Franklyn Review - Straight from the North American Premiere at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival!
The feature debut of Gerald McMorrow, Franklyn weaves a twisted tale full of ambition and imagination, but ultimately doesn’t live up to it’s potential.
Set in two parallel worlds (modern day London and the futuristic Meanwhile City), the film tells the story of three desperate characters: Emilia Bryant (Eva Green), Milo (Sam Riley) and Jonathan Preest (Ryan Phillipe). Each character has is troubled and has a story to tell, be it Emilia’s parental issues, Milo’s heartbreak after his fiance calls off their wedding, and Preest, who exists solely in Meanwhile City, tracking down a child murderer.
Initially, it is very easy to become confused during the film, as you’re constantly looking for some kind of connection between Preest’s cyber-punk alternate reality and the more subdued London-based threads of the story. It’s not until the film begins to run full-speed ahead into third act territory that the true nature of things is revealed in a clever and unexpected twist.
Franklyn is the type of film that is difficult to write about without giving too much away regarding the story, but suffice to say that fans of films such as The Matrix or V for Vendetta will feel right at home in the web McMorrow has weaved. That’s not, however, to say the film is without it’s issues.
While all the stories do finally collide by the films end, the thread featuring the Milo character is borderline uninteresting most of the time, and it’s involvement in the climax feels superficial at best. While Amelia’s story plays out as one of the films highlights, the strongest, most interesting story is that of Preest, and unfortunately, for as big a role he has in the film, one can’t help but wish there was a bit more of a focus on him.
Performances are all around top-notch, including a complex and haunting delivery by Eva Green, who plays a tortured art student who records her own suicide attempts for a class project. Phillipe, despite spending most of the film behind a mask, plays the role of Preest with a ferocity that is admirable, though many will accuse him of playing the role with too heavy a fusion of Batman and Watchmen’s Rorschach. Riley, too, manages to deliver a subtle, vulnerable performance as Milo, though one can’t help but feel he was under utilized.
Though, for all it’s storytelling flaws, one thing can certainly be said about Franklyn: it looks fantastic. Meanwhile City and it’s inhabitants are intriguing and unique, if not slightly over-the-top at times, so much so that I would have been perfectly happy to spend the entire movie there and forget about London altogether. However, London is here, and captured beautifully. The films oozes with style in nearly every frame, and McMorrow’s abilities truly shine in the films aesthetic. Had the story been delivered with such feverish attention to detail, Franklyn could have been a certified masterpiece.
It’s difficult to decide if I should recommend a film like Franklyn. For each flaw, there’s something else to love about it. For me, however, the good most certainly outweighs the bad, and perhaps it’s worth seeing if only to see the potential that was there. Love it or hate it, for whatever impact Franklyn does or does not have on the film scene, one thing has been made abundantly clear: Gerald McMorrow is a Director to keep an eye out for in coming years.
James Cooper | Development Manager
