Paddy Considine’s directorial debut was one of the international success stories at this year’s Sundance fest, nabbing awards for both Olivia Colman and Peter Mullan’s performances, as well as one for Considine’s direction. I saw the film, a bruising, thoughtful portrait of abuse and emotional isolation in suburban England, and found the hype more than justified on the acting front. Mullan is as superbly tender-tough as we’ve come to expect from him, but it’s Olivia Colman — perhaps best known for her expert underplaying in the UK sitcom “Peep Show” — who’s the revelation here. I’ll save my full impressions of her stunning performance for a review soon, but I will say that if Meryl Streep makes half as worthy a case for an Oscar nomination later this year, I’ll eat my literal hat.
The film will get a fresh blast of wind in its sails at next month’s Toronto Film Festival; Strand Releasing already has the US distribution rights, but has yet to announce a release date. (UK audiences have only until October 7 to wait.) Meanwhile, The Guardian unveiled a trailer this morning that gives but a hint of the acting firepower on offer here. Check out the embed after the jump.
Unlike, say, the Venice fest – where the jury’s failure to reward any of the (lousy) Italian films in competition is cause for a media strop — the London Film Festival has often seemed somewhat embarrassed by the homegrown portion of its programme, perhaps granting a big red-carpet date to the odd bit of tony Oscar bait while shoving newer and/or independent British filmmakers into shadowy side slots.