Film review: Allelujah

Allelujah is set in a small Yorkshire geriatric hospital known as the Beth. Photo / Supplied

Allelujah (M, 99 min)

Screening in cinemas now

Directed by Richard Eyre

Richard Eyre directs powerful films with great acting: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench and Bill Nighy in Notes on a Scandal; Jim Broadbent, Judi Dench and Kate Winslet in Iris; Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci in The Children Act; and now Judi Dench and Jennifer Saunders in Allelujah. All four films feature distressed or conflicted women, all of them unforgettable.

Set in a small Yorkshire geriatric hospital known as the Beth, with wards and bathrooms named after Shirley Bassey and Dusty Springfield, Allelujah focuses on dedicated Sister Gilpin (Jennifer Saunders) and Dr Valentine, real name Dr Valinder Singh Vashish (Bally Gill), who doubles as the narrator. It’s pre-Covid, just, but already hours are long, takeaways eaten on the run. Love of caring for old people keeps the staff going, one Nurse Pinkney (Jesse Akele) having boundless positive energy. By contrast, there’s blundering young Andy (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) and a comically egotistical board chairman (Vincent Franklin).

Beds at the Beth are in high demand, although it’s under threat of closure. According to health officials it is not making economic sense. Protesters wave placards outside, with a local TV crew busily filming them, while a steady stream of patients arrives by ambulance.

The episodes featuring the hospital’s choir are entertaining. Patients enthusiastically practise for a long-service medal ceremony for Sister Gilpin, some struggling to remember who they are, let alone the words of the songs. Remembering and noticing are still well within the capabilities of retired teacher Ambrose (Derek Jacobi), ex-miner Joe (David Bradley) and former librarian Mary (Judi Dench), proud of her expertise in marginalia, those jottings borrowers put in the margins of books.

Joe’s management consultant son Colin (Russell Tovey), adviser to the Minister of Health, has to endure Joe’s inability to accept his homosexuality, and even worse, his inability to understand Colin’s support of the Tories and their health cuts. But the changes ahead affect everyone, including father and son.

It’s the acting that stands out, even beyond Alan Bennett’s wisecrack-filled script, written for the stage and adapted for the screen by award-winning Heidi Thomas, creator of Call the Midwife. Derek Jacobi and Jennifer Saunders show remarkable versatility, plumbing the depths of their characters.

Finally, in a big hospital’s Covid ward, viewers are plunged into the strange new world that the already-broken NHS itself was plunged into. Dr Valentine, in PPE, seems a different person, tired to the point of desperation. His final narration is a bit preachy, but with good reason.

You might sniffle during some of the poignant scenes, Sister Gilpin dancing with Joe, or Dr Valentine carefully removing Joe’s stuck wedding ring, or Judi Dench shyly observing from the sidelines, like a piece of marginalia herself, but heart-wrenching aspects like those aside, mature audiences of all ages will find Allelujah an important, eye-opening film. It tells a good story too, culminating in something truly startling. Excellent film-making.

Must see

Movies are rated: Avoid, Recommended, Highly recommended and Must see.

The first person to bring an image or hardcopy of this review to Starlight cinema Taupō qualifies for a free ticket to Allelujah.