A combination of Gerald McMorrow and Gerald McMorrow is in a film which tells about the broken lives of four people who fight for their religiously-dystopian city. How can they get it?
Ultimately it doesn't quite work, but along the way it is easy to be somewhat sucked in, especially by Eva Green's suicidal artist and Sam Riley's emotionally shattered dreamer
Look past the odd shortcoming in the storytelling, and there's a brave movie here, one that's prepared to tackle some weighty issues about religion and obsession.
McMorrow's ideas may be too damn bold and expansive for Franklyn to succeed on every level, but it's a striking debut from a writer-director unafraid to reach as high as he can.
An admirably non-formulaic drama, which manages to reconcile the opposed British film traditions of contemporary, realistic, low-key character drama with eccentric, flamboyant, Gothic fantasy. It certainly marks out McMorrow as a talent to watch.
Franklyn is puzzling in a way some may think tiresome and others intriguing. Gerald McMorrow, whose first feature this is, has talent, but just as he starts tying up the loose ends, the film unravels.
Marks McMorrow as a director to watch, one unafraid of taking risks and going against the grain of the British film industry. It's not for everyone, but surrender to the limitless ambition and off-kilter tone and it's an engaging 100 minutes.