Set in in a small Yorkshire geriatric Hospital, where Jennifer Saunders
head nurse and her dedicated staff help various elderly patients played by
Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, David Bradley, Russell Tovey and Julia
McKenzie, and based on screenplay by Heidi Thomas (Call the Midwife, Cranford) and stage play by Alan Bennett
(The Madness of King George, The Lady in The Van), Allelujah is one of
the most depressing films that you’re ever likely to see on the cinema
screen. If you know elderly people who want to go and see Allelujah for
their own sanity try and talk them out of it.
Marketed as standard British comedy Allelujah is anything but. Rather
than the comedy it tries to give us the impression it is, it’s a
depressing film that makes you worry about becoming old. And if that
isn’t enough it batters you over the head with a political message
about how good the NHS and its staff are despite the fact it’s being
destroyed by the current Tory Government.
As for the ending? I won’t go into detail but just let’s say that it
has no bearing on what’s came before and feels disconnected from the
entire story.
Quite who Allelujah will appeal to is a mystery, young cinema goers I’m
sure won’t be interesting in watching a bunch of incontinent pensioners
moaning about their aliments whilst the elderly, who are undoubtedly
the target audience, will be horrified about watching what could
possibly lie ahead of them.
