Movie Review: London to Brighton
Paul Andrew Williams Directs A Spot On Exercise in British Misery
Technically stunning, but emotionally hollow, debut from writer/director Paul Andrew Williams about two women on the run from pimps and gangsters.
“London to Brighton” is a technically stunning feature debut from writer/director Paul Andrew Williams that feels authentic, yet tasteless. The film works on an unapologetically visceral level, wielding some crass natural dialogue delivered with precision by the mostly talented cast, but tends towards delivering the audience shocks rather than cohesion or didactic. The result is an occasionally frustrating film that impacts the audience without reason aside from the rather obvious “yeah, people are pretty darn vulgar”.
It's 3am When Two Panicked Women Stumble into a Public Restroom...
The film opens with two women stumbling into a public restroom in the middle of the night; Kelly (Lorraine Stanley), a tough cockney hooker with an eye swollen shut, and Joanne (Georgia Groome), a younger woman with torn clothing. The pair load onto a train headed for the seaside resort of Brighton.
Meanwhile, a gangster (Sam Spruell) gives Kelly’s pimp (Johnny Harris) to find the two women. It turns out that Kelly and 11-year old Joanne are escaping from a trick gone wrong with the gangster’s father (Alexander Morton).
The rest of the film unfolds by moving forwards and backwards in time revealing both what happened to create the situation, and the inevitable outcome of it.
Paul Andrew Williams Shows Some Genuine Talent Behind the Camera
Paul Andrew Williams has adopted the trendy handheld technique that is nauseating audiences around the world. Luckily he uses the style to great effect. While the grittier scenes are visibly handheld to create a sense of urgency, Williams knows when to leave the camera still and linger on single moments for greater dramatic impact. These moments of stillness work very well for the film, and offer some heart and meaning to characters who give us little insight into their motivations aside from merely existing in a world that allows bad things to happen. It is unfortunate that the film chooses to go for the visual shock more often than going with these few quiet moments of meaning, as the stillness has a greater impact on the audience. There is some visible talent behind the camera, and it will be interesting to see his next film “The Cottage”.
A Natural Well Written Script
The writing in the film is natural and consistent. It is free of contrivance, unnecessary exposition, and characters speaking beyond their understanding. Each character is given a solid inner-dialogue that translates well in developing relationships and conflicts. The story is essentially a British gangster/hooker cliché, but rises above its own contrivance through a comfort in how the material is handled.
Strong Performances From the Entire Cast
The performances are uniformly strong. Every actor brings credibility to their roles, and work to elevate the level of discomfort in just how believably they are portrayed. The standout performance comes from Lorraine Stanley as Kelly the cockney hooker who lures an 11-year old girl to prostitution with the promise of a warm meal. Stanley plays the role very matter-of-factly. Never apologizing for her deplorable actions, but rather performing them out of a necessity of survival and an almost defeated attitude. This is the world Kelly lives in, and turning tricks is simply a necessary part of that. There is humanity in how she clearly feels bad about what she is doing to this 11-year old runaway, but also an internal belief that this is an inevitable move for the girl.
A Muddled Message
The eventual climax of the film offers a conclusion that acts more as a reinforcement of a broken world where these actions are only inevitable rather than a catharsis or resolution. There is a frustration in the films refusal to offer perspective on the events, which will like divide audiences.
A Worthwhile, if Flawed, Film
"London to Brighton" on the whole is technically impressive, and definitely worth a view. However, its muddled message and tendency to be disturbing for the sake of being disturbing may distance some viewers. This film marks a splashy debut for Williams, not unlike other promising new films with freshman filmmakers like "Penelope" and "Spiral".
