There is an interesting idea buried inside Euros Lyn's The Radleys. It treats being a vampire, among other things, like a hereditary disease. Peter (Damian Lewis) tells his kids, Clara (Bo Bragason) and Rowen (Harry Baxendale), that "you're a vampire. We all are. It's a family disease." "Is this a metaphor?" asks Rowen. "It's plain, biological truth," replies Peter. Now consider Peter's following lines, "The lives of most vampires are dissolute, horrifying. Your mother and I made a choice. And we chose sobriety." Peter and his wife, Helen (Kelly Macdonald), refrain from drinking the blood of the humans. They talk like ex-alcoholics. A vampire, like an alcoholic, lusts for his drink. There is a handbook as well as a website called TheAbstainer'sBook.com for vampires like Peter and Helen who want to choose/have chosen sobriety. It's all quite amusing, though strangely, the movie handles these scenes seriously. There is a disconnect between the tone and the events, which leaves you wondering how exactly you should respond to the film.
Tonal issues aside, The Radleys has a strange habit of suggesting something and then leaving it hanging. Take Clara's rebellion upon discovering the truth about herself. She makes a bitter remark at the breakfast table, and you think she will lash out more physically or verbally later (she admires her fangs in a mirror). However, The Radleys render her behavior disposable. The Radleys, in fact, forget all about her anger. Lorna (Sophia Di Martino), a neighbor, hits on Peter. She visits his office by making health-related excuses. Eventually, she asks him out on a date, which never happens. Lorna and Peter don't talk about it - the former doesn't call the latter when he fails to show up. What's more, it's never even indicated if Lorna herself turned up for the rendezvous. It feels as if Lorna and Peter never had any conversation. Then there is Tilly (Madeleine Power), who has a crush on Evan (Jay Lycurgo), which is why she gets jealous when Evan and Rowen kiss each other. She is seen standing between the two boys - a visual that suggests she has plans to drive the lovers apart. Again, The Radleys fails to follow through with this implication. It sends Tilly into oblivion.
After Clara kills a boy and the kids learn about being vampires, Peter's brother, Will (Lewis), enters the picture. He is called to control the situation, something he does expertly during that scene where police officers interrogate Clara. With his mind-control skills, he impresses Clara, and his bad-boy attitude fills Rowen with fascination. Helen, too, finds herself sexually aroused in his presence. Will, in other words, displays signs of replacing his brother. This is made explicit during that scene where Rowen sourly tells Peter that he wishes Will had been his father. The performances are as literal as the film itself. The Radleys is content with its appealing idea - it fails to dramatize its points. The movie opens and ends with a lame voiceover (it belongs to Rowen) that talks about "why are we here?" and things like that with an affected sincerity. As the end credits start rolling, you do very sincerely wonder, "Why am I here? For watching something as dull as The Radleys?"
Final Score- [3.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
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Publisher at Midgard Times