Chatterbox Film and TV Awards 2022

Drum roll for the inaugural Chatterbox Film, TV  and Theatre awards 2022.  This is a really random selection and I  am sure I have forgotten some great stuff but these are the bits that have stuck in my memory.  You may be relieved I have forgotten some things, as this has turned out to be far too long, like every award ceremony you have ever seen.  May contain spoilers.

Best TV Moment

It was a good year for TV moments. The nominees are:

Stranger Things: There were a lot of great moments in series 4.  I almost picked  Kate Bush saves Max, but really that's probably more a group of moments.  Or I could have picked one of the moments where poor Will has his romantic hopes dashed.  Instead though I have picked the iconic moment in the finale of series 4, with Eddie Munson's heroic playing of Metallica's Master of Puppets.  The game changer in the battle, sacrificing himself for his friends, and also spot on brand for the metalhead/ dungeons and dragons crossover that I remember from my teens.  

His Dark Materials:  That final moment zipping up in the Oxford Botanic Gardens. By this time we have already been through an emotional wringer, and everyone is straining for that happy ending but we, along with Will and Lyra, know we are going to have to settle for the right ending instead.  Just heartbreaking, bringing it all to literal as well as narrative and emotional closure.  The postscript is heartbreaking too by the way!

Heartstopper:  This show was stuffed full of moments.  The proper award nominations and reviews have rightly focused on two particular scenes; the first kiss (ep3) which was both beautiful and culturally significant in letting a love scene between two boys just play, and also on the coming out scene (ep8), beautifully acted by Kit Connor and Olivia Coleman,  now being used as a tool for teenagers talking to their parents and a master class in how to be a parent in that situation.   But I have chosen a much quieter moment at the end of episode 2. It's a hug, and a straight lift from the graphic novel, but that shouldn't minimise the delicacy in how this scene is framed and acted to show the realisation that this isn't any old friendship. I think the use of intimacy co-ordinators have made a huge difference in how these scenes are framed, and so this is probably a nomination for them too.  

And the winner is:   Heartstopper

Best romcom

Heartstopper:  It isn't really a romcom although it follows the usual path of meet, crush, kiss, obstacles, happy ending.  The romcom tropes used are the antithesis of the sex and drug fuelled depiction of teenage life that's more commonly depicted on telly.  Instead, we have young teen accessible milkshakes, trips to the park and cinema and parties with not a spiked drink in sight.  What is clever though is that the romcom format is used to hint at mental health issues, eating disorders, transphobia and homophobia all peeking through, but being dealt with in a way which shows the light to the way out.  

End of the F**king World:  This wasn't really a 2022 thing, but it was this year that I discovered it, so as these are my awards, I get to make the rules.   This dark journey taken by two emotionally fragile teenagers has elements of horror, coming of age, drama and romcom all in one and I wrote about it here.  Beautifully scripted and acted, at the end of series 1 (at about midnight) I shouted NOOOO very loudly and went straight on to series 2 until the early hours.  Another pair of emerging talents here in Alex Lawther and Jessica Bawden, they kept me with them regardless of their often awful actions, and broke my heart on numerous occasions.  Lovely stuff .  

Starstruck:  The only classic romcom on the list here, written by and starring Rose Matafeo  with all of the right elements in place from the meet-cute (in this case a drunken one night stand) and all of the usual hazards to true love.  But Matafeo has created a real Millennial woman, juggling rubbish jobs and injecting the doubt and realism you would expect if a fantasy arrived in your own life.  Series 1 aired in 2021, but again I watched both series 1 and 2 in 2022.  Whilst series 2 was inevitably less of a will-they-won't they, the finale was a classic, reminding me of Bridget Jones in the mix of romance and ludicrousness. 

And the winner is:  Starstruck

Best drama

So much great stuff I could have included here, so this is a really slimmed down list.  The nominations are:

Normal People:  This adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel brought the characters to life for me far more clearly than the original novel did on first read.   Daisy Edgar-Jones is both fragile and determined as Marianne in pursuing her own way despite the damage it does to her, and Paul Mescal perfectly balances that fine line to show Connell's easy popularity, private vulnerabilities and mistakes.  The adaptation is masterful, and the performances so subtle and moving. As a love story, it's not neat or tidy, the protagonists miss and hurt each other (and not in a cute way), and it is a really close look at what love might really be.  The sex scenes are wonderfully understated, awkward and messy (those intimacy co-ordinators again?), and the ending lands just right. Just loved it and I have gone back and read the book again with a newfound pleasure. 

I Hate Suzie: Written by and starring Billie Piper in collaboration with Lucy Prebble, this is Billie Piper really showing what a great artist she is.   This is a harsh, brutal and painfully funny look at the downfall of a star in the full public gaze, with social media giving no place to hide.  Touching on all sorts of uncomfortable realities about how people really live and behave when they think no-one is watching, I just couldn't look away.

Blackbird:  I am not usually a fan of the real crime genre of television, but this was visually stunning, tense from beginning to end, and by and large managed to avoid being sensationalist about the crimes involved.  The real life story of a criminal agreeing to try to get a confession from a serial killer in exchange for a reduction in sentencing, Taron Egerton continues to show his versatility as an actor with his performance as nasty narcissist at the start of the series through to seeker for justice, and the story is as much about his journey as the murderer.  Paul Walter Hauser plays the killer Larry Hall with a creepy empathy, and Greg Kinnear is perfect as the detective.  Loved the look of this too, all Americana, lush colours and wide landscapes to juxtapose with the claustrophobia of the prison scenes and the grimness of the murders.  

Succession: Strictly this is a comedy drama, and written by Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Peep Show, this is a series about a mega-rich media dynasty vying for power, with every one of the characters so awful in their own way it's just impossible to look away.  An example of the American dream gone rotten all the way through, each awful step creates a laugh accompanied with a gasp that they are actually going there. What keeps you watching though, is the subtle way you can see the underlying weaknesses and motivations that keep each of the characters fighting to win their own version of the game vs the reality and what the rest of the world sees.  Brian Cox as Logan Roy towers over the whole series with his clear-eyed understanding of the weaknesses of each of his children and wider family and how to play corporate chess against them for his own advantage.  They each think they are the good guy which makes it absolutely unmissable.  I love the weaseliness of Matthew MacFadyen's character Tom, who has married into money, Sarah Snook as Shiv the daddy's girl who thinks she has the edge, the dumb presidential wannabe played by Alan Ruck, Kendall Roy, who falsely believes he is the real business deal played by Jeremy Strong, and my favourite, Roman Roy played by Kieran Culkin.  He's the one I am rooting for!  The final scenes of series 3 would have made it into my TV moment of the year except I would have had to include the whole episode.

Help: With Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham, this was a thoroughly researched and hard-hitting drama showing the impact of the first round of Covid and the incompetent response on a care home.  Of its moment, and full of angry outrage,  I hope it won't be forgotten, because of the great performances, let alone the message it sent

Bad Sisters: I probably would have paid the Apple tv subscription for this alone.  Another comedy-drama, this is a deft mix of comic turns, romance, mixed with a family drama and a who-dunnit with underlying domestic abuse.  Written by and starring Sharon Horgan as one of the five bad sisters, this also has Ann-Marie Duff as the sister with a horrific husband.  Those two alone would have sold me but the rest of the cast round this out so beautifully, moving seamlessly from grimness to laugh out loud moments.  It was a perfect piece in and of itself with a really satisfying denouement.  The only thing that is spoiling it for me now is hearing a second season has been commissioned, which, while I can understand it, feels a bit of a worry, given the completeness of the first series.  Fingers crossed they don't spoil it.

Marriage:   With Nicola Walker and Sean Bean.  I would have said 'starring' but this is such a carefully understated piece the word doesn't really sit right.  With very little narrative to speak of, this is a study of a long relationship with all of the ennui and mundanity that usually gets cut out of the story, but which is used here to show the richness and complexity of the history and emotions underpinning the actions of each character and dynamics of the marriage.  Both brilliant actors, with nothing more than domesticity and minor incidents to go on, we learn about the hidden depths underneath.  This is a place where a lost jacket becomes a small private triumph, or a simple question at a dinner table opens up a previously hidden sea of grief.  Incredibly satisfying television.

And the winner is: Normal People

Best sci-fi or fantasy

Stranger things: The series continued to be gripping in 2022.  I absolutely love Winona Ryder in this, as the seeming mouse becoming a lion in defending those she loves - maybe she can get her own spin-off after the final series airs next year?  The kids are all growing up, and the way that is managed both in terms of the storylines, but also in adapting to the general gangliness and uneven growth of the main cast is admirable, and largely seamless.   Millie Bobby Brown continues to be both ethereal and terrifying, and the growing relationships with the rest of the gang are managed beautifully within all of the supernatural madness going on around them all.  Of course there is a great element of nostalgia for someone like me who remembers the 80's first time round which adds an additional dimension. Maya Hawke has managed a great breakout this year too, as well as becoming the buddy that Nancy needs.  Finally, what a treat that Running up that Hill became a  hit in 2022 as a result of the show.

His Dark Materials:  I've already written about this series here, so suffice to say that this mix of anti absolutism, scientific take on religious myths, physics and philosophy, overlaid with talking bears and a wonderful sense of the infinite beauty of the universe is just gorgeous.

Wednesday: The latest Netflix teen fantasy story, based on the Addams family character Wednesday as she goes to school.  We have a heavily star laden cast, with Jenna Ortega as Wednesday, Catherine Zeta Jones as Morticia, Gwendoline Christie as the headmistress, along with Christina Ricci and a very endearing Thing.  It's quite arch with good special effects for the horror sequences in particular, but very good fun and an amazing dance by Wednesday at the prom.

Wandavision:  I struggled to get into this when it first came out.  As someone who doesn't really follow the Marvel universe or characters in any detail, I really couldn't get the point of Wanda and Vision starring in vintage tv sitcoms, and gave up halfway through the second episode.  When I came back in 2022 (as a result of seeing that Kathryn Hahn and Joe Locke (Heartstopper) were to star in a spin-off) I saw it through just a bit further and grew to love it.  The homages to each era of US sitcom are beautifully and lovingly crafted, and as the underlying story seeps through, the mix of genres enriches both the sitcom and the Marvel narrative.  Whilst I am still not an afficionado of the MCU, this is now a favourite.

The Sandman:  I finished the Diner episode, but haven't gone further yet.  This has an excellent cast and looks stunning, with such high production values I can't imagine how they ever actually afforded to make this for television.   At the moment though I admire rather than love it. I might still change my mind though.

Severance:  This is a near future dystopia on Apple TV and it is absolutely gripping.  Imagining a world in which you can sever your work self from the rest of your personality, the series explores the consequences  for the Severees both inside and outside work, and what unscrupulous corporations could do with such a thing.  The cinematography is atmospheric, with the bilious colours and never-ending corridors of the offices, and almost-always-dark outside world adding to the tension and claustrophobia.  In addition, brilliant performances from Christopher Walken and Patricia Arquette mean that it isn't just the leads who have some satisfying storylines to explore.  I'll be keeping my subscription going to see what happens next,  In the future if anyone suggests it would be lovely to be able to properly leave your work at work, and home life at home, I'd read the small print very carefully.

The Umbrella Academy:  Series 1 was a joy, series 2 not so much,  I did enjoy series 3 more though in the Hotel Oblivion and I liked the incorporation of Elliot Page's transition into Vanya's story as part of the whole story arc.   The alternate timeline twist in this series gives a whole new family to work with and that gives the opportunity for plenty of silliness.  The main characters have finally all worked out their abilities, including Klaus (who I continue to love, and not just because he is pretty) and he has some of the most fun I would say in this series.  The ending though, where they all walk off into the sunset is clearly a tease.  If they give us a good final series, this is all redeemable.

And the winner is: His Dark Materials 

Best Theatre

The Corn is Green:  With Nicola Walker as Miss Moffat in Emlyn Williams semi autobiographical play about a miner's son escaping from the Welsh Valleys through education.   This was one of my first trips back to the theatre after the lockdowns, and it was lovely to be back again, albeit with masks still widespread.  I always enjoy Nicola Walker's air of no nonsense which she brings to overlay all sorts of complicated feelings, and she did the same here.  The play itself is sentimental, but no less valuable for that in highlighting how social mobility matters and for all of its faults, what the grammar school system brought as a way of undermining the class privilege of the privately educated.  As The Guardian notes, this is a Billy Elliot of The Valleys, with but with Greek and Latin instead of dance.  

Jack Absolute Flies Again: Written by Oliver Chris and Richard Bean originally to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Britain, but then delayed by lockdowns.  This is a reworking of Sheridan's The Rivals but set in an airfield with pilots and various hangers on, and was full of farce and false identities as in the original,  and so there was plenty of fun to be had here.  The social satire was still there, but didn't really hit the spot in the same way.  The star of the show was Carolyn Quentin though and her fantastically rude malapropisms.  She looked like she was having a ball, and so we did too.  

Good:  I wrote about Good here, and it is a powerful play which hits spot on for the times, and with a great performance by David Tennant.  The transition of a reasonable, reasonably good man, enabling and then leading the Nazi agenda is a chilling reminder that no-one can be sure what they will choose when they are tested.    

The Crucible:  I wrote about the play here, and this is another play where the themes seem timely in the extreme.  Great performances from the ensemble cast, and I loved the spare staging as a way of making sure the themes stayed centre stage, but didn't understand all of the water. 

Prima Facie: I didn't see this live, but at the cinema at a National Theatre Live screening.  This is probably the most powerful performance I have seen on a stage this year, and I am only sorry I didn't actually get to see it live.  I wrote about it here.  Emotionally exhausting to watch, Jodie Comer took us all through the legal  journey of a rape case.  I was, and still am, moved when I think about it.  

Orlando: This snuck in towards the end of the year.  Emma Corren gave an energetic and emotionally engaging performance as Orlando, leading us through the centuries of what it has been like to be a man or a woman trying to live their life.  I wrote about it here, and I loved it to start with, and it has only continued to grow on me as I thought about it more.  I've now re-read the book as a result of the play, and so I've even more admiration for the way the themes are drawn out and addressed in a way which stays true to the novel but also speaks to today's world where the ability to live and love as you wish has become possible for many but is still under attack.  This is my play of the year and I will be trying to get there again before it closes.

And the winner is: Orlando 

Best Film

Aftersun: The most gorgeous looking film, with the colours of the beach and of nostalgia embedded, I have written about it here but in summary, this is a stand out performance by Paul Mescal, and with a great on screen chemistry with Frankie Corio as his eleven year old daughter.  This movie just broke my heart.

Where the Crawdads Sing:  One of my first visits back to the cinema properly this year, this is a great adaptation of the book, and managed to encapsulate most of the complicated storylines really well but it was all a bit soft focus, and no child fending for themselves would look as lovely as Kya did in this.   

The Lost Daughter:  Oh I loved this, from Olivia Coleman's performance,  to the flashbacks with Jessie Buckley as the young Leda.   I wrote about it here, and Coleman of course can produce layers of feeling like no-one else, but the added interpretation of Leda's struggles to balance her role as a young mother and wife with her own needs play through beautifully to Leda's mix of generosity and underhandedness in her dealings with the young family at the beach.  No tidy resolutions here and I loved it all the more for it.

The Father:  A tour de force performance from Anthony Hopkins as a man with dementia.  I've written a bit about it here, but really he leaves everyone else in the shade in his depiction of the journey into confusion.  Really moving and a little bit scary with a great supporting performance by Olivia Coleman 

Everything Everywhere All at Once:  A late entrant, I watched this the other night, and it is bonkers but also beautiful.  A look at the multiverse through the eyes of a middle aged Chinese-American woman owner of a laundromat in trouble with the IRS.  It is a breathless romp through increasingly random universes to save a classically disaffected gay teenage daughter.   It has Jamie Lee Curtis in a fat suit, finger kung fu, and rocks with googly eyes.  I can't really explain it more than that, but suffice to say it all gets resolved with some semblance of rationality by the end. I really enjoyed it!

And the winner is:  Aftersun 

Best Performance

The categories of male and female actors doesn't really work any more does it?  So, here are the multi-gender nominations

Paul Mescal: Normal People and Aftersun

Anthony Hopkins: The Father

David Tennant: Good

Emma Corrin: Orlando

Nicola Walker: Marriage and The Corn is Green

Olivia Coleman: The Lost Daughter, The Father and Heartstopper

Jodie Cormer: Prima Facie and Help

And the winners are:  Paul Mescal and Jodie Comer

Champion of Champions

All of the above have had their brilliant moments but I am going to choose the work that has had the most influence on my year overall.

The cultural impact of this series has been huge for the LGBTQ+ community in giving a positive representation to young people of just living your life as yourself and that message works for everyone in showing that love and acceptance are possible for all.  There are mental health and darker themes, including sexual violence which are not avoided but the lightness of touch and positivity throughout are just such a joy in that there is always a way forward.  Overlaying this is the way this show is crafted and the quality of the performances mean that it never feels too worthy , and while it is sweet, there are hints of sharpness that prevent it being saccharine. It is a thing of beauty that everyone with a heart could and should love.  

I have written about the series here, and the ripples it had on my film and tv viewing here.  I probably wouldn't have gone back and watched Normal People if Kit Connor hadn't been raving about it as an inspiration of his, and then I might not have made so much effort to see Aftersun.   My music offerings from Spotify have been widened as a result of the associated playlists and I have been offered loads of extra content from Netflix that I would probably never had seen without this series in my viewing mix.

And the winner is: Heartstopper