Bypass

Is morality a luxury? Bypass provides the platform to reflect upon this. It's a film that at the moment may only be liked if the 'in crowd' say it's cool. It is cool. It's one of those films that in twenty years time film tutors will automatically suggest their more insightful students watch but why wait? It not only washes the viewer into its own world beautifully by its striking cinematography and sound score that slow dive may gleefully dive towards but more importantly it enables its viewer to think. It enables its viewer to ask why. It enables and instigates its viewer to empathize, really empathize, not feel moved then ten minutes out of the cinema lose the feeling and never remember why. Maybe that's too easy, maybe that's what society wants now, quick bursts of highs and lows with no consequence. Every action, even no action brings reaction. The question is, why aren't we pulling over and is morality a luxury? Personally I thought this film was one of the most important I've had the luxury of seeing for quite some time.

Bypass does a brilliant job of illustrating the grim reality of what life is like when you don't have money. As the deadlines, debts and obligations mount we see the intense pressure put on Tim as he tries to hold his life together. Duane Hopkins' script shows how the UK is at a turning point, as being working class now is an aspiration rather than a reality for many.

Benjamin Dilloway & George MacKay's time together on the screen is a highlight as the two brothers with different personalities, the older street smart hard man & the younger naive innocent tackle the problems life throws at the family.

Chris Barwell's edit plays with space and time, giving a further sense of the lack of control the characters have over their lives.

Watching Bypass really brought me into the lives and experiences of Tim and Lilly, played respectively by George Mackay and Charlotte Spencer. The feeling of being helpless to whatever fate befalls you is enduring, and a reflection on the current malaise of Britain's youth who have been abandoned by today's ambitious, quick fix society. The film was well crafted, with excellent cinematography, soundtrack and foley that helped to create the atmosphere and prevailing sense of unease, and which was complemented excellently by the superb performance of George Mackay, and actor who will surely achieve great things. There is no generic start or ending to Tim's story, but a snippet of the lives of the characters that surround him, and it leaves you with a feeling of compassion for the characters and their future.

Great performances by a strong cast but what a depressing film. My life is like that most of the time anyway so I didn't really need this further dose of reality.

No explanation of what Tim's medical condition was either. What was the point of that ?

George MacKay is still stellar as always. He became that character. His hurt, guilt, confusion, sorrow are all very real in the film and guy feel it. Also his physical transformation as a youth with an undisclosed illness is so heartbreaking. You can see that he slimed down quite a bit to play the role. Unfortunately Duane's "poet/dreamlike/arthouse" sequences, lack of dialogue, lazy directing, terrible editing and drawn out visuals really take you out of the experience and emotion and it just works against the film. I get that the filmmakers wanted to convey the bleakness of it all in a very artistic fashion but it just didn't work story wise. Such a shame because George is such a talented actor.