Second Coming (2014) User Reviews

An absence of plot development

[joelbarrybrandt · 5/10 · 23 December 2015]

I am a big fan of the Film Movement series and my wife is a huge fan of Idris Elba so we both had great expectations for this movie. Unfortunately it became clear early on that the outline of the plot lacked development. It was shallow and the lead actress,Nadine Marshall failed to add depth to what was obviously meant to be a complex character study.

The movie opened and failed to develop many sub-plot lines which involved potential martial issues as well as mental state of mind. This is a very shallow and disappointing movie.

A word about Film Movement, I do not understand their reluctance to add sub-titles to movies with difficult accents such as the combined West Indian cockney used by the main characters. We don't think that would change our opinion of this movie but we missed 50 percent of the words.

Extremely emotional drama! 6/10

[leonblackwood · 6/10 · 11 July 2015]

Review: For a low budget English movie, which has seemed to have gone missing under the radar, I really quite enjoyed this emotional drama. Its about a woman who works in a benefit office and she's keeping her pregnancy secret because she doesn't know who the father is. She hasn't slept with her long time boyfriend for ages and she hasn't had an affair with anyone so she knows that questions will arise, once she tells her boyfriend. Her son can tell that she is pregnant and he is really excited about having a brother or sister. The only problem is that the dates don't add up so her boyfriend (Elba) starts accusing her in front of there young son. The loving mother starts to lose her mind because she doesn't know how she got herself into such a confusing predicament. I loved watching this close family go through there life's with joy and love. The only downside was the immaculate conception, which never gets explained but apart from that, the movies did touch every emotional bone in my body. The acting from the whole cast, especially Elba, was very realistic and the chemistry between the family members was great. It reminded me a lot of my childhood, especially when the grand parents came round for dinner but I was expecting more from the ending. In all, it's definitely worth a watch if your into your deep family dramas but the whole pregnancy thing is still a mystery to me. Enjoyable!

Round-Up: Although this movie is based around 3 characters, there is enough material to keep you entertained throughout. Edris Elba put in his usual top class performance and at 42 years of age, he really does seem to be moving up in the movie world. He's had major roles in the Avengers and Thor and with the Jungle Book and another Luther series in the pipeline, his career is definitely going from strength to strength. Nadine Marshall has starred in many TV series like Casualty, The Commander, The Bill and Judge John Deed so she hasn't really got that much experience when it comes to the big screen. She done an excellent job in this movie and she made the film feel extremely realistic with such a delicate subject matter. Its the first major movie from Debbie Tucker Green but she has won a BAFTA for her TV short called Random. This is a very well put together project which is pretty slow in parts but very well written and a joy to watch.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their deep dramas about a woman who finds out that she is pregnant but she doesn't know how because the dates of her conception don't add up. 6/10.

Seriously???

[FringeFanatic314 · 4/10 · 4 April 2018]

If I wanted to have a movie "left up to (my) interpretation", I would have only read the plot and not wasted nearly two hours I'll NEVER get back! I would be livid if I had paid to see this. Out of all the movies I have seen employing the same tactic of disregard for those investing time and/or money in viewing films, this takes the cake! What a way to royally mistreat an audience.

I hope Idris was well compensated for wasting his time on this instead of showcasing his talent in something worthwhile.

I am very disappointed!

[shelley-bourdon · 3/10 · 2 June 2016]

Not only did I have problems understanding the actors throughout the entire movie, I felt that there needed to be more explanation about what was actually happening. Basically, even though I've watched this movie, all I know about this film's plot is what I read on the back of the DVD box:

"Busy working parents Mark and Jackie have not been intimate with each other in several months, so when Jackie discovers she is pregnant, it comes as an inexplicable shock to all. Jackie insists she's been faithful, but Mark reacts with rage, knowing the baby can't possibly be his. As the unnerving side effects of Jackie's condition worsen, will this seeming miracle bring the family closer together or tear them apart?"

In my opinion, that last question remains unanswered. Did the husband and wife get a divorce? Are they still married? Are they separated? What does the husband, or ex- husband, think of his wife/ex-wife? Inquiring minds want to know.

If I'd paid money to see this film, I'd be feeling pretty angry right now. As it is, I rented it for free from my local library so my only regret is that my ears are still ringing due to the fact that I kept having to increase the volume of my television in order to try and understand what the actors were saying. Needless to say, I am very disappointed!

Extremely Disappointed

[maddiesalmon · 22 February 2019]

I instantly noticed the awful sound quality of this film, we could barely understand any of the dialogue and had to pause it after 10 minutes to look for subtitles. Unfortunately there are none, so we just had to put up with it.

The film is immensely slow all the way through, and along with the struggle to hear, it's very boring to watch. I kept going to find out if she cheated on him or not, but it was literally never revealed. It wasn't even mentioned by the mother once.

The ending was left totally unresolved, with no conclusion to the story. In fact, there's no beginning, middle or end in this film. I regret taking time to watch this film, or spending 99p renting it from Amazon Prime.

Not bad, ignore reviews that say there's no plot

[GladtobeGrey · 7/10 · 23 October 2020]

Good performances from all although I admit that subtitles were a big help to me. I don't really understand some other reviewers who write that there were no resolutions. It was obvious from the film's title where it was all leading and it was finally confirmed in the very last scene during the film's final minutes. I can only assume that they didn't watch until the very end. Other reviewers also mention the mother having had previous abortions - no, she didn't, she had miscarriages which is another reason the baby was miraculous. Worth a view, especially for Idris Elba fans.

Hard to Understand Accents

[sexy_fantasy · 2/10 · 6 February 2016]

This movie had potential to be good,but it was extremely difficult to understand the strong accents. There was a lot of mumbling so I didn't even know what was being said in conversations. There is no point watching a movie when half the time you cant understand the actors. I have seen movies with accents before, but these people weren't even talking clearly. I didn't like the ending,it was confusing. Like, was the couple still married? Did the family know about this miracle baby? Did the baby make that dead bird come alive, hinting that the baby had some type of power? Overall,There should have been subtitles or something. I think the lead actress could have played a more emotional role instead of her blank face. It was hard to tell what she was thinking because she was expression-less!

Worth the wait

[journi · 6/10 · 6 July 2016]

If you can wait out the many pauses present in this movie, you will be slightly astonished at the end. There's been a lot written about this film's poor sound quality and the ability to understand the actors' spoken words. I would suggest that if you are having trouble, or unfamiliar with the Jamaican/Cockny combined accent,, you turn on your subtitles or close captioning! Read the dialogue. It's actually quite interesting seeing how the language is expressed by the actors. I also found it amazing to watch the subject family live, interact and deal with life and those curves it can and may through. Very, very convincing and realistic acting. The father/son, mother/son and even husband/wife interactions are anything but static-----very real and touching. Even the actions and reactions of the extended family seem genuine. Although there were minutes I did find myself frustrated by the long pauses in dialogue and action, once I realized they were there to help tell the story, I used those pauses to examine the scenery and cinematography as presented as well as reflect upon some of the dialogue, as it was spoken. You !can! make it through this movie and I feel it it is worth it, but I will admit, it is not everybody's cup of tea.

Interminable

[Keep_It_Kosher · 2/10 · 19 February 2019]

Do not be deceived by the trailer, this is not the film you think you are about to watch. It's worse. Much, much worse.

Although aesthetically pleasing and possibly a good idea on paper, this film is a waste of the great talent of all cast members involved. It had the potential to be a moving, emotional, thought provoking experience but was let down by the painfully slow pace and depressingly poor resolution to any of the subplots. Leaving the ending open to interpretation was not thought provoking, but rather frustrating and disappointing to a confused audience that have been invested in the characters personal lives for an hour and forty five minutes. Calling the film a let down would be an understatement.

A film about Nothing

[jean-suchard · 2/10 · 24 December 2021]

I am angry with myself for watching this pointless movie. I had been listening to the BBC critic, Mark Kermode, interviewing the director of the movie and I was unimpressed with her refusal to divulge much about the movie but he was so full of praise and repeatedly asked her questions which he had asked before and got no answers. He praised the movie so much that I thought I should watch it because it was, at any rate, supposed to be a Christmas movie according to the critic who kept confusing the virgin birth with the birth of Mary without the stain of original sin, the Immaculate Conception. He must have had in mind a miraculous conception. This should have alerted me that the praise was coming from someone who did not know what he was talking about.

Well, I kept waiting for something to happen but the only action was a trip to the hospital and some fisticuffs in the school playground. Part of me was saying, "Turn it off!" and at the same time I was hearing, "The BBC thinks this is brilliant. Wait." What a dope I was. All the actors did was eat and mumble unintelligible text in broken sentences. I thought maybe I need my hearing examined. But No; I need my head examined for wasting so much time watching, Second Coming.

A beautiful film

[rareinsights · 8/10 · 1 November 2020]

I found this film beautiful. The slow pace, the fragmented conversations, the authentic accents, all worked to bring you into the world of this family and their everyday experience. At times it was raw and painful, at others it was touching and sweet. The story is told as if the viewer is getting a peek into their world, not as an over-dramatic or glamorised performance that explains every movement. If you prefer all your films to spell things out for you so you don't have to think or have the same americanised english accent, then maybe it's not the one for you. Anyone willing to be open to something else, then I'd recommend.

Disappointed

[tarecos-24503 · 2/10 · 4 January 2022]

I'm sorry but I just cannot get into this movie at all. I had a lot of hope for it based on the synopsis but it isn't grabbing my attention at all and I can not get engaged in this movie not to mention that I'm having trouble understanding what they are saying. The British accents are pretty thick I guess and is also very slow pace. It's not something I think I can even finish watching. Usually if a movie does not grab my attention by at least the 1st half hour it's not going to and at that point I'm not going to give it chance to... so sorry.

Hard to fault. Engaging. Highly recommend.

[kpentlanduk · 9/10 · 11 November 2015]

I just watched Second Coming. Been on my 'to do' list since Mark Kermode placed it in his top ten films of 2015. As Mark says, the film leaves you to interpret much of the story. Performances are so very very good here. Award winning quality. The family moments are so touching especially the close relationship between Mark and Jax. They radiated a true special love that made me beam from ear to ear. All is not glowing domestically but what exactly is wrong is never spelled out to you. Interpretations will vary but I felt definite hints of domestic violence, mental illness, PTSD from previous abortions... there is a lot to think about here. It demands and I think will shine even more with repeated viewings.

A movie for "Film" lovers

[bowdarrell · 8/10 · 24 August 2022]

Whilst I have to admit that I like films without a clear plot, and I have to admit that this films dialogue is hard to understand. I feel the film reflects the source material well. If your tuning into this film expecting to see Heimdal or Luther you will be disappointed. This is a character study if how the second coming would effect the people adound it.