Daphne

Somehow between the writer's idea through to the film script...the mis-casting and the not quite there direction, this story loses its point. At heart, this ought to be a tale about a well brought up girl who's gone off the rails and catapulted herself into a mental health hell hole. What we actually get to see is a stilted unrepresentative facsimile of a sixth form drama class attempt at film making. It is neither compelling nor so offensive that you walk out. It's all a bit blah and dull. The principle character has zero self awareness but we have no one elses point of view as a counter point. Only one actor gets his part right...walk on security guy David. He's a love. More of his story would have been nice but we are denied that. In summary there is nothing here to see.

Daphne is a timeless British film. By which I mean it could have pretty much been made at any time in the last 50 years, and be just as 'meh.' It's one of those films that turns up on the telly and you look at the fashion and the streets but wonder why you're actually watching. It's a slight tale of a rather unlikable lonely girl who doesn't really know what to do with her life. Emily Beecham gives a believable performance but with a male writer and male director it is ultimately a bloke's fantasy idea of a 20something single girl about town. Everyone spouts their arch clever philosophies but anything that happens to Daphne doesn't really seem to affect her. That said, she's probably hardened by all those ghosts she used to hunt (which has clearly had an effect) and I applaud the film-maker's willingness to hold back Fred, Shaggy and Velma until the sequel.

Daphne (Emily Beecham) is a woman living in London. She's a struggling sous chef. She has many one night stands. She has drifted from her friends. She's estranged from her mother who is revealed to have cancer. She does drugs but mostly she's a drunk. One night, she's in a corner store when a robber comes in and stabs the cashier.

This is a fine character study. However, I do want more from this movie. It needs a second main character. Probably, it needs the mother to have more screen time. It needs to be a character relationship study as well as a character study. Other relationships could have been the main subject matter. This movie drifts. I don't mind drifting through her life but it could have been more.

Ignore all the reviews calling it boring, empty etc, written I assume by people that like explosions and flashing things but can't invest a little bit of effort in trying to appreciate a film that attempts to provoke thought and discussion

Performances are excellent especially from Emma Beecham, I sometimes had to remind myself this was a scripted film, so natural was her portrayal of Daphne - I mean is she really just Daphne filmed fly on the wall?? Brilliant

I loved her kind of offhand 'acting' complete with lines delivered so life like it was hard to tell if she had just come up with that stuff - and the direction where actors dialogue is left to happen in a very natural way - stunted, overlaps, talk overs - hard to act, and you can see some actors struggling with it, defaulting to more polished delivery.

I was drawn in by Daphne's frustrating, abrasive character and her descent in to self loathing - she's not easy to like, but that's the point - why is she like this, why does she not care about herself or much else

The film has a few clunky parts, like the psychiatrist for example, and some of the script and character development is under cooked but maybe that kind of fits with the impressionistic feel - over all the film offers real rewards for those willing to really watch and listen

A woman in her 30s who's rude, obnoxious, drugs and alcohol consuming, promiscuous, bigoted and also hates her mother.

Who does this remind you of? If you thought Fleabag, you're right. But, in this context, we're talking about Daphne. This low-budget comedy prances around with its tropes that Fleabag is known for. However, unlike Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Emily Beecham does not have that wide-eyed wicked stare that Fleabag is famous for. She's rather tamed. But, her attitude nonetheless yells "I'm a b****."

I usually like to watch films such as Daphne, ones that don't have a concrete plot and simply follows its character(s) wander about. Daphne however was painfully clear that it wasn't an original idea or even a better interpretation of the self-destructive woman.

I did enjoy Daphne's reaction to a crime that happens in a small grocery store. But, this was early in the film and I still had high hopes. It all comes down crashing.

I think the whole "self-destructive woman" concept can be tapped into to create more morally and ethically ambiguous films. It's just that Daphne didn't do it for me despite a decent performance from Emily Beecham