Dir/Wri: Paul Andrew Williams | Cast: Brenda Blethyn, Andrea Riseborough, Jason Watkins | UK Thriller
Brenda Blethyn stars alongside Andrea Riseborough as women struggling against the odds in this chilly two-hander.
Paul Andrew Williams’ third feature has all the key elements of a classic sink estate thriller: a pit bull terrier, negligent care workers, cereals and tea predominating as the source of nourishment – along with a drop of tinned soup. From the get-go Raffertie’s tense score signals all is not well.
It starts in the style of a Mike Leigh drama with equally banal dialogue but a few red herrings surface along the way. Jobless Colleen (Riseborough) and Mrs Richards (Blethyn), a pensioner, rub along reasonably as neighbours in a glum suburb of seventies bungalows, until Colleen’s dog destroys Elsie Richard’s bedding plants. When Colleen offers to replace them their camaraderie goes from strength to strength.
Colleen is a bit of a dark horse though. Pleasant enough on the outside, you wouldn’t want to cross swords with her, or the dog, ominously named Sabre. Schlepping around in baggy track bottoms, hair scraped back, is Colleen’s normal look, but occasionally she slaps on some red lipstick giving the impression there’s more going on than initially meets the eye.
Best known for his TV credits Broadchurch and The Walk-In, the Bafta-awarded writer-director showcases the parlous state of ‘Broken Britain’ in this slim but compulsive tale of two lost souls – one on the breadline, the other on the rough end of buxom care-workers who couldn’t ‘care’ less. And we really feel their pain.
But when Colleen offers to do a few jobs round the house and some shopping, taking charge of Elsie’s debit card into the bargain, an unsettling vibe creeps in. Then Elsie resentful son John (Watkins) arrives to spoil the party.
Worth watching for its clever plot line and spot-on performances from Blethyn and Riseborough, this tight little thriller goes to unexpected places despite a rather overwrought finale. @MeredithTaylor
IN UK CINEMAS FROM 7 NOVEMBER 2025