Jellyfish

I saw this at the Edinburgh film festival. The first film for this director, and I expected not to like it as the subject matter is not what I would normally see at the cinema, I was really surprised at how good it was. The story of a 15 year old girl struggling to keep her family going and the toll it took upon her personally. The acting was excellent, and the direction and editing mature and very well executed. There were a couple of scenes which really made me wince, but nothing was gratuitous and they served to emphasise the points they were making-the loss of control for someone who is still a child but forced to try and make her way in an adult world with no support. The supporting characters were well realised and added to the film as a whole.

Go and see it. It's not an 'easy ride' but well worth persevering with. The ending, which I will not spoil, is to some extent what the viewer makes of it. See it to see what I mean!

The acting here is consistently good, with two excellent central performances: LIV HILL in the lead as a fifteen year old forced to grow up early and parent her younger siblings as well as her utterly incapable mother - who's superbly portayed in all her highs, lows and broken chaos by SINEAD MATTHEWS. Both are outstanding.

There were a few times while watching Jellyfish that I thought I would have to turn it off. While my own childhood experience was not as extreme as the ones seen in this film, it was close enough to make watching it quite difficult. At the same time it was so good in its performances and the intensity of emotion that I was practically compelled to keep watching. I kept thinking, the ending of this film better be damn good as that will be what makes watching it ultimately worthwhile. In this context I found the ending to be a disappointment though not inappropriate. The story of the eldest daughter of a mentally ill/narcissistic drug addict mother, and how the daughter works so hard to keep the family, including much younger twin siblings, intact and the toll this takes on her. At the same time her emotional struggles lead her to write comedy, so there is something of a silver lining. I would recommend viewing it if you desire an emotionally intense movie-watching experience which includes some nice shots of one of England's quaint seaside towns.

This is an absolutely horrendous story for starters of children who have to act and are thrown into circumstances that are far beyond their years. It's an incredibly brave film and had it not been for the credible performances, could've been extremely cringing as I have seen my fair share of amateur productions. I also think it's a really important film to be viewed by teachers and educators to understand their students as multidimensional people as opposed to how they present themselves in whatever class it is they are attending. The learners I often come into contact with come with their own emotional baggage so it really wasn't difficult to understand exactly what the great young actress was portraying. This is another recent film which has shown just how desolate British seaside towns are, or have become, & the struggles which go hand in hand with that dying and dilapidated environment.

We saw Jellyfish last night without expecting anything very much but we found the film really absorbing. The main character is beautifully played and very convincing. She doesn't always make the right choices, but you can entirely see why this happens. It really makes you think about the issues involved. In its own way, In many ways, it reminded me of 'Kes', effectively mixing drama and humour. My favourite film of the year so far, (and I have seen quite a few). Hope it gets the release it deserves.