True Things

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.

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.

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.

Ruth Wilson gives a superb performance as a woman in her late thirties whose life is going nowhere. Lacking a partner, or even real friends, alienating her parents, she is lonely and unfulfilled.

She has a chance encounter with a strange but charismatic man and becomes obsessed with him. He alternately spends time with her and ignores her. I won't go into detail as it will spoil the way things unfold, but her neediness and sense of isolation are cleverly portrayed.

The rapid cuts, out-of focus shots and tuneless music get a bit irritating at times - presumably they are meant to show her confused state of mind.

At the end she achieves some kind of clarity about her life, shown by the camera-work becoming steady and focussed.

Powerful and haunting - well worth watching.

This film probably won't change the world. It doesn't contain life-altering wisdom or beautiful moments of insight. It is a very restrained, very subtle piece, essentially a two-handed stage play, with a pair of talented actors delivering understated performances.

This is a double-edged sword. The down-to-earth realism means that the story drifts quietly along, as do the characters, before just kind of ending. This allows for some real moments of introspection, pause, and stillness (true things, one might say), but unfortunately it does leave a slightly pedestrian and forgettable impression. But maybe that isn't a bad thing for these types of films? I'd be interested to come back in a few years and see whether the impression has changed at all.