Lapwing

Again to paraphrase Random-70778: Wow, bad acting is hard to find in the UK, and this film does not disappoint. The acting is astronomical, inspiring, and delightful to watch. We feel and sense the pain of Patience (Hannah Douglas) and also the anger of David (Emmett J Scanlan). Excellent work by director Philip Stevens with some scenes hard to watch, the script is intelligent and raw, the cinematography captured the desolation and beauty of the seashore.

Must see!!!

Showcasing 1500's England as an undeniably grim and grubby place to call home, debut director Philip Steven's small-scale but often impressively shot independent film aimed to replicate recent female centred period affairs such as The Witch, The Nightingale and Lady Macbeth and while it never quite manages to operate at the same standards as those noteworthy features, there's enough going on here to suggest a viewing and that all those involved have what it takes to bring it to the next level in the feature film landscape.

Following Hannah Douglas's mute and troubled Patience, who lives out an unenviable existence alongside her sister and perma-drunk brother in law David (a menacing and mumbling Emmett J Scanlan) as salt farmers in the unforgiving lands of 1555 England, Lapwing rarely if ever pauses for any moments of humour or fun as Patience finds potential love and salvation in the form of Sebastian De Souza's gypsy Rumi, who has been shunned by a recent royal decree and banished from being a part of the English society.

Shot in a Malick-lite way by cinematographer Stewart MacGregor and scored moodily by composer Lee Gretton, Stevens film which was born from screenwriter Laura Turner's raw and uncompromising script, never truly manages to nail its blending of genres that moves from hard drama, attempted trial against the odds love story and nerve shredding thriller, with Stevens aiming to cover some big ground in both scope and themes (religion, violence,bigotry etc) in his film that was shot over the period of a few weeks in the picturesque countryside of Lincolnshire.

While these various elements never click in a way that would've elevated Lapwing into one of those few independent films that manages to break out in a big way (a rare thing to do for films of this ilk in the post-Covid feature landscape) there's enough impressive components here that should please viewers willing to go on the dark journey the film and Patience go on as the horrors of David's oppressive guidance and the time in which we find these characters in makes themselves more apparent.

Unable to work with words, Douglas's turn as Patience is sure to capture the eye of those in the know and one would expect bright things from the budding star who shines brightest despite some solid if unremarkable work from her main co-stars Scanlan and De Souza and as the brief sub-90 minute runtime wears on you can't help but root for Patience to find her place in a world that seems hellbent on ensuring her life is as hard as it can get, leading to a tension riddled climax to a film that deserves to find a willing and accepting audience.

Final Say -

Not an uplifting experience but one that showcases a warts and all examination of a time and place that knew little in the way of acceptance or forgiveness, Lapwing is a solid debut from director Philip Stevens who gives his main star Hannah Douglas a notable canvas to launch her career from.

3 bags of salt out of 5

Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

Really impressed by this bleak but beautiful slow burner. Hannah Douglas does wonders with her role as a young mute woman up against her controlling and terrifying brother in law (Emmett J. Scanlan). The landscape may be calm and peaceful but the relationships with their psychological, and ultimately physical, battles are anything but. Sebastian de Souza offers some heart to the proceedings and Sarah Whitehouse's tortured sister brings another emotional layer to a powerful and memorable picture. A welcome end of year surprise!

The harshness of some critics astounds me. I am not involved with this production in any way, I am not giving it 10/10, I'm giving it an honest assessment.

A quiet, melancholy film about outsiders. The 'Civilised British' of this film are a group of religious fanatics exploiting those even lower in society than them. Living in tents and eking out an existance farming salt on the bleak Lincolnshire coast hardly makes you a part of society, yet they are still able to make profit off those even worse off than themselves.

The fact that Hannah Douglas has a stammer so severe she is functionally mute, and when she tries to speak she 'screeches like a lapwing' literalises the fact that for so many people throughout so much of history having a voice was not an option. When you can't speak, you can't speak up.

Emmett J Scanlan is a typical cult leader, in that he maintains his power through charisma and control, but what happens when the charisma stops working? Drinking more heavily through the course of the film starts things unravelling. Is he drinking because his control is slipping or is his control slipping therefore he's drinking? Either way it's a portrait of a man no longer in control of himself or others, and in my opinion it works well.

A touch more fatalistic acceptance of the way her life has gone from Hannah Douglas might have been in order and a few more happy interactions with Sebastian De Souza would have been nice, but overall a bleak, heart rending film that worked well on me.

Wow, bad acting is hard to find in the UK, but the acting in this is cringeworthy. Script is inane and childish, camerawork and direction childish.

Oh and the 10 star reviews are both clearly written by same person using same phrasing, both with accounts whose sole IMDB activity is to give this a ten.

Zero stars.