Magpie (2024) Dir. Sam Yates

Magpie stars Daisy Ridley as Anette, a wife and mother-of-two whose responsibilities to her family are tested when she suspects her husband of infidelity.

Her daughter Tilly (Hiba Ahmed) is a young actress who is taken to a period drama film set each day by her father Ben (Shazad Latif). As a struggling writer, Ben now spends his time chaperoning his child to the location each day, but his eye is soon drawn to the movie’s main star Alicia (Revenge's Matilda Lutz).

But his kind words soon turn to a more flirty affair with the famous actress, leaving his wife at home to struggle with their newborn baby.

As Ben’s indiscretions become more overt, Anette becomes increasingly concerned about his behaviour - which was already controlling, having asked her to change her outfits and we are later informed it was his decision to move far away to the countryside.

And even though Anette attempts to reinvigorate her life by reconnecting with her former employer, she has to take her baby owing to Ben’s constant absence. Later on, she then decides to check for evidence on his computer and phone, and even more bad news comes in the form of tabloid reports of a secret couple.

Magpie has some pretty standard elements and unfortunately doesn’t move too far from any of the paths you think it may go down - apart from one at its conclusion. A slow beginning doesn’t really get things off to an intriguing start and, essentially, not enough “stuff” really happens. A lot of texting - which is not inherently interesting, but an important plot point - is done the best it can be with cross-cutting actors ‘speaking’ the words but again, hardly a riveting watch.

Minutes drag by and what more do we learn from scene to scene? A wife increasingly suspects her husband of infidelity whilst away with a pretty actress is hardly a new concept. And for 90 minutes it’s dragged out until a final, and hugely enjoyable to be fair, Shyamalan-style plot twist which takes it into brilliantly schlocky territory.

This ludicrous narrative rug-pull actually hints at another route the movie could have taken - that of a more Neil Jordan-esque over-the-top noir thriller. But unfortunately this just doesn’t deliver that. A shame really. You have to wade through over an hour of dull filler before you get to its juicy payoff.

Daisy Ridley has been doing everything in her power to move from her role in the recent Star Wars sequels as Rey. Young Woman and The Sea, Sometimes I Think About Dying and The Marsh King’s Daughter (as well as this film) have all been released over the last 2 years. She’s certainly putting the graft in and this career repositioning has been great to witness.

The move into more indie fare has shown that she definitely has talent in droves, and whilst the output has been patchy, it’s definitely the right move. Here, she’s the best thing about Magpie by far, but the film itself (bar its entertaining ending) is a pretty bland exploration of a marriage on the rocks. And sadly, this mostly underwhelming flick is far too often on the rocks as well.

★★½

2.5 / 5

Michael Sales

X @midlandsmovies

Magpie is available on UK and Ireland digital platforms 11 November