Geoffrey Newland
Barents Sea, August 12th, 2000. During a Russian naval exercise, and after suffering a serious accident, the K-141 Kursk submarine sinks with 118 crew members on board. While the few sailors who are still alive barely manage to survive, their families push for accurate information and a British officer struggles to obtain from the Russian government a permit to attempt a rescue before it is late. But general incompetence are against all their efforts.
A wonderfully sustained feature debut from Philip John (who directed episodes of Downton Abbey and Outlander), this anarchic coming-of-age story makes the very best of some stunning Scottish locations. It follows the misadventures of two teenage step brothers (Jack Parry-Jones and Christy O’Donnell) as they head off on a road trip across Scotland, with their relationship challenged by Caitlin (a charismatic Tara Lee), the free spirited and enigmatic girl who comes between them. Cameos from Denis Lawson and Shauna Macdonald and Anton Newcombe’s soundtrack add much to the film.
Dominic Brunt’s impressive second feature after the beloved ‘Emmerdale’ actor took the genre by storm with BEFORE DAWN is a tense female revenge saga - a frightening true-life crime thriller graced by a scalpel-sharp screenplay and extraordinary performances. Two women who dream of opening their own café in a work-depressed northern town go to the wrong person for a loan in this chilling allegory of the economic brutality independent businesses face within the austerity-led banking system. Unable to meet the outrageous payment demands, the hardened duo must find it within themselves to take pitiless, bloody retribution on their malicious aggressor.
This World War Two set piece sees a British and German soldier reach an uneasy stand off in an abandoned bunker, but soon it becomes apparent they are not alone…
