Review by Cameron Maitland.

Paul Andrew Williams' film London to Brighton marks another entry into the United Kingdom’s recent resurgence of thrillers. Following Andrea Arnold (Red Road) and Shane Meadows (who made the brilliant Dead Man’s Shoes), Williams is the next in the line of filmmakers who grew up with Mike Leigh as much as with the British thriller boom of the 70’s. These new films seek to revitalize a genre built on easy plots with naturalism and realism in their portrayals of crime and violence.

The film follows Kelly and Joanne, a prostitute and a child runaway fleeing from brutal but as-yet-unnamed violent circumstances. Williams weaves their stories with that of their pursuers, specifically Kelly's pimp and a young man attached to the unknown incident. As their escape progresses, we simultaneously learn the circumstances leading up to the event and the secrets each character hides. The story attempts to make no clear judgement, showing shades of evil, desperation and goodness in every character and their choices. In the guise of a thriller, Williams finds a place to comment on the hopelessness of lower class life in the UK that drives people to acts of violence.

Though London to Brighton does indeed thrill and surprise as it unfolds, it doesn’t quite match up to its contemporaries in its attempts to flower beyond the restraints of its genre. The plot, especially the ending, tapers a bit too cleanly into convention, and the mysterious young man, on whose reactions and emotions most of the plot hangs, is a bit disappointing in his finale. Further, the brutal naturalism present in the acting is often lost in the generally conventional visual style. Even with all that said Paul Andrew Williams has made a film that - even while sticking to convention - is leaps beyond most recent thrillers and manages to add enough experimentation to cement a place among the United Kingdom's brightest new filmmakers.

London to Brighton
Paul Andrew Williams | UK | 2006 | 90min

Mon. Oct. 1 | 9:00pm | Empire Granville Theatre
Wed. Oct. 3 | 4:00pm | Empire Granville Theatre
Mon. Oct. 8 | 7:00pm | Ridge Theatre