Five young people from Birmingham reach the end of their 20s while sensing a looming crisis and a tragedy growing from within their own increasing disparity. Their story unfolds through a dynamic home-town drama shaped from a novel’s five consciousnesses. The group is introduced at a boozy, weed-and-coke fueled birthday party where the good times feel edged with suspicion that the party is over. Rian, who has made something of himself through online stock warrant dealing and an inheritance, buys a cold designer flat in London and dates a woman nicknamed Kate Middleton, but he is not truly happy. His success unsettles the others. Conor builds a firm with Rian’s investment, carrying the weight of responsibility as an expectant father. Shiv is a caring mother to two girls, content with staying home, while the pressures around them intensify.
"With warmth and heartfelt passion, and a quintet of outstanding performances from young actors shot in looming closeup for so much of the time, Clio Barnard has created an absorbing and moving social-realist picture. It's a film whose mix of poignancy, defiance and contaminated euphoria stayed with me hours after the closing credits. It is about five young people from Birmingham who grew up together, reaching the end of their 20s, sensing a looming crisis and on the verge of a tragedy that is mysteriously growing from within their own increasing disparity."
"We are introduced to our five musketeers at a boozy and weed-and-coke fuelled birthday party where the good times are laced with a suspicion that the party is actually now over. First among equals is Rian, played by Joe Cole, the one from their friend-group who has made something of himself. Using an inheritance from his late father, Rian hit the jackpot dealing in stock warrants online and while his mates are living modestly or in squalor, he has now bought a chilly and soulless designer flat in London where he dates a beautiful young woman that his friends nickname Kate Middleton."
"Rian's success has sent eddies of unease and self-examination through everyone else. Conor (Daryl McCormack) is the son of a builder who took pride in his work, and has been inspired by Rian's triumph to set up a building firm in which he has persuaded Rian to be the chief investor; he is a hardworking guy and an expectant father but clearly careworn by the responsibility. Shiv (Lola Petticrew) is a smart and caring mother to two little girls, perfectly happy with her stay-at-home existe"
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]