Ray & Liz

Opaque, alienating, and incomplete (not totally in a bad way; there’s a true sense of mystery regarding Jason’s fate), but compelling, fascinating, possibly in a car crash kind of way. It’s a document of people slowly poisoning themselves, because they don’t know what else to do

A film clearly made by a skilled photographer, the film's loosely connected vignettes don't amount to quite enough to make it a satisfying or memorable experience. Still worth watching for the detailed camera work exploring the depth of experience through powerful, textured images. While some of the images remain like Billingham's photographs, the film itself fades into a serious of shots rather than a coherent whole.

bresson and davies are cited as key influences on this show-don't-tell reenactment of the director's childhood, a loose follow-up to his acclaimed series of photographs Ray's A Laugh. billingham mostly eschews didacticism or ‘objectivity' in favor of experience, evoking the specific detail, texture and ambience of his memories inc. indelible shots like the unravelling of a tape or a walk at dusk, but it's a little structureless and not removed enough from britchen sink cliches.

Gruesomely ugly depiction of life on the povertly line in 80s Britain feels like Billingham may have been a bit close to this material to successfully adapt it - we learn precious little about the titular pair and their relationship and the movie wanders off on too many unnecessary digressions (the drunk set-up early on seems spectacularly cruel for no real purpose). Stomach-turning depictions of food consumption are another (pointless?) turn-off.

Oi, right bloody miserable fookin' slog, this is, ay?

Atlas