The movie is about the power of love, family and community in the face of hardship. It is also about the magic that can happen when someone who cannot speak with words finds people who can listen with their hearts. The musical drama feature film, directed by nine-time Grammy nominee Sia, was only going to release as a cinema premiere on Dstv Box Office on Friday 12 February 2021. However, due to popular demand, the film will now also release at Ster-Kinekor cinemas nationwide on the same day.

The story begins with a young girl on the autism spectrum who experiences the world through music. Sharing an apartment with her grandmother Millie (Mary Kay Place), Music (Maddie Ziegler) lives in a community brimming with love and support. When her grandmother dies, Music’s safe and structured world is turned upside down and she is left in the care of her estranged half-sister Zu (Kate Hudson).

As a recovering addict on parole, Zu is barely coping with her own issues when she finds herself thrust into the role of Music’s guardian and caregiver. Broke and barely sober, Zu is forced to accept that Music’s neighbours Ebo (Leslie Odom Jnr) and George (Héctor Elizondo) have a lot to teach her about how to care for her sister and the strength that can be found in a loving community.

“Deeply felt, MUSIC is a bold and compelling reinvention of the screen musical and a moving story of how individuals struggle and then come together and create community” said Benjamin Cowley, CEO Gravel Road Distribution Group. “The film is uplifting, light and soulful at the same time” he added.

Thanks to Ster-Kinekor this past weekend I got to see one of the hottest movie on circuit at the moment, Deepwater Horizon. What made this occasion more special was the fact that it was done in the all new and recently revamped cinema at Cresta Shopping Center. But wait there’s more, we got to see what is known as the “beautiful disaster” of a movie in Cine Prestige! Quite a great treat and experience it was which you can read more about later this week.

Onto the movie, I mentioned earlier that it is a “beautiful disaster” (a phrase I came across from one of the international reviews on the movie) and that’s probably the best way to describe it. So is that a good or bad thing you might ask? Let’s see. Deepwater Horizon is an American biographical disaster thriller film directed by Peter Berg, written by Matthew Sand and Matthew Michael Carnahan and starring Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Gina Rodriguez, Dylan O’Brien and Kate Hudson. It is based on the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Based on a true story, Deepwater Horizon comes hot on the heels of another movie I recently reviewed that’s also based on true events, Sully. Horizon though kind of makes Sully feel like a walk in the park with more heart wrenching and tense moments. Whilst watching you can’t help but wonder why people do such things…being in the middle of the ocean, nowhere really and you are drilling deep down the ocean where you can’t be too sure what lies down there? Even if it is for oil…I still don’t get it. Maybe it’s just me but then again, what do I know.

You might be safe in your theater seat when watching but you can’t help but feel the emotion. The filmmaking is outstanding in that respect. The only thing I will say though is it does take a while to get going with the first hour or so dedicated to introducing the characters and not much really going on but when you consider that it’s not that long of a watch it makes sense why they would do that.

The movie eases us through by focusing on the working-class crew on the oil rig, that include chief electrician Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) and dynamic positioning officer Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez). Once everybody’s aboard the rig, located 65 km off the coast of Louisiana and drilling 5,000 feet below sea level, the situation starts heating up and gets interesting – On the record, the current job is $53 million and 43 days over budget, crazy right? The workers – led by Jimmy “Mr Jimmy” Harrell (Kurt Russell) start feeling the pressure from BP (yip that one) bigwigs like Don Vidrine (John Malkovich), who are supposedly “visiting” to make sure things start moving more efficiently. With the pressure building there’s a need to start speeding things up with the right safety measures being ignored in the process. That then sets the scene for what’s to come and what the whole movie is centered on.

Cast – Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Gina Rodriguez, Dylan O’Brien, Kate Hudson

Genre – Biographical thriller

Director – Peter Berg

Running Time – 107 minutes

As always, not going to spoil it for you, what I will say is it’s a great movie and indeed a beautiful disaster that was well crafted and a great tribute to the lives that were lost (see below image for those and here for more info on the real story).

Deepwater Horizon gets a solid 3 out 5 rating from me.