For Those in Peril (2013)

Powerful

Please don't spend money on this.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Scottish screenwriter and director Paul Wright's feature film debut which he wrote, premiered in the International Critics' Week section at the 66th Cannes International Film Festival in 2013, was screened in the Michael Powell Award Competition section at the 67th Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2013, was shot on locations in Scotland and is a UK production which was produced by producers Mary Burke and Polly Stokes. It tells the story about a son and brother named Aaron who lives with his mother named Cathy in Gourdon, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. After returning from a fishing boat accident where his brother named Michael and four other men were taken by the sea, the citizens of the community wonders why he doesn't have any memory of what happened and places the blame for the accident on him. Although Aaron becomes alienated, he is convinced that his brother his still alive.Distinctly and acutely directed by Scottish filmmaker Paul Wright, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated by the main character and mostly from his viewpoint, draws a heartrendingly reflective portrayal of a sole survivor whom whilst missing his brother hangs on to a childhood story his mother used to tell him and his brother when they got scared, and turns to his brother's girlfriend named Jane whom he thinks is the only one that will believe him. While notable for its naturalistic, distinct and atmospheric milieu depictions, versatile cinematography by cinematographer Benjamin Kracun, production design by production designer Simon Rogers and use of sound, colors and light, this character-driven, monologue-driven and narrative-driven story where a fairy-tale becomes a reality to a person who believes that everything will be fine again if he can bring his brother back, depicts a densely internal study of character and contains a great and timely score by composer Erik Enocksson. This eloquently mysterious, distinguishable and somewhat sociological indie which is set in a coastal village in Scotland in the 21st century and where the one who were not taken by the sea takes on a responsibility for something he isn't responsible for so that things can return to the way they were and a mother stands by her ostracized son, is impelled and reinforced by its fragmented narrative structure, substantial character development, rhythmic continuity, powerful use of music, remarkable use of flashback scenes, humane examination of its central themes, the singular acting performance by English actor George Mackay and the reverent acting performances by Scottish actress Kate Dickie, English actress Nichola Burley and Scottish actor Jordan Young. A resonating and profoundly elegiac audio-visual poem for those in peril at sea which gained the Douglas Hickox Award Paul Wright at the 16th Möet British Independent Film Awards in 2013.

Borderline mental illness is not one of the most commercially appealing genres, so this is the sort of movie that has absolutely no chance of any box office success, anywhere in the world. This movie upset me enormously, worried me, scared me and made me extremely sad. And I loved every minute of it, so I know that I am in a peculiar minority.George MacKay playing Aaron was truly extraordinary. Even though his filmography shows that he was pretty much a child star, it isn't easy to play a rather unpleasant role during the period when you have spots all over your face and no muscular definition to speak of. On top of that, shooting the film must have been a nightmare considering the number of scenes shot in the cold sea.I worried about what would happen next the same as in a Hitchcock movie or any number of modern thrillers. Was somebody going to be killed unexpectedly. What on earth was the main character trying to do? The ending of the film was both unexpected and marvelous and whether or not it was a hallucination or a psychotic episode does not matter to me.

Thanks to her role in 'Game of Thrones', the biggest name (okay, pretty much the *only* name) in 'For Those in Peril' is Kate Dickie. But she's not the lead: that responsibility falls to the husky young George MacKay. He plays Aaron, the sole survivor of a trawler tragedy which claimed the lives of five other men (one of whom was his brother). The small, close-knit fishing community regard him with suspicion: why did he survive when everyone else died? Only his mother (Dickie, adding to her extensive repertoire of Working-Class-Women-Who-Nobly-Suffer) and his brother's fiancée have kind words to say to him. Gradually, Aaron becomes more and more withdrawn and disturbed. If you think this is the kind of story that can only end in tears, you'll be right, sort of.The film makes much use of home-video footage to show the close relationship of Aaron and his brother, and voice-over vox-pop interviews with the villagers to explain their feelings about his survival. I thought these were clever devices, as they added to the realism of the piece: and there is a very strong sense of realism about the film (even leading man MacKay's acne is not covered with make-up). But that makes the ending such a rude shock: what had seemed to be a portrayal of one man's mental breakdown under unbearable grief and guilt instead veers into fantasy and fairytale. That, I felt, spoiled things.The acting? As I said above, Dickie has played this part several times before, and she does it as well as she ever does. MacKay could perhaps have been a bit less monotone and starey - but hats off to him for the many scenes where he had to swim in what must have been the freezing waters of the North Sea - he should get a medal!

This film seemed to have such promise as it developed, but ultimately that promise was squandered by a fizzler of an ending and many missed opportunities for more interesting storytelling along the way.  As the sole survivor of a boat tragedy, Aaron seemed initially to be unfairly shunned by the other residents of his small Scottish fishing village - but later developments give an inkling into the reason that he attracts such hostility.  Unfortunately, the film takes too long to get there and does nothing with the new narrative turn.  While the decision to leave the boating tragedy completely unexplained may have seemed a good one to the filmmakers, for the audience it just further serves to underline the hollowness at the heart of the narrative.  By taking too long to say too little, the film fails to sustain atmosphere, story or emotion.  Its haphazard use of locations means that it is also unable to sustain a sense of place, with each scene feeling like a separate, dull bead spaced widely along a thin thread of narrative.