Because of what you have done

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's top 50 films of 2023

#25 :  Creature

Asif Kapadia and Akram Khan join up for intriguing dance film, which has an ambiguous intensity that should interest audiences beyond dance fans.

Hmmm - an intriguing dance film, eh? I can't say I'm massively on board for it, but let's see shall we?

Well - when they said it was a dance film, they really weren't lying. I imagined it would be a film that featured some dance - but no, it's a film of a dance. 87 minutes of it - with no dialogue. I feel The Guardian were being very optimistic when they said it "should interest audiences beyond dance fans" because, unless I'm very much mistaken, it won't.

There is some plot - a creature (Jeffrey Cirio) is being held in a remote location which is overseen by the Major (Fabian Reimair) and the Doctor (Stina Quagebeur) but there's also a cleaner Marie (Erina Takahashi) who befriends him. And other stuff happens - just don't ask me what! And the dancing is, as far I know about these things, decent with some great solo, duet and ensemble choreography - but I just didn't need that much of it.

I imagine quite a few people that have watched this film were drawn to it by Asif Kapadia's name given that he made pretty watchable documentaries on Amy Winehouse, Ayrton Senna and Diego Maradona - but this is very much not like those films. I agree it is pretty stylish, but informational content is slightly lower in this than his other films.

And - that's all I've got to say, really. If you want to watch a film which is all dance then this might be right up your street and it's available to stream on Amazon Prime or to rent in all the usual locations - but it really wasn't for me, I'm afraid. 

#26 - A charming load of nothing
#24 - A very enjoyable film