Second Coming Mini-Review
Unambiguous title aside, Debbi Tucker Green's superb debut about a supposed Immaculate Conception, makes minimal concession to religion throughout its absorbing run-time. Set in urban London, it tells the quietly powerful story of Jacqueline Trent (a virtuoso Nadine Marshall) and how her inexplicable pregnancy gnaws away at her friends, family (Idris Elba as her husband, Mark, and JJ, played by the hugely promising Kai Francis-Lewis) and, inevitably, her sanity. The main cast are quietly stunning in challenging, layered roles filled with guilt, regret and thinly masked rage. Green acquits herself marvellously, finding visually dynamic methods of shooting the mundane locations of this secular parable. A frigid therapy session late in proceedings, shot in one increasingly uncomfortable shot is nothing short of miraculous (get it?). As Jacqueline's denial grows ever deeper, and Mark's frustation reaches boiling point, decades of misunderstandings and unresolved history is unleashed, allowing the characters, and by proxy the film, to let loose in a barrage of deeply troubling scenes of a family in crisis. Matters are in no way improved by Jacqueline's refusal to acknowledge the baby-sized elephant in the room. Regrettably, Green lacks the strength of her social-realist convictions; settling for a misjudged conclusion which leaves marginal room for interpretation. For such a deftly handled movie elsewhere, the ending feels forced and unnecessarily po-faced. If the finale leaves much to be desire, the overall impact of the film makes it forgivable. Moving, honest and enthralling throughout, Second Coming is one of the best British films of the year...
Five-Word Verdict: "Come, let us adore it"
Score: 4/5
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