Entirely bonkers but highly enjoyable, Say Your Prayers is lots of fun indeed with Harry Melling, Tom Brooke and Sir Derek Jacobi
“You need a holiday, get out of Yorkshire”
Written by Jamie Fraser and Harry Michell and directed by Michell, Say Your Prayers is an absolute hoot. Harry Melling and Tom Brooke star as orphaned brothers turned radical Christian hitmen who are dispatched to the Yorkshire town of Ilkley to off an atheist author at a literary festival. Things however, don’t quite go according to plan.
Within minutes, they’ve killed someone who looked a bit like him. And in true Brit-flick style, a cracking cast of supporting characters trot in to steal the show. Anna Maxwell Martin is fricking hilarious as the foul-mouthed DCI Brough chasing the criminals, Sir Derek Jacobi is delicious as the priest who groomed the guys and Roger Allam is a delight as the oleaginous author.
Everything is soundtracked by appearances from a Greek chorus made up of a Welsh male-voice choir and the Yorkshire moors look great in Sverre Sørdal’s cinematography. The film balances the dark and the daft really well to form a highly effective comedy and one which manages to slip in a couple of decent surprises alongside its ever-pertinent commentary about opposing viewpoints (that coda rings so true!). Recommended.
