THE HIPPOPOTAMUS

2017 UK

STILLS

TRAILER

A country manor mystery that's actually a deliciously wicked comedy of manners, The Hippopotamus is a rollicking adaptation of the best-selling novel by Stephen Fry. It centres on a lapsed poet, failed drama critic, redundant husband and hard-working drunk, Ted Wallace (the mellifluously voiced Roger Allam in a rare starring role). Fired from his newspaper job, Ted leaps at the chance to drown his sorrows at his old friend's country estate, Swafford Hall.

A series of spiritual healings have recently put the household in a tizzy. The purported miracle worker is his hosts' teenage son, Ted's godson, David (Tommy Knight). Lord and Lady Logan (Matthew Modine & Fiona Shaw) are set on sharing their boy's "gift" with the world, blissfully unaware that his "laying on of hands" trick involves, well, an emphasis on "laying." At odds with a colourful party of fellow guests only too ready to swallow anything they're told, Ted sets out to prove the miracles are a hoax and save the young man from a lifetime of embarrassment.

SYNOPSIS

“Cinematographer Angus Hudson captures the film with a beautiful and keen eye for the surrounding environment, which only adds to the flourishing story.”

Taryll Baker - UK Film Review

“With the beautiful English countryside and stately home – and lush, precise cinematography – the work would be faultless were it not for a stumbling plot and questionably casual references to rape, beastiality and paedophilia”

Catherine Sedgwick - theupcoming.co.uk

“Shot with one eye on the splendour of the English countryside, full of open fields and grand old halls, The Hippopotamus takes a dry, acerbic pot-shot at the entitled vanity of art and privilege while embracing its possibilities at the same time”

Tony Black - flickeringmyth.com

“An old-fashioned romp through the eccentricities of the upper classes, it's a fun mystery with a nicely filthy mind”

Emma Johnston - Total Film

REVIEWS