Luke McWilliams gives his review of the 2020 film, Disclosure, starring Mark Leonard Winter and Geraldine Hakewill.
Free-living journalist Danny Bowman (Mark Leonard Winter) and his documentary filmmaker wife Emily (Matilda Ridgway) are skinny dipping in their backyard pool when they are unexpectedly visited by their friends, local politician Joel Chalmers (Tom Wren) and wife Bek (Geraldine Hakewill) with a bodyguard in tow. The Chalmers wish to talk about the Bowmans’ young daughter’s accusations of abuse by their son!
Shot on a micro-budget, the movie’s strength is its script and its actors. Shot conservatively in limited locations, the movie is like a play, making the most of its actors in each frame. The subject matter is heavy and deals with an incredibly difficult conversation among friends. Each character comes to the conversation from their own angle; Emily has the care of her child at the forefront, while Danny balances the couple’s friendship, and his precarious book deal, as a factor. Joel has his political aspirations to worry about, and Bek brings along her own trauma from similar experiences.
Unlike 2017’s The Dinner, there are no interruptions to getting down to the nitty-gritty of the difficult issues explored. As the conversation continues, relationships strain, desperate tactics are used, and tempers flare! The look is quite harsh under the bright Australian sun; a larger budget may have improved the filming and grading of the picture.
Verdict: Disclosure effectively and uncomfortably examines in detail the fabric of friendships and family at the pinnacle of an unimaginably difficult situation. 3.5 stars.
Disclosure is streaming from September.
- Luke McWilliams | themovieclub.net
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