Surge

I have just finished watching this and I am emotionally drained. For those saying this is amatuerish I am sorry but you know nothing about cinema at all. The hand held camera works brilliantly - it lets us into josephs world. The fact that people on the street are staring at him and the camera doesn't matter as they would stare at his behaviour anyway and it adds to the realism and this must have added to the pressure for Ben Wishaw to pull this off. At times this feels like a cruel documentary where the subject is allowed to hit rock bottom for the good of the film. This is stunning. Wishaw should have had an oscar - he has a massive career ahead of him. Give it a chance as it does start slowly but with good reason. Let your self immerse in it and you won't even realise you are watching a movie.

Joseph (Ben Whishaw) works at the airport security checkpoint. He's struggling with mental illness and it spirals out of control.

Full marks for Ben Whishaw's performance. Full full marks. The story could do a bit more dramatic reworking. It needs a more compelling climax. It does get a bit repetitive. Nevertheless, this is all about Ben and he's amazing.

Taken at face value you could mistake this movie for a Falling Down clone set in the UK, but that's a huge disservice to the excellent job Whishaw does of conveying the build up, and aftermath, of a mental breakdown. Minimal dialog and free-hand camera work make the experience immersive, and Aneil Karia's direction does a great job of keeping the audience slightly detached from the reality going on around the protagonist, just as he feels detached from the world. Highly recommended.

Ben Wishaw channels a little of his 'perfume' performance here, (see if you catch the reference), although much more unhinged of course. More madness less method. There's an anxiety which runs throughout this entire picture, exaggerated by the handheld style camera which follows Wishaw's 'Joseph' as he unravels of the course of a couple of days. I really enjoyed this wee film, it all hinges around Wishaw's performance of course and he's great.

I can understand if some folk don't like the shaky cam thing but I thought it worked really well.

I'll keep it spoiler free.

7.3/10.

If you've ever watched someone close have a severe mental breakdown then this might hit a few nerves. This was not overacted it was real and raw. This is happening all over the world and people need to realise it can happen to them or someone close to them. Whoever said this was overacted clearly hasn't witnessed this type of breakdown first hand in their lifetime. I hope they never do as it is most harrowing and terrifying for family members. The acting was first class and really showed the true reality of the lack of understanding of others. My heart goes out to those who have suffered such severe mental breakdowns and their loved ones that have witnessed them.