Second Coming | Rotten Tomatoes

Second Coming

2014

1 hr. 45 min.

Drama

List

79%

24 Reviews

Tomatometer

36%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

An unexplained pregnancy forces a husband to doubt his wife's faithfulness.

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Audience Member

The cast is excellent, the plot muddy, the editing purposely confusing. Could have been great.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The DVD did not have a subtitle option. Watching a movie and being able to understand 5% of dialogue is absurd. I struggled through hoping to glean what the constant angst was about. as it is all the movie is. Tried to make sense of the title, but could not. After reading what was written here, it appears this was supposed to be the story of an immaculate conception. Really?? Maybe Jamaican or English people would readily comprehend the dialog. Anyone else, don't waste your time. You'll be filled with more angst than the characters in the film.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I am as big a fan of gritty social drama with an undercurrent of magic realism as the next pretentious cineaste, but this was really very slow and understated indeed. The performances by the central mother and son are terrific though.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/14/18

Full Review

frankie a

Slow-moving and difficult to follow (definitely switch on subtitles because without them the cockney accent will make the difficult downright impossible), but it is marvelously acted with moody realism. Green's camera takes long, loving looks at faces and tableaus. Problem I found with it was the confusing narrative with really important questions left unanswered. When her coworker and friend asks Jax over and OVER to talk to her and explain what is going on, we wait for the answer and being shouting the same thing "What the eff is going on?!" at the screen, but nothing is forthcoming -- she won't give it up. It gets to the point where it begins to seem a distraction -- the narrative can't move on unless some important motivational questions are answered. Half way thru I just found myself lost -- she is pregnant and everyone seems to know it, as well as the husband, but then later he is enraged as if he just found out and he knows he is not the father. There is reference to this happening before (what...spontaneous pregnancy?....infidelity?), but with no specifics as to what happened four times before? As far as any reference to religious parallels, aside from the title and the fact that the pregnancy seems spontaneous, are we to believe she has not slept with a man other than her husband? Nothing is clear, at least to me -- perhaps it warrants a second viewing. Note has to be made about the boy, Kai Francis Lewis who plays the son -- he has great natural acting chops beyond his years and is a pleasure to watch. While the film could use a bit tighter editing, there is something so intimate about watching these people who you do care about that makes it worth sticking it out to the final reel, although I must say, the dénouement is the least fulfilling piece of the whole film...it gives us an idyllic family life that certainly doesn't follow from the drama that went before. No explanation is given as to how this couple winds up at this serene place when they were at such irreconcilable depths for most of the movie.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

farah r

It's a shame I wasted an hour watching this movie. Not only is it uneventful and slow to death, the ending is not revealed.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie is bull! It is so slow an the ending is not revealed. What do you think you are going to have a sequel or something? I couldn't even hear it. I had to put on the subtitles to wait for nothing. So disappointing. At least you get to look at Idris the only good take away ??

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/28/23

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Debbie Tucker Green

Director

Nadine Marshall

Jax

Idris Elba

Mark

Sharlene Whyte

Bernie

Llewella Gideon

Jax's Mum

Larrington Walker

Vincent

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Shadow and Act Staff

Shadow and Act

Interesting if meandering...

Sep 13, 2022

Full Review

Wendy Okoi-Obuli

indieWire

"Second Coming" is very much a festival film (or stage play, or short film, or experimental TV film) with an amazing premise, brilliant cast, but which gives nothing away.

Nov 20, 2018

Full Review

Stephen Dalton

Hollywood Reporter

The premise is pregnant with promise, but the conception is far from immaculate.

Nov 20, 2018

Full Review

Josh Slater-Williams

Vague Visages

In contrast to some of his more showy, exuberant roles of late, Second Coming also acts as a reminder of Elba’s skill with quieter, more tender characters than those found in Luther or Pacific Rim.

Nov 14, 2023

Full Review

Ben Homewood

NME (New Musical Express)

Idris Elba is a compelling presence in this unflinching portrait of domestic discomfort.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jun 4, 2021

Full Review

Ben Nicholson

CineVue

An underlying tension persists, but Second Coming has much more to offer from quiet drama to moments of grace, not least in the stunning quality of light and engrossing performances.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 5, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

An unexplained pregnancy forces a husband to doubt his wife's faithfulness.

Director: Debbie Tucker Green
Executive Producer: Katherine Butler
Screenwriter: Debbie Tucker Green
Production Co: British Film Institute
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 9, 2017

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