Directors: Benjamin Blaine, Chris Blaine
Cast: Abigail Hardingham, Cian Barry, Fiona O’Shaughnessy
Certificate: 18
Running Time: 98 minutes
Special Features: Three bonus featurettes; A Look Behind Nina Forever, Things that are not there and Things that were not there
Nina Forever has spent the last year or so touring the festival market, picking up awards as it goes and now it has finally landed on both digital and home entertainment platforms. Directed by brothers Benjamin and Chris Blaine, our tale is filled with love, loss, obsession and charm.
After his girlfriend Nina (O’Shaughnessy) dies in a car crash, Rob (Barry) unsuccessfully attempts suicide. His co-worker Holly (Hardingham) finds herself intrigued by Rob and the pair embark on a romance, despite the fact that Rob is still grieving. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, the relationship suffers another blow when, unable to find rest in the afterlife, Nina comes temporarily back to life whenever the new pair get intimate.
Powerful, provocative and utterly absorbing, Nina Forever takes the viewer down the rabbit hole of a new relationship fraught with obstacles. On the base level yes it’s about starting a new relationship after a bereavement, but the film is about much more than that and covers a much wider and common range of situations. In addition to grief and moving on we explore new relationships and how to deal with the dreaded ex, first time love, and age gaps.
Nina Forever takes the notion of sleeping with ghosts into an extreme level, which will shock and horrify some, but that is not the filmmaker’s intention. The most powerful scenes are the ones that occur between the trio in the bedroom. Nina could be read as both a physical presence and an imaginary one. The taunts that she spouts to Holly are exactly the thoughts that flash through the mind when faced with the topic of an ex, were it not for the lashings of blood you could almost write the encounters off as just that, a figment of the imagination.
It’s a beautifully crafted film that takes its time with the story, slowly building up the various characters and intricate layers of narrative. The palette is crisp and clean, the encounters with Nina attacking the screen with a much needed colour injection. The Blaine Brothers definitely aren’t afraid of the red stuff either, and Holly and Rob must have kept their local bed linens store afloat during production. Despite the gory content and upsetting themes, the film is surprisingly peaceful and sweet.
Acting-wise it’s no surprise from watching that Hardingham bagged herself the BIFA award for best newcomer. Her performance as Holly is a real revelation, she’s shy but tough, seductive and delightful, with just the right touch of strangeness. O’Shaughnessy plays Holly’s perfect opposite and the back and forth’s between them are brilliant. Barry too is fantastic as Rob, the man stuck in the middle.
The special features may be few but they are in-depth and well thought out. Budding filmmakers will find a lot to learn from, especially within the ‘Things that are not there’ and ‘Things that were not there’ features, both of which highlight the way that CG, lighting and colour-grading have been used to create Nina Forever.
A quirky film described by its filmmakers as ‘a fucked up fairytale’, Nina Forever will not suit everyone, but those with a taste for darker content will find plenty to enjoy.
Nina Forever arrives on digital platforms from Monday 15th February and on Blu-ray and DVD on Monday 22nd February.
Yayaya
Feb 14, 2016 at 9:25 pm
Its hilarious reading this review which can only have been written by someone associated with the film. Nina Forever is a cheap tacky utterly ridiculous piece of trash. there’s a reason films like this do not get a theatrical release – because they are RUBBISH!!!! Utterly devoid of any artistic merit, this complete waste of time will be available at your local bargain bucket within weeks!