october 1 movie reviews

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2014 Directed by Kunle Afolayan

Its September 1960, and with Nigeria on the verge of independence from British colonial rule, a northern Nigerian Police Detective, Dan Waziri, is urgently despatched by the Colonial Government to the trading post town of Akote in the Western Region of Nigeria to solve a series of female murders that have struck horror in the hearts and minds of the local community. On getting to Akote, more murders are committed, and with local tension high and volatile, Waziri has a race on his hands to solve the case before even more local women are killed. Set against the backdrop of the national celebratory mood of the impending independence, Waziri is pulled into a game of cat and mouse as he and the killer try to outwit each other...

Sadiq Daba Kehinde Bankole Demola Adedoyin Kayode Aderupoko David Bailie Kanayo O. Kanayo Bimbo Manuel Ibrahim Chatta Femi Adebayo Kunle Afolayan Deola Sagoe Fabian Adeoye Lojede Nick Rhys Colin David Reese Lawrence Stubbings Ifayemi Elebuibon Abiodun Aleja

Director Director

Kunle Afolayan

Producer Producer

Writer writer.

Tunde Babalola

Editor Editor

Cinematography cinematography.

Yinka Edward

Lighting Lighting

Lanre Omofaye

Production Design Production Design

Special effects special effects.

Lola Maja-Okojevoh

Composer Composer

Kulanen Ikyo

Sound Sound

Golden Effects Pictures

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

Hausa Igbo English Yoruba

Releases by Date

01 oct 2014, 14 apr 2015, releases by country.

• Digital 16 Netflix

149 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Sally Jane Black

As soon as a certain character appeared, I said, "He's the killer." I doubted myself immediately, because it seemed too obvious, but no, he was the killer. Throughout the film, I found myself easily predicting what was going to come next, though at no point did this spoil the film for me. Still, the moment that most surprised me certainly took the film to a new level, when a blade flashes out in the dark and slices a neck cleanly, killing a likable character (but not the one I thought would die). It was something I should have guessed, but the film presented it in a way that just managed to avoid predictability (for me).

What makes the film stand…

Review by EudoraFletcher ★★★ 4

What caught my eye in this Nigerian production is that middle class people here behave like Europeans: They are dressed in western clothes, shake hands to say hello, sit down in a restaurant, drink wine and speak English with each other. All in all, it appears to me as if the movie would have been produced for an international audience. Since I know as good as nothing about Nigeria it could be that people actually behave and speak as they do in “October 1”. Two policemen who are investigating a murder case speak a hilarious pidgin English that is very hard to understand. But funny it is for sure! The camera is ok and the cut is a little bit…

Review by Disappointed113 ★★½

This is a film that has a lot to say about colonialism and cultural genocide but those themes are hidden behind a thick layer of muck. To put it simply, the technical aspects here aren’t very good. There is consistently way too much coverage and cutting, the editing is constantly jarring, the score half of the time doesn’t fit the scene and feels overbearing, etc. However, despite these glaring flaws, the film contains enough moments of brilliance that I cannot dismiss it so easily. The scene where the children mispronounce sovereign as suffering is such a nice little touch that I’m still drawn to it. The contrast between the classes is well documented and always interesting. It’s just quite unfortunate…

Review by GoreWhoreGourmet ★★★½

I’m leaving for Africa tomorrow so I thought it would be interesting to check out some African films. Plus I don’t think I have ever seen a film that came directly from that continent…

All in all this was a standard crime film, however, the music was displaced to the point where I got the giggles. Serene spa sounds were not what I would be expecting to hear when police officers would be looking at a dead body.

Christianity brings out the worst in so many fucking people all over this world. This movie was a solid three until Koya ’s speech.

Menu: Tea Egusi soup 

Review by Seventh_Persona ★★★

As Nollywood entered a new and improved technical era of big-budget productions after decades of cheaply made home video releases, so too did the themes of their movies start to mature into a deeper social, historical and cultural analysis of what it meant to be Nigerian. There are definitely some rough edges to Kunle Afolayan's October 1 , particularly in the sound and editing departments. However, it's a far cry from the Living in Bondage days of Nigerian cinema. Similarly, the murder mystery aspect of the film is not all that impressive in comparison to films like Memories of Murder or Manhunter , as it's pretty obvious from the onset who the killer is, and there isn't a real murderer-investigator dichotomy/character foil…

Review by mj

tried to get into this one but the crunchy sound quality was really distracting for the half an hour i put into it. fairly decent, might give it another go at some point.

Review by Megan ★★★★

I've only seen a handful of Nollywood movies but October 1 is the first to really captivate me. It's a fantastic story working both as a period piece and as a thriller. Unlike other Naija films it doesn't ramble meaning every scene actually has a purpose. This is by no means a short film but the two and a half hours feel earned and purposeful. They tell the story on tribalism, statehood and power in a transitioning nation. Plus I could watch that Akote countryside for days.

Review by Wade Garrett ★★★½

This murder mystery is clearly more concerned with colonialism and the taint of European culture on Africa. Where the performances may fall short, they make up for in earnestness (except for the white actors, they were terrible). Overall, possibly the most amicable movie about rape, murder, and cultural genocide.

Entry #25 (Nigeria) in my March Around the World Challenge

Review by Pyaku ★★★½

This was my first experience with Nigerian film and this was a wonderful film to start with. Sadiq Daba deserved (and won) the African Academy award for his lead role. The story starts off a bit slow but it was very surprising and I loved the theme of independence (fuck you Britain!). The filmography was also very pleasing and showed great pride for life in Nigeria. 👏👏👏

Review by Sam ★★★½

I watched this Nollywood film as part of a project for my degree. 

Actually surprisingly decent. A multilayered emotional story with a nod towards colonialism and some of the more intimate problems it leaves behind.

That being said, the acting is not great and it is very plainly obvious who the killer is but the ending is really fabulous and does well at symbolising a lot of the problems in modern society.

Review by Lucas ★★★

trots att skådespeleriet lackade och audion e all over the place, tycker jag att de teman som går att extrahera ur filmen gör den väldigt djup. den har mycket att säga om kolonialism och hur det förtrycket påverkar det koloniserade folket.

Review by loganbryenton ★★½

International Film Challenge-  Part Eight

I found myself much more invested in this film in the second half, after the killer is revealed, which is strange for something trying to be a mystery. This is a generally fairly well put together film, but not one that blew me away in any way.

It has some good moments and no really deep low points, I just generally found myself a little underwhelmed by it all, but generally fairly entertained. 

There is one very rough performance in here, though, and whenever that actor was on screen, I was taken completely out of it. I’m sure you’ll know which one I’m talking about if you watch the film.

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Where to Watch

Sadiq Daba (Inspector Danladi Waziri) Kayode Olaiya (Sergeant Sunday Afonja) Ademola Adedoyin (Prince Aderopo) David Bailie (Ackerman) Colin David Reese (Rev. Dowling) Nick Rhys (Winterbottom) Lawrence Stubbings (Tomkins) Kehinde Bankole (Miss Tawa) Fabian Adeoye Lojede (Corporal Omolodun) Kunle Afolayan (Agbekoya)

Kunle Afolayan

As Nigeria prepares for independence from the British in 1960, a seasoned police detective rushes to find the serial killer slaughtering its native young women.

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October 1 (2014)

Genre: thriller, duration: 145 minuten, country: nigeria, directed by: kunle afolayan, stars: sadiq daba , kehinde bankole and nick rhys, imdb score: 6,4  (528), releasedate: 1 october 2014.

October 1 plot

September 1960. Nigeria is on the brink of independence from British colonial rule. A northern Nigerian police detective, Danladi Waziri, is urgently sent away by the colonial government to the western town and trading post of Akote to solve a series of murders of women. Set against the backdrop of the Independence celebrations, Waziri gets involved in a cat-and-mouse game as he tries to outwit the killer. On October 1, when the British flag is lowered and the Nigerian is raised, Waziri should have his case resolved.

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Inspector Danladi Waziri

Inspector Afonja

Canon Kuforiji

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Trailer October 1

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Kunle Afolayan's "October 1" is a master stroke for Nollywood

Granted that " October 1 " is not fast-paced, the action nonetheless unravels at a rate that keeps everyone in suspense.

The TV stations Crime and Investigation (CI) and Investigation Discovery (ID) usually trace the upbringings of criminals in order to understand if their environments influence the crimes the felons commit.

Recommended articles.

On several occasions, it actually turns out that maladjustments are responsible for the offences.

"October 1" gets to the root of the matter just like the CI and ID documentaries. The film tells the story of Danladi Waziri (Sadiq Daba) , a police officer, mandated to uncover a serial killer in Akote, a rural community, where he is serving.  He is assisted by Sgt. Afonja (Kayode Olaiya), a native of Akote, who understands the traditions of the community. Incidentally, these events take place in the build-up to Nigeria’s independence on 1st October, 1960; which is where the film derives its name.

It is pleasant to see Sadiq Dada in a film long after he appeared in " Nightmare ," a 1995 Zik Zulu Okafor production that also starred Pete Edochie, Onyeka Onwenu, Sandra Achums and Charles Okafor.   Daba is excellent as Danladi. The choice of Demola Adedoyin as Prince Aderopo is laudable and he commendably plays his role with a wily demeanour.

Miss Tawa (Kehinde Bankole) is admirable as the village belle, but Kayode Olaiya’s comic role as Sgt. Afonja is the icing on the cake called "October 1." In fact, he steals the show literally and will, no doubt, win a couple of awards as Best Supporting Actor in upcoming award ceremonies.

Kunle Afolayan must be commended for the brilliant casting and directing.  The location and props are fitting while the costumes remind one of pictures taken by our parents and grandparents in those days.  Unlike many Nollywood films,"October 1" is well subtitled.

The film aptly integrates several interesting subplots; smartly employing subtext and irony.  Tawa believes she was not taken to the city for her secondary education because she is female.  She says, ‘The two bright boys were taken to Lagos.  I wasn’t because I am a lady.’   However, as the story unfolds, the viewers understand why Tawa was not one of the chosen ones.  Yet in the end, she is the well-adjusted of the three as the two young men are scarred by their experiences in secondary school.

The tension between various Nigerian tribes even before independence is skillfully portrayed in the Kanayo O. Kanayo subplot.  All hell is let loose when he loses his daughter and he believes that Danladi is shielding Usman Dangari, his kinsman, suspected of killing the young lady.  Much as his loss was irreparable, Kanayo’s character fails to acknowledge that other young women had lost their lives in similar circumstances.  Therefore, instead of pushing for an end to the killings, he misinterprets it as hatred for his tribe.

Tunde Babalola, the screenwriter, must also be extolled for conducting adequate research into goings-on around that period.  For instance, there is a mention of Rosemary Anieze (Miss Nigeria 1960) during one of the chats between Tawa and Prince Ropo.

Agbekoya (Kunle Afolayan) should have spoken up sooner than later.  He could have saved a number of the slaughtered girls from their neurotic assailant.  One hopes the police charged him as an ‘accessory’ to the crimes.  There is no significance to Deola Sagoe’s role as Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti in the film.

Rev. Dowling, the paedophile-priest, always walks into the boys’ hostel, calls one boy’s name, singling the person out and saying, ‘it’s time for night prayers’.  Are night prayers meant for just one boy each night?  That does not serve as a suitable expression in that circumstance.

Granted that "October 1" is not fast-paced, the action nonetheless unravels at a rate that keeps everyone in suspense. This 140-minute picture is another feat for Nollywood.

Reviewed by Amarachukwu Iwuala, this article was first published on October 18, 2015.

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October Movie Review: Varun Dhawan Shines In This Exquisite Drama

October movie review: director shoojit sircar has made his bravest film, a poetic and emotional drama about unconditional affection..

Review: Varun and Banita's October reminds us to celebrate the bloom (courtesy YouTube)

October movie review: Varun in a still from the film (courtesy YouTube)

Juhi Chaturvedi's superb script shows us the difference it can make when a person simply decides to be there. This boy has decided to show up. The way Dan doggedly visits Shiuli every single day confounds her family and his friends, but reason can scarcely impede a romantic. There he is, making smalltalk with nurses, hunting up medicines, and glaring at the girl's uncle. This uncle bluntly says there is no point in the recovery of the girl if she wakes up and doesn't remember who they are. Dan, equally bluntly, disagrees: "So what if she doesn't remember who you are, at least all of you remember who she is." He gives us pause. Shiuli's mother is an IIT professor who can deal with tough facts, but she finds herself comforted by Dan and his insistence. Dan is so naive that it allows her to rediscover credulity. This kid may be imposing himself needlessly into someone else's catastrophe, yet a purely positive presence is a marvel. Dan's faith affects us all. As the doctor tries to get Shiuli to move her eyes from left to right, we the audience look at her pupils hungry with hope, willing them to oscillate even when they appear perfectly still. Varun Dhawan plays Dan as if caring were new to him. It is an emotionally wrenched character, one who loses his appetite without realising it. This is a controlled, remarkably unselfconscious performance, one where Dhawan uses insolence as a defence mechanism and treats a Delhi Police do-not-cross sign as if it were a suggestion. He is immensely believable, especially regarding his self-centred motivation, as Dan insinuates himself into Shiuli's story and keeps telling himself that he matters. He tapes his own pictures to the inside of Shiuli's bed, and while these are photographs where he is boyishly posing with that cheeky grin we know so well, yet - because of how fantastic the actor is here - he seems unrecognisable. The aimless are often the guileless. Shiuli is played with fine fragility by Banita Sandhu, an actress the film gazes at unflatteringly for the most part - in hospital light, surrounded by medical apparatus, her head roughly shaved - but Dan looks to her with undisguised adulation, and even sneaks a beauty parlour attendant into the intensive care unit to thread her brows. Shiuli is a tough role, but Sandhu is impressively consistent, and has a winsomeness that suits her character's name.  

October movie review: Banita in a still from the film (courtesy YouTube)

The film has a uniformly strong cast - Prateek Kapoor is particularly wonderful as Dan's harrowed boss - but it is Gitanjali Rao as Shiuli's mother who breaks the heart over and over again, embodying the film's lachrymose lyricism. She is brittle and brilliant and beautiful, a mother perpetually afraid to let her reaction show, fearing what it could do to those around her, children and doctors and students. It is a magnificent, evocative performance, and one that made me bawl.  

October movie review: Gitanjali Rao in a still from the film (courtesy YouTube)

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October 1 (2014)

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October 1 streaming: where to watch online?

Currently you are able to watch "October 1" streaming on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads.

Where does October 1 rank today? The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

Streaming charts last updated: 9:29:56 PM, 04/16/2024

October 1 is 11402 on the JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts today. The movie has moved up the charts by 6212 places since yesterday. In the United States, it is currently more popular than Glamour Girls but less popular than The Secret Life of Bees.

Its September 1960, and with Nigeria on the verge of independence from British colonial rule, a northern Nigerian Police Detective, Dan Waziri, is urgently despatched by the Colonial Government to the trading post town of Akote in the Western Region of Nigeria to solve a series of female murders that have struck horror in the hearts and minds of the local community. On getting to Akote, more murders are committed, and with local tension high and volatile, Waziri has a race on his hands to solve the case before even more local women are killed. Set against the backdrop of the national celebratory mood of the impending independence, Waziri is pulled into a game of cat and mouse as he and the killer try to outwit each other...

Videos: Trailers, Teasers, Featurettes

Streaming Charts The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

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• Revised : Critic's Rating has revised from 4.0 to 3.5, based on popular feedback.
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Shoojit Sircar breathes life into every scene with his nuanced direction, though the story remains slow-paced. Varun Dhawan impresses with the finest performance of his career.

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Manish Thakan 49 375 days ago

This movie is a masterpiece. If India nominates this movie for Oscar''s as best foreign language film it will win the award

Sakthivel Sridharan 613 724 days ago

outstanding movie

KANISHKA 738 days ago

the fragrence this movie leaves, will last forever

User 740 days ago

It was a very real life story feeling. 

Sameeksha Rasane 1384 days ago

Beautiful movie!! The story, characters, the role of silence in the movie really are on point. Coincidentally, the same flower (prajakta/Parijat) have been my personal favorite growing up and always make me nostalgic. So, this movie felt special to me.<br/>But, I feel like it hasn't got enough appreciation. Shame!

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• This film marks the first collaboration of uncle-nephew duo Anil Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. Arjun is the son of Anil’s brother Boney Kapoor. Share
• This film marks the first collaboration of uncle-nephew duo Anil Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. Arjun is the son of Anil’s brother Boney Kapoor.
• This is the second time Arjun Kapoor is playing a double role, the first being Aurangzeb (2013).
• The song ‘Yamma yamma’ from ‘Shaan’ is sampled in the song ‘Partywali Night' for the film.

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October Movie Review

• Times Of India
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Our overall critic’s rating is not an average of the sub scores below.

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Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive . Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.

Manish Thakan 49 375 days ago

This movie is a masterpiece. If India nominates this movie for Oscar''s as best foreign language film it will win the award

Sakthivel Sridharan 613 724 days ago

outstanding movie

KANISHKA 738 days ago

the fragrence this movie leaves, will last forever

User 740 days ago

It was a very real life story feeling.&nbsp;

Sameeksha Rasane 1384 days ago

Beautiful movie!! The story, characters, the role of silence in the movie really are on point. Coincidentally, the same flower (prajakta/Parijat) have been my personal favorite growing up and always make me nostalgic. So, this movie felt special to me.<br/>But, I feel like it hasn't got enough appreciation. Shame!

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October review – low-key hotel drama earns its emotion honestly

Director Shoojit Sircar follows 2015’s Piku with a one-sided romance pitched between The Big Sick and full-on weepie

D irector Shoojit Sircar doubtless spent many hours in plush four-star hotels promoting 2015’s intriguingly low-key Piku , and the experience has inspired a film that initially threatens to be a Rossellinian departure for the Indian mainstream. For once, the focus isn’t on jetsetters swanking around rooftop pools, but the youngsters cleaning up after them for minimal wages and scant health benefits. That last detail proves significant, given that October interrupts its careful survey of a hotel’s intern programme when the dedicated Shiuli (Banita Sandhu) tumbles from a balcony and sustains severe brain damage.

What follows, however, is a shaky, perilously one-sided romance, pitched somewhere between The Big Sick and a full-on weepie. As the moody, irresponsible Danish (Varun Dhawan) steps up, scattering night jasmine blossoms around intensive care in a bid to rouse his colleague from her vegetative state, there’s a whiff of Nicholas Sparks – which can read either as recommendation or warning. Either way, Sircar’s regular screenwriter, Juhi Chaturvedi, has to work overtime to explain why the erratic Dan should have started playing Doogie Howser, beyond the general sentiment that it might be a nice thing to do for a girl.

Matters are steadied, just, by Sircar’s quiet sensitivity towards tiny signs of life. Welsh-born Sandhu is the obvious beneficiary – not least when the film provides a welcome explanation of how the comatose Shiuli’s brows remain so on-point – though the attentiveness may also enshrine Dhawan as Hindi cinema’s most Goslingesque pin-up. The course change Sircar proposes for that cinema remains honourable, and if October feels more tentative than Piku, which had rock-solid star turns to ground it, its emotion is at the last earned honestly: any structural wobbles will be nothing compared with the audience’s lower lips come the finale.

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the old oak.

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Eighty-seven-year-old filmmaker Ken Loach's "The Old Oak" is about how changing demographics in a struggling English town called Durham manifest in a crumbling old pub, the last public space that everyone claims as their own. This is Loach's latest and (according to Loach) final motion picture, and it feels like a summation. It's as engrossing, thoughtful, heartfelt, angry, hopeful, and altogether valuable as his best work. If it is indeed Loach's farewell, it's one hell of a fine note to go out on. 

There are almost always scenes in Loach's films where a group of locals gathers in a shared space to argue about issues that affect all of them. The space here is the bar of the title, owned and operated by TJ Ballantyne ( Dave Turner ). TJ assists a local charity spearheaded by Laura ( Claire Rodgerson ) that gives donated furniture and other household items to Syrian war refugees. TJ is a goodhearted and tough but depressed man who lost his wife and son many years ago and dotes on his little dog. He has grown increasingly disenchanted with his core group of patrons, a bunch of men his age who blame immigrants for a decline in living standards that predates the newcomers' arrival by decades. There's even a gallery of photos in a shuttered back room of the bar commemorating local labor struggles back when TJ was a teenager and Durham was still built around coal mining. 

The film begins, like many Loach movies, by dropping you into the middle of a conflict. A group of Syrians have arrived in town by bus and are being harassed by white locals (some of whom apparently aren't even from the neighborhood; hate tourists, basically). One of the new arrivals is teenaged Yara ( Ebla Mari ), a budding photojournalist who shoots the old-fashioned way, on 35mm film. She documents her family's arrival, including their harassment by the xenophobes telling them to go back to a war zone that's already shattered their spirits (Yara's father is missing and presumed dead). One of the bullies steals Yara's camera and turns it on the newcomers and then, when confronted, gleefully drops it on the pavement, breaking it. 

This sparks the beginning of Yara's relationship with TJ, which forms the backbone of "The Old Oak" and unites the different story strands—and the fractured community as well. TJ invites Yara into the back room of his bar, which hasn't been used in decades due to plumbing and electrical problems, and offers her a replacement 35mm camera from a collection that once belonged to his late uncle, who took photos of the town's mining heyday that hang framed on the walls. The film takes its sweet time perusing those pictures and even lets TJ give Yara a tour through time and space as they look at them. We get the sense of the weight of the past (always a factor in Loach's movies, whether the past is nostalgically fantasized and false or based on something real, which is the case here) and also of the mercurial present. Thus begins a believable and quietly powerful story consisting of simply written and blocked scenes that explore the dynamics of the town. 

Loach and his regular screenwriter Paul Laverty (a legend in his own right, though a comparatively unsung one) do their usual thing, which is write characters who are representative of certain "types" but feel like real people and have specific concerns or issues, then set them all loose, letting them do what they'd do if they existed, even if it means that they step on each other's feet or angrily smash against each other. One of the many remarkable things about "The Old Oak" is how it allows us to see and feel everyone's point of view, including the perspectives of characters who are mainly looking for human targets to direct their formless frustrations at, and are wrong on the merits.

Exhibit A is the locals who blame immigrants for a gradual economic decline that's the fault of ruthless corporations and the post-Thatcher government, not immigrants. A couple of important early scenes feature one of the bar regulars, Charlie ( Trevor Fox ), grousing that local homes are being bought up cheaply by faceless foreign corporations that are looking to rent them or turn them into Air B&Bs, and that don't even have the basic courtesy to send a human into the town to look at the properties they're vacuuming up. Meanwhile, he and his wife scramble to pay the upkeep on their own home. They are trapped, economically unable to either stay put or sell. You get why Charlie would be furious and, in his zeal for scapegoats, would cast a wide net that pulls in not just the newcomers but the people trying to make their resettlement less painful. 

It's unreasonable on its face that anyone should be mad at TJ and Laura for bringing donated items to war refugees (they exemplify Christian values far more than the xenophobes and racists who mock newcomers for being brown and Muslim and joke about them being terrorists). But you can also see how the white citizens of Durham would resent their own kind helping newcomers while they themselves struggle through a life that's not as dire as what the refugees are dealing with but is still nothing to joke about. 

An especially piercing moment sees Yara escort a local white teenager back to her house after she collapses during an athletic event due to lack of food; Tara then goes into the girl's family's kitchen to find her something to eat and learns that the cupboard and fridge are almost bare. In an earlier scene, TJ and Laura give a little Syrian girl a bike while three local boys look on. TJ explains that it's an old bike that was donated, but that doesn't make an impression on the boys, one of whom states that he also wants a bike. Nobody in this scene is wrong. There's just a lot that needs to be worked out, and the factors contributing to the the conflict are beyond the scope or understanding of any one person in the scene.

Loach and Laverty have a clearly defined hierarchy of values that applies to all of their collaborations. They're socialists who believe in a collective community and government responsibility to care and uplift. They define that responsibility against the narcissistic ruthlessness of capitalism and the governments it has corrupted and captured, and tie it back to  an increasingly marginalized and mocked sense of what Christian values are supposed to be about. 

It's relevant to the story that Durham was once organized around the local church, which was revered not just for its religious function but for the way the buildings themselves were physically connected to the community through the workers who built the place. The church is still operational but is an abstraction to most of the characters, including TJ, who hasn't set foot inside it for many years. The decline of the church (which of course had its own problems) explains why The Old Oak has become such a valuable and fought-over meeting spot. 

The movie named for the bar has a spiritual dimension that was often downplayed in early Loach works. This is expressed not just through arguments and monologues about the moral responsibility to help the less fortunate, but through scenes of characters getting together and doing something helpful, whether it’s bringing a mattress to a newly arrived family or staging a potluck dinner that will introduce the refugees to the locals. This reaching-out process builds new relationships that represent the economic safety net that was destroyed. But it can’t replace it, because individuals don't have the power of governments.

Loach has always told stories that use real locations and some nonprofessional actors, encourage improvisation, and take their stories from contemporary or historical events that affect the everyday lives of working and/or struggling individuals. These are not the kinds of films where billionaires fly to Norway on a private jet to plot a corporate takeover, nor are there genre movie elements (horror, science fiction, film noir, etc). The camerawork (overseen here by Robbie Ryan ) focuses on capturing moments of interaction between individuals and groups of people rather than making statements on its own. The aesthetic is as rigorous in its way as any that you see in work by filmmakers who are more ostentatiously formalist in their approach. 

There are echoes of social realist or "kitchen sink realist" playwrights like John Osborne ("A Look Back in Anger") and  Arthur Miller ("All My Sons," "Death of a Salesman") in the scenes delving into TJ and Sora's friendship, the pain of their pasts, and the quiet tragedy of their stories and those of all the other characters going largely unnoticed by the wider world. Several of them echo one of the signature speeches in "Death of a Salesman," by Linda, talking about her salesman husband Willy: "Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person." This is an entire movie filled with Willy Lomans, some more likable than others, all worthy of attention.

The entire exercise often plays like a documentary record of actual events for which a camera happened to be present. You truly feel as if you're getting a slice of life. Often in Loach's films it's a bitter slice. That's not the case with "The Old Oak," a drama that has many troubling or devastating moments but barrels through them, and lets the characters emerge with shreds of hope for a better future. 

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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Film Credits

The Old Oak (2024)

113 minutes

Dave Turner as TJ Ballantyne

Ebla Mari as Yara

Claire Rodgerson as Laura

Trevor Fox as Charlie

Chris McGlade as Vic

Col Tait as Eddy

Jordan Louis as Garry

Joe Armstrong as Joe

Chris Gotts as Jaffa Cake

Andy Dawson as Micky

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Joker: Folie à Deux

Sequel to the film "Joker" from 2019. Sequel to the film "Joker" from 2019. Sequel to the film "Joker" from 2019.

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• Trivia The film's working title is "Folie a Deux", which means "Madness of Two" in French. This initially led to speculation about Harley Quinn's appearance in the film, which was shortly thereafter confirmed. The name Folie a Deux comes from the 19th century French psychiatrist Charles Lasègue and Jules Falret, also known as Lasègue-Falret syndrome, and it depicts two or more people that they share the same madness or delirium.
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Social Distance Season 1 Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via Netflix

Social Distance Season 1 is a 2020 anthology series created in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The show, shot entirely remotely, acts as a representation of the drastic change in the lives of people around the globe after the social distancing and quarantine that had ensued. The show was released on Netflix on October 15, 2020, and features a total of eight episodes.

Here’s how you can watch and stream Social Distance Season 1 via streaming services such as Netflix.

Is Social Distance Season 1 available to watch via streaming?

Yes, Social Distance Season 1 is available to watch via streaming on Netflix .

Each episode of the series focuses on a different family or individual and their stories that show how the global pandemic has impacted their daily life and routines, which are now in utter chaos. Besides the pandemic, the show has also shed light on the tragic murder of George Floyd at that time, which had sparked the Black Lives Matter protests.

Created by Hilary Weisman Graham, the show starred Lachlan Watson, Helena Howard, and Mike Colter among others.

Watch Social Distance Season 1 streaming via Netflix

Social Distance Season 1 i s available to watch on Netflix. Subscribe to Netflix and enjoy all the globally beloved movies and television shows that have taken pop culture by storm in the last decade.

You can watch via Netflix by following these steps:

• Visit netflix.com/signup
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The cheapest Netflix Standard with Ads Plan provides all but a few of its movies and TV shows. However, it will show ads before or during most of its content. You can watch in Full HD and on two supported devices at a time.

Its Standard Plan provides the same but is completely ad-free while also allowing users to download content on two supported devices with an additional option to add one extra member who doesn’t live in the same household.

The Premium Plan provides the same as above, though for four supported devices at a time, with content displaying in Ultra HD. Users get to download content on up to six supported devices at a time and have the option to add up to two extra members who don’t live in the same household. Netflix spatial audio is also supported.

Social Distance synopsis is as follows:

“Shot in isolation, this tragicomic anthology series features both dark and funny takes on how people strive to stay connected while staying apart.”

NOTE: The streaming services listed above are subject to change. The information provided was correct at the time of writing.

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The post Social Distance Season 1 Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via Netflix appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More .

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The first omen rotten tomatoes score nearly matches acclaimed original 1976 movie.

The First Omen's Rotten Tomatoes score has been revealed, and its high enough to rival the classic 1976 film The Omen, of which it is a prequel.

The Omen Franchise's Future Beyond First Omen Teased By Prequel Director

• The First Omen holds an 81% Rotten Tomatoes score with 75 reviews, close to the original film.
• The First Omen 's positive reviews mark a significant improvement over previous franchise attempts.
• The film will likely be compared to Immaculate , for the two horror films have similar premises.

The First Omen ’s Rotten Tomatoes score has been revealed. A prequel to the acclaimed 1976 movie The Omen , The First Omen tells the tale of an American woman who is sent to a Rome convent to begin a devout life of church service, only to discover a darkness within the church that causes her to question her faith as she uncovers a conspiracy. The First Omen is directed by Arkasha Stevenson and features a cast that includes Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga, and Bill Nighy.

Now, the Rotten Tomatoes score for The First Omen has been revealed. At the time of writing, the prequel film holds an 81% score with 75 reviews . The First Omen does not yet have an audience score, as this is the first day of its release. The critics’ score is also subject to change, as more scores may come in, but will likely stay fairly high.

How The First Omen Compares To Other Franchise Films

& 2024's other nun horror movie.

The First Omen ’s Rotten Tomatoes score is notable in that it comes close to the film The Omen , the film it leads into. T he Omen ’s Rotten Tomatoes score is 85%, with an audience approval rating of 81% . Throughout the nearly half-century since The Omen ’s release, the film has become a cult classic and is considered one of the most formative horror films of its decade. Given this hype, it is impressive for The First Omen to receive positive reviews at all, let alone a reception that situates it so close to the first film.

This response to The First Omen represents a massive pivot for the previous attempts to follow up the franchise. Since the release of the original The Omen in 1976, nothing else has come as close to the positive view of the original film. This includes the 2006 remake of The Omen , which was panned by critics. This version received a paltry 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an only slightly higher audience score of 40%.

*These are updated as of 4/5/2024, and will change as the film is still in theaters

The First Omen ’s critical reception is also interesting in comparison to another major horror release this year: Immaculate . The First Omen and Immaculate have similar premises , for both involve dubious conceptions, church conspiracies, and an over-controlling convent. Immaculate has been more divisive, with a 71% Tomatometer and a 59% audience approval rating . Releasing so close together, Immaculate and The First Omen will be ripe for comparison, so it will be interesting to see how the audience score shakes out by the time moviegoers can see The First Omen .

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

The First Omen

The First Omen is a horror film from director Arkasha Stevenson that acts as a prequel to the 1976 film The Omen. The film follows a young woman who goes to Rome to become a nun but begins to question her faith after encountering a terrifying darkness that aims to spawn an evil incarnate.