So this is my first review on the site and I thought I’d start with a film which I watched recently which should have more appreciation than it actually does, and this film is called Breakfast on Pluto. Breakfast on Pluto is the story of Patrick “Kitten” Braden, who is played by Cillian Murphy who you’ll most likely know as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders, this role couldn’t be further from the Birmingham gangster (Which if you haven’t seen the show I’d strongly suggest it’s Television at its finest) as he is playing a transgender woman, who has a certain quality of innocence and naivety but just wants to be who she is and find her mother who abandoned her at the doorstep as a baby.
The cast for this movie is absolutely stellar, with the likes of two of the stars of Preacher Dominic Cooper and Ruth Negga, Liam Cunningham from the likes of Game of Thrones, and two of the biggest names of this movie are Brendan Gleeson and Liam Neeson, but Cillian Murphy truly stands out above the rest as we see his character go through this unusual journey from Kitten’s home in Ireland too London in the search of her mother without having much of a clue of what she is actually like apart from hearing that she looks like actress Mitzi Gaynor, but she does eventually find out where she is after a Revelation from Liam Neesons Priest character (Couldn’t resist…) and we find out that Father Liam (The actual character’s name) is in fact Kitten’s father, (Yeah… spoilers) which begins a really warm relationship between the two and seeing a priest warm too his son’s choice to be a woman and especially in the 1980’s is really interesting… and not to mention that this is all was actually based on true events and was in her autobiography which makes this story even more fascinating in my opinion.
Artistically this film is also particularly interesting, we see the likes of two occurring characters which are talking Robin’s, and when I say Robin’s I do mean the seasonal birds with the red chests, which have subtitles under what they’re saying too each other and appear at the beginning and the end of the film, which personally I really enjoyed and was rather a sweet and zany part of the film and so it should be for the story of such a sweet and zany character. Another element of the movie which I enjoyed was the soundtrack, particularly the song “Sugar Baby Love” by The Rubettes which saw Kitten at her strongest and at ease with herself, this was used at the beginning and the end of the film and also blended well with the style of what she was wearing which was rather like a 1950’s housewife, pushing a pram with a child inside which we find out later in the film who it belongs too which brings us to a heartbreaking part of the film for the characters involved.
We also get some political context from the era, with the IRA which is part of one particular character’s story, as Irwin (Laurence Kinlan) has got himself involved with the terrorist organisation and is part of a plot to blow up a club in London which succeeds and the blame goes on Kitten as she was there the night it happened, which leads to her being incarcerated which she actually enjoys as she has been living on the street for so long, but Irwin’s story ends up with his untimely demise by the Irish Republican Army themselves, which ends a truly heartbreaking story, with being the accomplice of multiple killings and being the case of it being not what he signed up too do, the performance from Kinlan is fantastic and leaves an imprint on the movie makes you think about the history of the film and the reality of the time period.
So in conclusion this movie is personally one of my favourite Cillian Murphy performances, and proves how versatile he is as an actor and a formidable one at that. The story is fascinating, largely for the journey Kitten goes on overall and the various characters she encounters overall in the movie. This film is truly one you’ll remember for a long time, and this film is so incredibly relevant to the times that we are living in now, with the voices of the LGBT community becoming louder and louder hearing stories about revolutionary transgender women who were determined to be themselves in a time when it wasn’t socially acceptable and would be frowned upon it just shows how brave people can be and Patrick “Kitten” Braden was so incredibly brave just for being themselves which sounds insane saying it but it does show how times have changed and it’s because of people like her that others are feeling inspired to be themselves which is amazing!
So… If you want to see Cillian Murphy be the furthest away from Tommy Shelby he ever will be, watch a strong, inspiring LGBT story, talking Robins, and most importantly if you want to see Brendan Gleeson beat someone up dressed as a Womble then I would strongly suggest watching “Breakfast on Pluto” because you won’t be forgetting this film any time soon as it deserves its place in cinema history.
