Tornado review: A singular, if rarely easy, watch about double-crossing rogues on the rampage
Tornado
Director
:
John Maclean
Cert
:
None
Genre
:
Drama
Starring
:
Tim Roth, Jack Lowden, Takehiro Hira, Joanne Whalley, Koki
Running Time
:
1 hr 31 mins
In Tornado the film-maker John Maclean returns to the austere storytelling that defined
Slow West
, his well-regarded debut, from 2015. Set in a rugged and unnamed corner of 18th-century Scotland, the film follows the taciturn young circus performer of the title and her father as they are drawn into a deadly pursuit. Despite the ambiguous period setting, the McGuffin is familiar: an opportunistic theft, a misplaced bag of swag, and double-crossing rogues on the rampage.
The heroine, played by the Japanese actor and musician Koki, is a stoic teenager with a talent for swordplay and a complicated, sulky relationship with her dad, Fujin (Takehiro Hira), a warrior turned puppet master.
Their life on the road, performing morality puppet plays with a touch of Punch and Judy ultraviolence, takes a dark turn when a local scallywag absconds with two bags of stolen gold during one of their shows. The theft attracts the attention of Sugarman, a grizzled, ruthless outlaw (Tim Roth at his meanest) with a small gang of thugs in tow, including his disgruntled son, Little Sugar (Jack Lowden).
As Sugarman's group pursues Tornado across misty moors and abandoned villages, the muted action unfolds less as a traditional revenge plot and more as a meditation on end-of-days degeneracy. For all the genre signifiers, Maclean's confusing, fragmented structure, contemplative pillow shots and dour tone leave little room for the playful high-jinks of Kill Bill or Samurai Jack.
READ MORE
Which year did Marty not visit?
1885
1955
2015
2055
What was Clint Eastwood's first film as director?
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Play Misty for Me
Firefox
Bird
Who is not a sibling?
Macaulay
Kieran
Rory
Benji
The actor playing the title character of which film was actually born in the US?
Klute (1971)
The Mask (1994)
Dudley Do-Right (1999)
Green Lantern (2011)
What is the last Pixar film to win the best animated feature Oscar?
Soul
Onward
Coco
Inside Out
Which is the odd period out?
Ms Weld
Dan Aykroyd in Dragnet
Ms Squibb
Christina Ricci in The Addams Family
Who was not portrayed by Steph?
Ally
Lee
Patrizia
Breathless
Which is the odd one out?
Harrison Ford's other profession
2024 Palme d'Or winner
Todd Haynes's notorious early short
Halloween and Escape from New York
Who is about to succeed, among many, many others, James Whale, Terence Fisher and Kenneth Branagh?
Guillermo del Toro
Ari Aster
David Lowery
Robert Eggers
Whose daughter fought the Triffids?
Alison Steadman
Thora Hird
Patricia Routledge
Margaret Rutherford
Robbie Ryan, who was also the cinematographer on The Favourite and Poor Things, leans into the script's sense of dread. Through his lens the bleak Scottish landscape becomes a grey antagonist that threatens to drown everyone in apocalyptic rain. The characters, accordingly, often appear small and helpless against the remote hills. Up close, however, the handsome costume and production design are frequently too anachronistic to engage. Even the title feels as if it belongs to a different film.
Tornado will frustrate the giblets out of anyone seeking narrative momentum or emotional catharsis. But viewers willing to sit with its stark silences and oppressive atmospherics can look forward to a singular, if rarely easy, watch.
In cinemas from Friday, June 13th
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
13 hours ago
- Irish Times
Bossa nova puts an end to unease created by an innocent relationship question
The event was not due to start until 8pm, but Shuhao was so worried about finding a seat that it was only 6.30pm when we walked down the steps into a basement near the Longfu Temple. For the next hour we were alone apart from the barman, the owner and two women who moved to and fro taking pictures of one another. For almost a decade, this small space hosted film screenings, exhibitions, DJs and live bands, with an emphasis on improvisation. At Say Something, one of the most popular weekly events, those present were invited to 'read something aloud, tell a story, say something' – with no restrictions on their choice of material. 'You could read anything. Some people just read something like the phone book,' Shuhao said. 'There was no judgment. But you were supposed to think about the feelings of the others there too.' The last time he was there, the place was so full he had to go up to the street for air from time to time. But now the management had announced that 'due to the contract expiring + economic downturn + limited energy' it was closing down. READ MORE Shuhao and I were there for what was due to be the closing event, another regular feature called Open Decks, where everyone was invited to play the music of their choice for 30 minutes. In keeping with the venue's spirit, which one regular visitor described as 'free but not unbridled', the choices tended to be individual but at least tolerable for most of the others present. While we waited for the show to begin, Shuhao brought me up to date about his life as a student of English literature at one of Beijing's top universities. He was planning to move for his master's degree to Peking University, the most prestigious of all, and was preparing for an entrance examination. 'The teachers aren't better there but the students are,' he said. Some of his friends were thinking about going abroad for their master's degree but he felt that, since he had chosen to study something that would never make him rich, he should not ask his parents to pay too much for it. He was hoping to go abroad for his PhD, aiming for one of the leading American universities where funding for doctoral students can be generous. I was surprised that he would consider going to the United States in the current climate, particularly after the threats to revoke Chinese students' visas made as part of Donald Trump's trade war. The last time we met he had mentioned a girlfriend and I asked, gently I thought, if she was still in the picture. He said she was, but then he looked troubled and a few minutes later he returned to the subject 'It's better than a real war. And he'll be gone by then,' Shuhao said. As they head into their final year as undergraduates, his friends and classmates are also thinking about their future. Some have ambitions for high political office and are planning a route through the system, while others want to make money and are enrolling in MBA courses. Shuhao's passion is for writing songs and singing in a band, but he has no plan to make a career out of it – and neither do most of his creative friends. 'Most of them want to get a job in the civil service, where they finish work at the same time every day and they have the rest of the time for music or writing or whatever they want,' he said. 'I prefer the approach of Wallace Stevens or TS Eliot to Byron or Shelley.' Shuhao is not planning to work in an insurance company like Stevens or in a bank like Eliot, but he is becoming more modest and restrained in his manner and appearance in recent months. His once shoulder-length hair has become a short crop and he has swapped the black metalhead T-shirts and jeans for a white shirt and black trousers. The last time we met he had mentioned a girlfriend and I asked, gently I thought, if she was still in the picture. He said she was, but then he looked troubled and a few minutes later he returned to the subject. 'I'm sorry, I'm really shocked by that question,' he said. 'We don't post pictures of ourselves on WeChat all the time. We take pictures but we don't post them. We are in a committed relationship and we have plans for the future.' I felt old suddenly and poisoned by experience. An unease fell between us as I tried to assure him that I wasn't casting doubt on anything. I was babbling about the couples I knew who had met in college and remained happily together in old age, when the first DJ put a stop to the conversation. His gentle mix of bossa nova and French pop songs from the 1960s gave Shuhao and me something to smile about together and I stayed for another two sessions. He stayed behind but we exchanged a few messages on my way home as he updated me on the music and the crowd, with a final text an hour later. 'Everyone's standing up and grooving,' he said.
Irish Times
13 hours ago
- Irish Times
The Movie Quiz: Which streamer was the first to distribute a best picture Oscar winner?
In what film might you hear about 'my huckleberry friend'? Which are the odd awards out? Baftas Aactas Edgars Césars Which is the right succession? Marnie, Married to the Mob, Madame Web Marnie, Something Wild, Madame Web Vertigo, Something Wild, Madame Web Marnie, Something Wild, Anyone But You How many directors have had more than one film top the all-time highest-grossing list? 0 1 2 3 Which was the first streaming service to distribute a winner of best picture Oscar? Who doesn't belong? Mendes Rocknroll Urban Threapleton Who has yet to direct Johnny Depp in a title role? Tim Burton Mike Newell Lasse Hallström Michael Mann Spot the odd one out. Lena Horne Billie Burke Mela Kunis Ariana Grande Which literary giant was never adapted by Akira Kurosawa? Dostoevsky Shakespeare Gorky Tolstoy Who was on the same bill as George Pal, Michael Rennie, Leo J Carroll, Anne Francis and Dana Andrews? Fay Wray Elsa Lanchester Mae Clark Helen Chandler
Irish Times
21 hours ago
- Irish Times
Heston: My Life with Bipolar: Gripping account of celebrity chef's journey from denial to diagnosis
In the UK , it is estimated that some 1.3 million people have bipolar disorder – more than have dementia. The statistics are presumably much the same in Ireland and yet the condition remains taboo and largely undiscussed. For that reason, it never occurred to celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal that he might have the disorder when he began to experience manic episodes several years ago. While he suspected he was neurodivergent, the word 'bipolar' never crossed his mind. How little he knew, he says in the gripping and gruelling Heston: My Life with Bipolar (BBC Two, Thursday 8pm) – until the episodes became severe, and in late 2023, he hallucinated that he had a gun. This was in France, where he lives with his wife, the French entrepreneur Melanie Ceysson. 'I was trying to fight my way out of it. Two people held my arms down,' he says. 'I was struggling a lot. Then I saw the doctor pull out this whacking great syringe.' Eighteen months later, Blumenthal is on a heavy regime of medication that has led to weight gain and resulted in his speech slowing down to a meditative not-quite-slur. He hasn't had any more of the extreme shifts in mood and energy that are a signature of bipolar disorder. And yet there this isn't quite a happy story with a happy ending. One of the themes of this fascinating and admirably honest film is his fear that the drugs that have stabilised his mind may have snuffed out the creativity that drove him in his early career. As foodies will know, Blumenthal was at the cutting edge of the cutting edge as proprietor of the Fat Duck restaurant in Bray (a village in Berkshire rather than the Irish seaside town, as I was disappointed to discover after many years of assuming Wicklow was at the white-hot frontline of gastronomic innovation). Snail porridge, bacon and egg ice cream – he was the master of the non sequitur menu. READ MORE Blumenthal had long suspected his brain was different. He compares the zing of inspiration to a drizzle of sweets pitter-pattering down on his head. In 2023, the downpour became a deluge, and he was overwhelmed. Looking back, it is obvious he was hurtling towards a crash. However, he had been too blinded by success to recognise the danger signs. 'I ended up becoming a hamster on a wheel. I self-medicated with cocaine. I didn't realise I was self-medicating at the time. I was absolutely self-medicating. I knew I had a busy head. I didn't know if it was more busy than other people's heads,' he says. 'I looked up if I was autistic. I didn't even think about bipolar.' In one painful scene, he is shown a TV interview he gave shortly before his breakdown. The journalist says hello, and Blumenthal, dialling in over Zoom, embarks on a 10-minute stream-of-consciousness monologue. It's as if every nerve ending in his brain is firing at once, and it's all coming straight out of his mouth. 'I want to put the inside-out back into the outside-in. I want to put the being back into the human,' he says. The interviewer smiles nervously. 'He's asked me one question,' says Blumenthal today. ''How are you? That's it.' A more self-involved celebrity would make it all about themselves. To his credit, Blumenthal moves on from his own struggles to address the failure of the British health service to meet the needs of those who are bipolar. He calls on the mother of Rebecca McLellan, a paramedic from Ipswich who died by suicide after being denied the medical care she required. In another moving scene, Blumenthal meets his son Jack, who talks about how difficult it was to be around his father. 'We'd plan it three weeks in advance, getting prepared just to see you for half an hour,' says Jack, who now runs his own restaurant. 'And there was nothing I could do to help you.' Blumenthal's face crumples, and he struggles to hold back tears. 'I'm sorry,' he says. It is one of many hugely emotive sequences in a documentary that bravely traces the chef's journey from denial to diagnosis. Its most significant achievement is that, just a few minutes in, the viewers begins to see Blumenthal not as a famous foodie in fancy spectacles – but a vulnerable individual who desperately needs support.
