When you're dealing with a genre as historied as the vampire movie, it is imperative to bring something new to the table. The latest world premiere at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival brings Damian Lewis and Kelly MacDonald together on the big screen but despite the calibre of the stars, the question is whether The Radleys can do something new with the genre to make it worth their time, as well as the audiences.
Following a family of vampires, as they try to remain abstinent and live an ordinary life, things get complicated when Helen (MacDonald) and Peter's (Lewis) children realise that they too are vampires. Things grow even more difficult when Peter's brother Will (played by Lewis in a dual role) turns up. Bringing a blood-sucking twist on teenage adolescence, midlife crises and failing marriages, The Radleys brings a rather fresh take on the genre. With a history that spans over a hundred years, that is no small feat.
Penning the screenplay from Matt Haigh's novel of the same name, Talitha Stevenson and comedian Jo Brand craft a screenplay that is incredibly funny but suffers from poor pacing. Running at 111 minutes long, this picture comes out feeling much longer. With a solid opening and closing, it is the infamously difficult middle section of the movie that falters. Rather questionably, the humour begins to stall at this point too. Not that it becomes less funny, just that the film stops trying to be. As the script begins to introduce a handful of subplots; Queer romances, affairs (yes, plural), a murder mystery, and yet seemingly nothing for the character of the daughter, it becomes clear that this movie is very little without its comical tone.
MacDonald and Lewis provide some entertaining performances in the roles, with MacDonald getting the most laughs out of the audience with her terrific delivery and knack for physical humour. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for their teenage children Rowan (Harry Baxendale) and Clara (Bo Bragason). In Bragason's defence, she is given very little to do throughout the movie, yet both actors feel unconvincing in their roles. Not necessarily bad, just lacking in authenticity. We don't see the characters, we see two people playing characters.
Regardless of these issues, the entire picture is delivered with such a light tone that one can't help but overlook them slightly. This is thanks in part to the ever-reliable director Euros Lyn. Proving himself as a competent director working in television over the past two decades, Lyn has impressed with his work on TV shows like Doctor Who, Daredevil, Happy Valley and Heartstopper. While proving his talent, Lyn has worked on enough British daytime TV that he knows how to keep things light and breezy, something that is ever apparent in his 2022 effort Dream Horse. Though written with much more adult material in mind, this movie delivers that exact same sense of “light and breezy.”
The issues of the film certainly anchor the viewing experience but there is a certain understanding between the viewer and those who made The Radleys that this film is not attempting to do much more than entertain us. With this mission in mind, the film succeeds.
With funny takes on a familiar genre and two strong central performances from Lewis and MacDonald, The Radleys is a breezy two-hours that provides plenty of laughs and some genuinely heart warming moments.
The Radleys had its World Premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2024
