopt, only to discover that the process is more complex than they imagined.
“They’ve bumbled through their twenties and decided they want to have children,” explains Smith in a pub close to Jason and Nikki’s Camden flat. “They really love each other, but their decision to adopt throws up struggles in their relationship. If you can get pregnant, no one discusses whether you should be a parent or not, but people judge you constantly with adoption. That’s a really hard thing to come to terms with.”
Back With a Vengeance - Sir Ridley Scott returns to the Colosseum with Gladiator II, the long-awaited sequel to the greatest historical epic of this century. Total Film meets the director and cast to discover how Maximus' legacy is echoing in eternity.
Ridley Scott is not a filmmaker to repeat himself. It's a trait that's all the more remarkable when you consider how prolific he's been over the nearly five decades since his feature debut, 1977's The Duellists. Alien prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant are the only times he's gone back to the same world, and those films are radical departures from the original.
Bad Romance - Timestalker Alice Lowe falls in love with the wrong man time and time again...
Her antidote to that? Timestalker a dark not-quite-romcom set over the course of centuries. Her protagonist Agnes finds herself attracted to the same man, Alex (Dunkirk's Aneurin Barnard), in every lifetime as she's reincarnated in the 1680s, 1790s, 1980s and the 22nd century. As romantic as that may sound, there's a bit of a catch: 'He's sort of a dickhead. On the surface he's appealing, but under, he's not.'
McQueen & Country
A moment of national pride and terror comes to the screen with World War Two historical drama Blitz. Total Film speaks to writer/director Steve McQueen and his stars Saoirse Ronan and Stephen Graham about uncovering the truth and celebrating the triumph of a defining moment in modern British history.
'I WAS, AND AM STILL, SURPRISED BY EVERY OPPORTUNITY. I'VE BEEN CONTINUOUS AND FEEL AT THE TOP OF MY FORM' JEFF GOLDBLUM
Seth Brundle. Dr. Ian Malcolm. Grandmaster. Jeff Goldblum has played some titanic characters over his 50-year career, and is celebrating a half-century on our screens by going bigger than ever. First he played Zeus in Netflix show Kaos, and now he's the Wizard of Oz in Wicked. Total Film meets the man behind the curtain...
STICKY SITUATION
Seven years on from his last big-screen appearance, marmalade's biggest fan returns for Paddington in Peru. Total Film talks to director Dougal Wilson, actor Hugh Bonneville and the visual-effects wizards who make the magic happen...
BORN TO BE WILD
BROTHERS IS THE MOST SURPRISING ACTION COMEDY OF THE YEAR, AND NOT JUST BECAUSE JOSH BROLIN AND PETER DINKLAGE PLAY CRIMINAL TWINS. TOTAL FILM ROUNDS UP THE STARS TO TALK ABOUT DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES, THE 'HARD AS NAILS' COMEDIES THEY GREW UP WITH, AND MASTURBATING MONKEYS...
TRIPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT Payal Kapadia's film shows the Mumbai you've never seen...
HUMPH DAY BOGART: LIFE COMES IN FLASHES
Behind every great man is a great woman. Or in Humphrey Bogart's case, four great women...
CALLING THE SHOTS
NEVER LOOK AWAY Lucy Lawless directs a bio-doc about a trailblazing camerawoman...
A FAMILY HEIRLOOM
THE PIANO LESSON Malcolm Washington's feature debut is all about family...
