Adapted from Chris Cleave's unbearably prescient pulp fiction (a story sparked from a terrorist plot on London, it was published on the day of the 7/7 bombings), Incendiary follows one unnamed young mother (Michelle Williams), whose husband and four-year-old son are killed in a suicide bomb attack on a packed London football stadium.
Writer-director Sharon Maguire's long-awaited follow-up to Bridget Jones's Diary is yet another London story - a very different kind of London story, mind - but one that is rapt in the spirit of the city it inhabits. Around it, Maguire fashions some stunning set-pieces: the blasted-out Emirates stadium; the "cemetery in the sky" victims' memorial that skews the familiar cityscape into something eerily unfamiliar. In these moments, it soars. In transposing other elements of its predecessor, however, the film stumbles, propelled along as it is by the mother's intermittent voiceover that narrates her grief-stricken letters to Osama bin Laden. This uneasy mix of high-octane thriller, romantic entanglements and melodrama is never fully reconciled: a real blow to the intended emotional impact.
But this is incontrovertibly Michelle Williams' success. From the beautiful opening sequence on Camber Sands - the loveliest portrait of mother and son, with a loose visual allusion, in the red hooded jackets worn by both, to Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now and the mother's grief that will ensue - she gives a voice to the nameless working class mother, pitch-perfect tower-block vowels and all. And it is in the final scenes of the film, in which Williams essays a consummate portrayal of a mother's ultimate loss, that the film finally taps into its heartbroken, molten core. If I have awarded Incendiary one star too many, it is for Williams' trophy-worthy display of guilt and anguish, and finally, courage and stoicism in the face of unimaginable hurt.
afeshareki@thenational.ae
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
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The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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