Reviewer's Rating 2 out of 5 听 User Rating 3 out of 5
Puritan (2006)
12aContains infrequent strong language and moderate threat

Crumbling Victorian mansions, echoing cathedrals, Whitechapel s茅ances: Puritan has enough Gothic atmosphere for a dozen movies. Nick Moran stars as Simon Puritan, an alcoholic journalist and sometime medium who gets mixed up with the femme fatale wife (Georgina Rylance) of a powerful American businessman (David Soul, yes that David Soul). Writer/director Hadi Hajaig plays beautiful games with light and shadow but completely forgets to obscure a pivotal plot twist. Sadly, you don't need psychic powers to guess where it's going.

While Jason Statham has stormed Hollywood, his Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels co-stars haven't broken out in quite the same way. Moran's a capable actor and here he gives a solid turn as Puritan. We first meet him in the depths of alcoholic despair - setting up fake s茅ances for cash after his career and marriage have failed. Then a visit from a hideously burned man piques Puritan's interest in Anne Grey (Rylance) and triggers a chain of coincidence with supernatural, time travelling edge.

"WILL KEEP YOU ON YOUR TOES"

Most will guess who the mystery man really is (his voice alone gives the game away instantly). If you do you'll also piece the plot together long before the final ten minutes spells it all out in plodding detail for the hard of thinking. Hajaig has a flair for brooding ambience, turning red-lit bars and empty tube stations into hellish zones where whispered dialogue and dark visuals make everything pregnant with meaning. It looks good, but can't patch up the fatal flaw of giving away the movie's big reveal an hour too early. That leaves Puritan disappointingly flawed and instantly forgettable.

End Credits

Director: Hadi Hajaig

Writer: Hadi Hajaig

Stars: Nick Moran, Georgina Rylane, David Brown

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Length: 94 minutes

Cinema: 10 November 2006

Country: Germany

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