‘Allelujah’: Toronto Review

Dir: Richard Eyre. UK. 2022. 99 mins.

A geriatric unit in a small hospital in Wakefield is earmarked for closure, a casualty of Whitehall paper pushers who can’t see further than a balance sheet. But on the wards, a dedicated team continues to provide top notch care for their frail patients, all the while clinging to the hope of a last minute reprieve. Adapted from a 2018 play by Alan Bennett, Allelujah is a curious collision of tones and themes. The gentle whimsy of much of the humour is at odds with the film’s bleak candour about the indignities of old age; the fervently pro-NHS message is somewhat undermined by a key plot point which calls into question the quality of care it provides. And the cosy observational style is upended by a jarring pandemic-set coda, in which a character talks directly to camera to deliver a call to arms in support of the country’s frontline healthcare workers. The aims are laudable, but the execution is as baggy as a discarded pair of support tights. 

As baggy as a discarded pair of support tights

With its National Treasure-heavy cast of British talent, including Dame Judi Dench, Jennifer Saunders and Derek Jacobi, not to mention the pulling power of Bennett, the film should connect most successfully with domestic audiences in a post-Pandemic test of the silver market – Pathé will release the picture in the UK, plus France and Switzerland. However, the quantity of death and volume of incontinence which feature in the story may impact on its chances of word of mouth support. Following its premiere in Toronto, the could land in Gala slots in further festivals, but may fare best playing to older audiences on the middlebrow theatrical circuit. 

Another day dawns in west Yorkshire, and the dedicated Doctor Valentine (Bally Gill) arrives at the Beth hospital for his shift. It’s Valentine who, through a sparse but lyrical narration, keeps us connected with the care and empathy which are driving forces of the NHS. He’s greeted by no-nonsense stalwart of the geriatric unit, Sister Gilpin (Jennifer Saunders), a veteran who runs a tight, spotlessly clean ship and who is due to receive a medal for her outstanding service in the next few days.

The patients are unusually excited due to the arrival of a local television crew which is making a film showcasing the daily workings of the unit – a film which, supporters hope, might just persuade the powers that be to reverse the decision on its closure. Meanwhile, in London, Colin (Russell Tovey), the management consultant who recommended the closure in the first place, heads north by train to visit his cantankerous father (David Bradley), who, in a convenient narrative twist, has just been admitted to the Beth as a patient. 

There’s a lot going on here: disparate, tonally clashing strands which frequently fail to cohere into a satisfying whole. And while there are several notable performances – Saunders is bracingly astringent – other cast members, Dench in particular, are rather underused. But the great pity is that, in a film which focuses on later life, so few of the older characters are developed into anything beyond schematic thumbnail sketches.