True Things

Ever been in a relationship that felt more like an intoxicating addiction? That's the situation for Katie, a down on her luck benefits worker in a UK seaside town.

Ruth Wilson is fantastic as Katie. Every movement and smile conveys the desperate neediness of someone lacking self love and connection. Tom Burke is a solid love rat, and their chemistry bubbles throughout the film.

There are some nice handheld shots, but nothing too ambitious. Worth watching, nothing to write home about.

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.

...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...

A sudden fling can become the only window to a better future when people are trapped by life. I saw this in the story but avobe all in Ruth Wilson's performance: she is truth itself.

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.