Lady review

 

In Samuel Abrahams’ debut feature a documentary crew turn up at the palatial stately home Ravenhyde Hall to make a film about the life of its enigmatic owner Lady Isabella. Yet it soon transpires that things are not as they seem and the director becomes drawn into the eccentric aristocrat’s self-absorbed world. I’d been wanting to see this for a while but it had a limited theatrical release and is now on Amazon Prime. If you watch it don’t assume that the knockabout trailer or opening segment is all Lady has to offer. The material may well be presented in typical fly on the wall style – wobbly cameras, fourth wall breaks etc – but there is a heart to the story that only becomes apparent later on. It’s sometimes a little overwrought in its methods yet also unpredictable, imaginative and ultimately moving.

 

Spoilers after the break

 

Shot last year in and around Somerleyton Hall in Suffolk, a location brimming with visual possibility, the film opens with the arrival of the film crew. Isabella is spotted momentarily darting from view like a bird that doesn’t want to be seen before moments later strutting confidently out of the house to greet them. This sets the scene for her subsequent contradictory behaviour. Initially she seems to be a comedic somewhat out of touch, superficial character constantly reaching for handy glasses of champagne. Her erratic behaviour provides the film’s broadest physical comedy especially when she is lurching around the house’s vast interiors. She uses the fripperies and treasures here as an excuse never to leave; she tells the documentary’s director Sam at one point he has everything she needs here and hasn’t left the estate for years. A later sequence where he coxes her to try and drive down the path to the gates is a comedy highlight

Sam, named presumably to suggest he is based on the film’s real director, is initially frustrated by her behaviour. When he discovers that the film’s Netflix deal doesn’t really exist he is ready to pull the plug but then comes the moment the film turns on a sixpence, a reveal as unexpected as it is strange. We see that Isabella’s hands have become invisible. It’s a bold development that really starts to deliver the core of what the movie is about. Essentially a metaphor for her loneliness after the death of her son, this condition spreads upwards to the point where she ultimately becomes wholly invisible. Her feelings of worthlessness seem to be physically manifested. We only see her present due to the mismatched clothes, gloves and hats she is wearing.

We also find out that Sam’s career has been hampered by an inability to speak in public or to push himself creatively. So, both of them see this project as a way to break out of their isolation, drawn together initially by what they can use from the other- Isabella feels unseen despite her wealth, Sam sees potential awards for this documentary. A recurring exchange between the two is her mentioning his BAFTA and him pointing out it was only a nomination. They become closer, sleep and take drugs together until matters spiral towards a more dramatic denouement .

The film is shot from the point of view of the documentary cameras which later on does jar a little because they seem to have unprecedented access and never sleep. Plus you wonder why would they be filming in some instances. Yet I wonder if this is intended to signify the way we can never escape observation in the modern world. Oddly the cameraman never speaks even when addressed by other characters. Perhaps we’re taking that aspect too literally and those off camera moments are just shot the same way to make the film flow better?

Sian Clifford is fantastic as Isabella, whether louchely misbehaving, showing off or wallowing in self pity. This is a ferocious performance the viewer will revel in watching, by turns amusing, terrifying or sympathetic. As Sam, Laurie Kynaston s excellent as his character tries to temper the madness with reasonable suggestions and frustration. He is the polar opposite of Isabella, always bringing matters down to earth. Cooking up a chemistry, both actors take full advantage of the proximity of the cameras to the extent that you feel as if you are with them, their expressions maximised. They also benefit from the strong script- co written by Samuel Abrahams and Miranda Campbell Bowling- which explores the characters fully.

There are a handful of other characters including Juliet Cowan as Isbella’s sole member of staff who seems to be a cook but is asked to do all sorts and Olisa Odele as Sam’s agent. Another layer is added by Jonny Woodley’s pulsing incidental music whose voices and discordance often suggests this could be a horror movie which suits the subject matter so well. And let’s not forget the house, an arty player in this drama and which Abrahams captures to its full extent.

In interviews, Abrahams says he got the original idea after seeing a video from an aspiring influencer who had no audience which made him think about people wanting to be seen and validated, a very contemporary issue. He was also influenced by 90s films like Being John Malkovitch or Groundhog Day which use surreal ideas to look at very human situations. In Lady the question of who is exploiting who, what each of them really wants and how they are bonded together by their fallibilities makes for an intriguing game of to and fro. It climaxes just before a competition Isabella is due to host called Stately Stars, an event for local kids. Her own turn at the event- incorporating her invisibility- takes surreal performance art to very odd places indeed!

The invisibility effect is achieved remarkably well given the filming method and is also amusingly treated as an ailment rather than anything remotely sci-fi or horror. When he sees it happening, Sam suggests they go to hospital as if it’s a conventional condition. The phenomena is never explained and at the end when it goes away you wonder if it was ever really there.

Some may find such a literal interpretation of female invisibility and older age loneliness a little too on the nose, but the script adeptly offers enough about Isabella herself to enable the viewer to empathise with her situation. Whether she really is physically disappearing, she has mentally vanished some time back. Yet once you watch the whole thing you can understand Isabella’s isolation.

I don’t think Lady is a film for everyone and there are moments where it may stray a little too far into the strange but if you go with it you are in for an unusual treat.