Blur: To The End review – Delightful film is an honest portrayal of the band as they reunite for a new album

BLUR: TO THE END

(15) 104mins

★★★★★

I SHOULD start this review with a confession: I am a Blur fan.

As a teenager in the mid-90s, I toured the country seeing them play and watched a VHS on their 1993 documentary film, Starshaped, so many times I was able to quote chunks of it to fellow-obsessed pals.

So it was with both excitement and trepidation that I watched this film of my beloved band in their 36th year together.

And, I’m delighted to say, this film about the foursome’s comeback is a delight, showing the 50-somethings in the most honest light they have ever been captured in.

Geeky

It begins with frontman Damon Albarn living in his very own Country House in Devon, where he celebrates his chicken laying an egg and questioning whether a cake is gluten free.

He is devastated by the breakdown of his 25-year marriage and comments how he “lives alone in the countryside”.

He cries and seems exhausted.

So far, so not very rock ’n’ roll.

But soon the rest of the band arrive and the pace changes.

They are reforming to make a new album together, The Ballad Of Darren, and perform two shows at Wembley Stadium.

Alex James jokes that he hears from the Royal Family more than he does the rest of the band and had not seen them for a decade.

It’s clear, though, that like all very old pals they immediately and seamlessly fit back into their friendship.

Graham Coxon is the geeky recovering alcoholic who is constantly saying he “has no friends”.

Dave Rowntree, still looking like a civil servant, manages to break his leg picking something up weeks before they are meant to go on stage.

And Alex is still the cheeky posh boy who finds himself at house parties and being told off by his wife from afar.

It is clear that Damon is a workaholic, with the lead singer falling asleep mid-sentence and berating his bandmates when he feels they’re not up to scratch.

Directed by Toby L, this is a joyful, insightful and brutally honest portrayal of a group of men who were never out of the headlines 30 years ago and how it affected them.

They call each other the c-word, they hug and then they perform one hell of a gig even though their collective age is nearing 230 years.

If this is The End, what a way to go out.

THELMA

(12A) 98mins     

★★★★☆

NOT all heroes wear capes.

Sometimes they wear orthopaedic shoes, enjoy cross stitch and need a walking frame to get about.

Don’t underestimate OAPs is the message delivered loud and clear – albeit with hearing aids switched on – in this affectionate grey-haired caper inspired by director Josh Margolin’s real-life grandma.

Nonagenarian widow Thelma Post (June Squibb in her first lead role age 94) still lives independently.

But all her friends are dying and once busy days now revolve around TV shows, counting pills, grappling with technology and regular visits from her grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger).

When she gets conned out of $10,000 cash by a phone scammer Thelma decides to take matters into her own hands and track down the criminals, along with retirement home resident Ben (Richard Roundtree).

What follows is a Mission Impossible homage on mobility scooters which is often laugh out loud funny.

Sweet, sentimental in a good way, perfectly paced and genuinely amusing, you’re guaranteed to come out smiling.

SHAYDA

(15) 117mins  

★★★★☆

SHAYDA, a young Iranian mother on the run from her abusive estranged husband, finds refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter.

This moving drama from director Noora Niasari was inspired by her own childhood memories of living in a Brisbane refuge for abused women with her mother.

Her film was selected as the Australian entry for the Best International Feature Film category for the 2024 Oscars.

When her ex-husband, Hossein (Osamah Sami), is awarded temporary visitation rights to their daughter Mona (Selina Zahednia), Shayda (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) finds solace in the rituals of the festival of Nowruz – Iranian New Year.

Becoming convinced that Hossein is planning to smuggle her young daugher back to Iran, Shayda is determined to stop him.

Niasari delivers an engaging and deeply moving account of female empowerment in a film that is careful to never over-egg the symbolism, choosing pragmatism and authenticity instead.

Linda Marric