Sometimes Always Never

United Kingdom, 2018 / 87 Mins

Director: Carl Hunter

Starring: Bill Nighy, Alice Lowe

Able to blend charming gruffness and winning affability with just the raise of an eyebrow, Bill Nighy has long proven himself one of Britain’s best character actors, and now he stars alongside Sam Riley and Alice Lowe in this stylish and heartfelt comedy-drama about a tailor searching for a lost son.

Sharp of both suit and vocabulary, Nighy (The Bookshop), is winningly deadpan as Scrabble-obsessed Merseyside tailor Alan, whose eldest son Michael stormed out of the house after a particularly heated round of the popular board game, never to return. Years later, Alan and his other son Peter (Sam Riley) continue the search while trying to repair their own strained relationship. Working from a witty and astute script by veteran screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce (The Railway Man, Goodbye Christopher Robin), Liverpudlian director Carl Hunter deploys a vivid visual style and striking production design to capture the shifting moods of a family who know plenty of words but struggle to communicate.

A triple score-worthy supporting cast includes Jenny Agutter and Tim McInnerny.

No.6 is taking a brief intermission - re-opening scheduled for May 9th

Loyal regulars will be aware that we have had a few technical issues with some of our screenings recently. We have been working to resolve these, and have been pleased that our most recent showings, including lengthy films like Dune: Part 2 and Apocalypse Now, have worked okay. But we feel it’s unfair on you to be crossing our fingers and hoping, we’d rather get things sorted properly.

The plan is to close for the next two weeks and hopefully return on Thursday 9th May. Keep an eye on the No.6 website and newsletter for confirmation or otherwise, and of course to find out what we will be showing when we do return. Thanks to everyone for your patience and understanding.