Typist Artist Pirate King (2023)

Directed by Carol Morley

The growing friendship between two women as they hit the road in an electric car looking for endings and reconciliation.

Cambridge Film Festival 2023: Film #1

It feels mean to be tough on this fictionalised biopic as it's very clearly made with love for forgotten British artist Audrey Amiss (1933—2013), but the film sets itself a very hard challenge for itself by attempting to depict mental health episodes on-screen (oof…), be a "British road movie" (almost a contradiction in terms), a hard-hitting family drama, a critique of mental health care provision in the UK in addition to being a feel-good comedy. Curiously, the supernatural elements actually assist in melding these elements together, but it was always going to be a little tough for it to all come together. Reminded me a lot of Ali Smith's Autumn (2016), not least in the way Smith's book is, amongst other things, an attempt to bestir interest in another neglected woman artist, Pauline Boty.