Nina Forever (UK Blu-ray/DVD)

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ninaforever-ukdvdStarring Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Abigail Hardingham, Cian Barry

Directed by Ben Blaine, Chris Blaine


If you were to read a brief synopsis of Nina Forever before fully experiencing Chris and Ben Blaine’s macabre, witty debut, you’d be forgiven for confusing it with one or two other films that have broached the “awkward undead” sub-genre recently. Whilst Joe Dante’s Burying the Ex and Jeff Baena’s Life After Beth took a slightly different approach to the setup – gunning for wholesome comedy rather than deep, evocative drama – one particular horror trope is consistent throughout all three projects: In the wonderful world of horror, loved ones returning from beyond the grave very rarely means jolly times are a-comin’.

If I was going to be haunted by somebody at the most inopportune moments, I’d probably choose my best mate to do it, but even that scenario hasn’t worked out too well if you look back at historical horror characters. I mean, as cool as Griffin Dunne’s decomposing Jack was in An American Werewolf in London, it proved a bit of a downer for poor ol’ David Naughton, having him pop up to deliver his dire predictions of doom – it’s enough to annihilate any lycanthrope’s libido. So, if your bosom buddy can’t make such a paranormal experience less uncomfortable, what chance your mangled ex-missus?!

Nineteen-year-old Holly (Hardingham) works in a supermarket while studying to be a paramedic and falls for shelf-stacker Rob (Barry), survivor of a failed suicide attempt following the death of his girlfriend. After a few successful dates, their first go in the sack is cut short when Rob’s dead ex, Nina (O’Shaughnessy), emerges from the bedsheets – limbs gnarled and broken, tongue razor-sharp – leaving physical and mental stains on everything and everyone she touches. In time Nina becomes a greater presence in Holly’s psyche than in Rob’s, obsessing over how she falls short of the phantom (desperate to leave “vanilla” behind) rather than concentrating on what she has to offer.

As Rob and Holly attempt to struggle on and accommodate the most fucked up of love triangles, Nina Forever excels by reveling in its own ludicrousness and provides some blacker-than-black amusing moments without ever becoming silly – a pitfall that’s tough to avoid when you consider its premise. Instead, we’re presented with a beautiful, bleeding tale of grief, love, infatuation and the inability to let go of the past. Metaphors of tentative feet traversing manic motorways and shattered glass will live long in the memory.

Nina Forever is made all the more impressive by our three main leads: O’Shaughnessy as the hilariously disturbing titular character, her bloody mattress birth like something from a Clive Barker novel, Cian Barry tragic as pain-stricken Rob, and showstopper Hardingham – whose innocence will drag you in, only for her sex appeal to blow you away. That being said, the scenes involving Nina’s parents (David Troughton and Elizabeth Elvin) remain my personal high points; having remained friends with Rob, the pair spend their time dishing out Sunday roasts and writing jarring erotic fiction to fill a loveless, aching void. Troughton’s emotional collapse in a restaurant is on par with any of the best scenes I’ve witnessed in years.

The Blu-ray/DVD special features are listed below; however, they were unavailable for review.

Startlingly distinctive despite the obvious comparisons, perfectly ambiguous, unsettling, funny, poignant and downright sexy, Nina Forever is brilliant; and The Blaine brothers deserve all the praise aimed their way for making such a ridiculous concept so profound and effective.

Special Features

  • A Look Behind Nina Forever
  • Things That Are Not There
  • Things That Were Not There

  • Film
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User Rating 3.53 (15 votes)
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