Show Pieces, 2014
Written and directed by Mitch Jenkins
Starring Siobhan Hewlett, Darrell D’Silva, Robert Goodman, Andrew Buckley, Ella Smith, Deak Teaser, Khandie Khisses, Alan Moore
SYNOPSIS:
Alan Moore and Mitch Jenkins bring a “trilogy of terror” featuring “Act of Faith”, “Jimmy’s End” and “His Heavy Heart”.
Comic book legend and famed adaptation hater Alan Moore teams with renowned photographer Mitch Jenkins to produce the surreal and darkly comedic “trilogy of terror”, Show Pieces. It’s a movie with such a morbid sense of humour and surreality that even The League of Gentleman might think it’s ‘a bit much’.
The three stories are all connected in some fashion, although the third part is a direct sequel to the second leaving the first part to be your “breadcrumbs of clues” as it cameos in the second story. It’s not exactly Pulp Fiction in its intricacies, but it is very subtle. The first story sees a young woman named Faith who is sexually frustrated and turns to asphyxiation to get her kicks with her lover acting as a paramedic. From there we meet James, a philanthropist who stumbles into a seedy looking bar, and its in this section of the movie that Show Pieces becomes interesting.
That’s not to say “Act of Faith” is a boring story as it’s shot beautifully and tells a very simple story with an uncomfortable conclusion. Siobhan Hewlett gives a tremendous and natural performance, but you learn more about her character in the second chapter, “Jimmy’s End“. This is where the breadcrumb mentality comes into play with Moore and Jenkins never truly spelling out what is happening, leaving the audience to work it out for themselves. By the time “His Heavy Heart“, the third and final chapter, comes into play, all bets are off.
“His Heavy Heart” is an uncomfortable watch, but it’s also very funny. Andrew Buckley plays the judging and abusive Bobbles the Clown and it’s the perfect performance that balances sinister, calm and funny all at the same time. He isn’t doing anything overtly humorous, nor is he trying hard to be scary, but he somehow manages to do both effortlessly. The laughs are helped by his “everyday” Yorkshire accent, but the content and delivery itself is also great. It’s the most dramatic section of the movie and it’s also one of the best.
Alan Moore may not be proud of any of the adaptations of his work, but he can be proud of this. Both he and Jenkins have succeeded in creating an interesting “trilogy of terror” and one hopes that they work together again to make more. Anthology horrors are making a big comeback as of late and Show Pieces really is one of the better examples.
As a side note, while the prop was placed there as a subtle nod to the coming events, it’s very disappointing they didn’t play Faith No More’s The Real Thing…
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published August 24, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
