Franklyn (2008)

SPOILER WARNING!!! This post spoils movie Franklyn (2008).

This is one of my favorite movies. It is better, if you don't know the twist. It works also on second and third time and so on. I try not to spoil it too much. But it would be better, if you watched the movie before reading any further.

Movie is heavily influenced by Watchmen comic and Fight Club movie. Watchmen movie was released year after this movie. Preest is almost like Watchmen's Rorschach. He even has white mask like Rorschach. Without mask connection wouldn't be so obvious. I wish they replaced mask with something else. It could have been easily replaced something else and nothing would have been lost. Or am I missing hidden meaning of the mask? Mask is only thing I didn't like for reason, it is so obviously Rorschach. Those who haven't read the comic might not made the connection during the time of release. But year later Watchmen movie made Rorschach familiar to general public.

Female lead Emilia is inspired by Fight Club's Marla. She is not as carbon copy as Preest. To be honest, both characters turn out to be something else than they are at beginning and they go different direction than their inspiration. Story also has something from Fight Club, but it would be spoiling to tell what. It is not cheap mix of Watchmen and Fight Club. Both movies have been inspiration for this, but this has different tone than either of inspirations. It has enough of its own to be great movie.

Movie has four main characters. Peter is old man looking for his missing son. Milo is man, who broke up with his girlfriend at eve of their wedding. Emilia is suicidal art student. Milo tries to get over the break up. Emilia tries to figure, what her art project will be and what to do with her life. All three are in London and meet mysterious Pastor Bone one way or another. Fourth main character is Preest, who lives in surreal Meanwhile City. He hunts cult leader called Individual, who is responsible for death of a young girl. Preest, feels he let the girl down. In Meanwhile City you must have religion. It doesn't matter what it is or how stupid is. You have to have one. Preest is only one, who doesn't have religion and that gets him into troubles.

This is where it all starts. Movie builds slowly toward conclusion and at the end we learn, why we followed these four people. Story is slowly exposed until few scenes come out of the blue explaining, what it all is. I really don't want to spoil this too much. You get better character development than in blockbusters, which only look and sound good. This looks and sounds good. This also has good script. It is shame, it is not better known. I found it accidentally, like I do with most of my favorite movies.

Does anyone know, what happened to director and writer Gerald McMorrow? This is his only feature-length movie and it is already six years old. Wikipedia and IMDB knows next to nothing of him. Is he doing another movie or will this be his only one?

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