Disclosure

NO LONGER RENTABLE

European Première,

courtesy of Disclosure Productions.

In Competition,

CIFF ‘Best Film, Emerging Director Award’ 2021.

Click here to watch the CIFF interview with Disclosure director Michael Bentham.

Writer-director Michael Bentham’s bold debut feature opens on a couple shooting a sex tape. We next see Danny and Emily relaxing by their pool in the Melbourne suburbs as another couple, Joel and Bek, turns up unannounced. Pleasantries follow - the kind that pass between good friends - but the tension rises as talk turns to a disturbing incident involving their children that has allegedly left one of them traumatised. It’s not the first time this has been discussed, but there’s no agreement about what took place and nobody is prepared to give any ground. As the small talk turns to vicious accusations and veiled threats, the couples’ behaviour becomes more like that of the children they are trying to protect.

Thematically similar to Yasmina Reza’s play God of Carnage (adapted for the screen by Roman Polanski in 2011) but a far weightier proposition, Disclosure is a masterclass in micro-budget filmmaking. Unfolding for the most part in real time, it’s driven by a searing script, which builds in complexity as career motivations, porn addiction and blackmail all get thrown into the mix. An enquiring camera makes the most of the single location and captures every twitch and tell from a committed cast as they tear into the material – Geraldine Hakewill as Bek puts in a particularly incendiary performance. Based on real events and with hot button subject matter that has made headline news in the UK recently, the film can also be seen as a microcosm of wider issues including #metoo and the relationship between press and politics, and is bound to stick with you long after the credits have rolled.

”…a unique, highly relevant gem that revolves around a complex quandary, summarized in the film’s opening quote: “There are two sides to every story, and then there is the truth.” It marks the arrival of a talent to watch.’ - Alex Saveliev, Film Threat.

‘There have been plenty of films about bickering couples trapped in a small space over the years. Few of them have pulled it off as well as Disclosure.’ - Anthony Morris, ScreenHub.

‘In lesser hands Disclosure could have been a pompous, prolonged shouting match replete with virtue-signalling and woke-speak. Thankfully, director Michael Bentham has fashioned a far more nuanced, insightful and captivating clashing of wills and truths.’ -_ jimschembi.com_

CIFF audience comments:

‘This was by FAR the most powerful experience I’ve had in front of a film for a long time. ‘

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