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Cruel Summer
UK 2016
produced by Phillip Escott, Craig Newman, Sean Langton, John Newman (executive), David Lloyd (executive), Paul McFadden (executive), Chris Crow (executive), Doug Sinclair (executive) for 441 Films, Trebuchet Film Productions, Bang Post Production, Dogs Of Annwn
directed by Phillip Escott, Craig Newman
starring Danny Miller, Reece Douglas, Natalie Martins, Richard Pawulski, Gary Knowles, Grace Dixon, Thomas Conning, Leah Rees, Sabrina Dickens (voice), Josh Hopkins, Melanie Stephens (voice)
story by Phillip Escott, Craig Newman, screenplay by Phillip Escott, songs by Verb T, Winter Villains, Chillman
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Autistic teenager Danny (Richard Pawulski) is brave enough to go
camping for a night on his own - and he's doing rather well, actually,
even if his parents (Gary Knowles, Grace Dixon) are quite a bit worried,
understandably. Nicholas (Danny Miller) is shattered that his girlfriend
Lisa (Sabrina Dickens) has broken up with him - but now his best friend
Julia (Natalie Martins), who's (not so) secretly in love with him, sees a
chance to get her piece of the pie, so he lies to him that Lisa has been
shagging around, first and foremostly with "spastic" Danny
(which is a lie). This enrages Nicholas to such an extent that he wants to
teach Danny a lesson. So he and Julia pick up their friend Calvin (Reece
Douglas) to track Danny down and "punish" him - but since Calvin
knows the difference between right and wrong, so Nicholas claims Danny's a
pedophile, and there's nothing "wrong" with teaching a pedophile
a lesson, right? Especially since Calvin has a nine year old sister. It
takes the trio a while to actually find Danny, and Calvin was on the verge
of waivering more than once, but ultimately, they come face to face with
Danny, and even though everything's just based on a pack of lies, there's
no way for this to not end bloody ... Now there's a movie
that's sure to get under your skin - and it's not so much because of the
spectacle (in fact, very little actually happens on screen before the
third act) but the anticipation of it. It's almost classic suspense,
basically you know this is not going to end well, but the road to get
there is fascinating - in a very creepy way of course. But what the film's
really good at is getting into the minds of its protagonists, making them
more than just cut-outs, just goodies and baddies, but people with
emotional range - and a first rate cast does anything but hurt there of
course, which is also helped by a very subtle directorial effort giving
the actors space to breathe. In all, definitely worth a look ... but not
a film that makes you feel comfortable.
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