An electric performance by Aiden Gillen, reteaming with director Jamie Thraves for the first time since 2000’s The Low Down, is the cornerstone of this blackly funny but ultimately heartrending essay on loneliness and dependence that mixes the tender treatment of dysfunction of Rain Man with the bleak urban redemption of The Fisher King.
For reasons known only to himself, architect Tom, Tom Fisher, has abandoned his young family and taken to the streets of an anonymous south London where he forms a halting friendship withGillen’s rambling half-witted naïf. As their bond deepens, thanks in part to a kitten named Treacle Jr., the story gravitates toward a conclusion that’s as hard won as it is inescapable.
Funny, touching and gritty, this coolly rendered observation on need and rejection really is a Brit drama to shout about. Gillen’s performance saw him nominated for a Raindance Award and a British Independent Film Award as best actor, while Treacle Jr. picked up the Golden Hitchcock Award at the 21st Dinard British Film Festival.
Adam Lee Davies,
Time Out
Aidan Gillen will attend the screening
