True Things

Ruth Wilson plays an isolated single woman with low self-esteem who hooks up with a 'bad boy' and that's the whole story. It plays out in slow, miserable, unsurprising ways. Plot development? Never heard of it. This a deeply uninteresting look at boring characters going nowhere. Think Mike Leigh, but without composition, character or compassion.

The trouble is, Ruth Wilson is a good actress and manages to make this dishwater script seem more engaging than it really is, so well done Ruth. Tom Burke is fine, but his character suffers the same problem - he's bland, badly written (if written at all) and has all the complexity of a child's stick drawing.

It's self-indulgent, patience-testing guff which leaves its actors to do all the work but, ultimately, they don't have enough work to do.

...and you don't have the slightest idea what that might be...(but at least you know what it is you don't want).

This film is not about romance, nor a fling or unrequitted love. It's about.a person lost in the chaos of life, lacking direction, self-esteem and balance, and craving for a purpose to live, other than what it's apparent and has been impossed as a normal life to follow: a job, a family, kids.... I understand that people who have probably never gone through theses patches of despair and nothingness could find the film boring, slow and tedious. My reccommendation is, if you don't feel caught and curious from the very beginning, just let it go and look for another pearl...there are so many...

I'll start with why this movie deserves to be called a film. This movie leaves you hanging with constantly wondering, questioning even, what the protagonist, a role fantastically played by Ruth Miller, is going to do next or what the cause of her suffering is, although the assumption is it's a bored and unfulfilled person just looking for some new action.

This is not the "person on a journey of self discovery" type film one would expect as it cannot be boxed in to this type of genre. This movie really gets down to a person's pain that causes a withdrawal from one's life. A withdrawal that fills a person with grief and a loathing of, and to, the self and the life being lived.

How did this whole framing of turmoil, insecurity, emotional pain, and grief actually happen on the screen?

I'll tell you how; fantastic acting, editing, and direction along with the whole group of glorious collaborators that created an enthralling piece of work. Mr. Blond remains enigmatic through the entire flick.

There are few films i will watch till the end, i give at least 20 minutes and if it is not absorbing me by then, off it goes and on to the next. It is not outstanding at all, it's general theme or feel is slightly disturbed, like the main character, but i was certainly intrigued to find where it would evolve to. In the end it was a little quirky, if not "deserved" ending, which did not really bring closure to the main characters "position", or State.

However, i say again i was interested enough to know what may become of the main character, played by Ruth Wilson, whom i have not seen nor heard of before, but i think she is fantastic. I was inspired to write this review because of a rather bad one i saw, due to how good i KNOW she is. There are no sparks etc coming from this rather unusual film & it does have a somewhat "Depressed" feel to it, due to the main characters overall state, so not to everyone's taste, but it is certainly no less than a 5, & i give it a solid 6 for Ruth Wilson's ability alone, which inspired concern/care for her, along with being intrigued with what would ultimately become of her, and not any actor can do that. So yes, it's a sort of downbeat study of an unhappy, unloved young woman, but certainly well acted, which puts it well above much of what appears these days masquerading as "Movies". This IS at least a well acted Movie, downbeat, yes, not to everyone's taste, but a Real movie none the less. Hope to see more of her in future, certainly she deserves such, which no doubt film MAKERS will realize after seeing her here.

Some of the 'reviews' on here are laughable. They clearly did not understand the nuance of relationships and how romantic obsession can take over people's lives. Ruth Wilson is brilliantly vulnerable, as is Tom Burke, the object of her desire. This is British drama at its best. Don't bother watching if you're wanting a twee romance..... This is bleak viewing at times - but essential viewing all the same. Brilliant from start to finish.