I finished work early and wandered about, eventually spending a relaxing half hour in a comfy chair in the InterContinental sipping a drink that wasn’t the old fashioned I’d been hoping for, but was at least sufficiently pleasant [Note to self: I need to find a list of quiet bars that have the Old Fashioned on the menu]. After which I strolled down to the Dendy Quays for the first film of the evening, What’s in the Darkness, from China. This was a delicate, coming of age story set in provincial China revolving around the daughter of one of the local cops who is in turn dealing with a strange serial killer. It sounded darker from the description but ended up feeling lighter with the criminal investigation existing more in the background. Others have gotten more out of it, particulaly in its exploration of a patriarchal family and the difficulty of growing up amidst conservative values.

As the credits started to roll I raced out as I had 20 minutes to get to Event Cinema at Town Hall for my next film. I made it out to the quay promenade and smack into the middle of massive crowds of Vivid spectators. Needless to say it took longer rthan expected to get to the station and I missed the first train. Luckily there was a second a few minutes later and I made the movie with a few minutes to spare. This was a Polish movie, The Lure, that can be best described as a macabre musical with mermaids…and it worked. At times gruesome and sweet and romantic and scary and violent and beautiful. Somehow it all hung together. There were a few icky moments where I had to look away from the screen but otherwise it was fab.