Dragonfly

A fantastic, independent British film. A beautifully written drama with great character development and a thoughtful, impactful and moving plot. Brenda Blethen and Andrea Riseborough are both nothing short of superb, both individually and together. Their performances are both powerful and subtle in equal measure.

Highly recommended.

We were sat in the cinema investing undivided attention into the characters' relationship for what began to feel like hours. After a certain point, we fully got the point. We understood their situations, the context, the setting, their visitors and her oddness but that premise soon began to overcook.

Then, what you expect should be the fruits of that investment come to the fore and, well, it's not juicy fruit at all really, its more just a few obvious raisins. It didn't do a good job at being clear or finishing what it wanted to say and felt uncertain, like it was being written as the movie was being shot, Bowfinger style.

I can tolerate Mike Leigh type films about the British working class most of the time, but this film tested my patience. I realise it was made during Covid, but the scenes of the inside of the house seemed to last forever. It was well past halfway through the film that the tone of the film started to change and we seemed to be getting into what really mattered. So the fault was with the script and the boring and very bleak grey cinematography, not with the acting. Brenda Blethyn was great.