Electricity

There are not many films in Hollywood that focus on disability. So upcoming indie movie, Electricity is already something quite unique.

Agyness Deyn's lead character Lily O'Connor suffers from epilepsy. Since early in her childhood it has haunted her and fellow school- children didn't let her forget and took to calling her a 'fit- tastic-spastic' – it is fair to say that it was not a nice thing to have.

Showing the severity and unpredictability of epilepsy, Lily one moment could be on a pier preparing for a date - but next, on the floor suffering. Having it her entire life, she is now as used to it as you can be and explains that she is like 'Alice falling down the rabbit hole' ... 'as the electric storms start in her head and her brain takes a tour'. But on screen we see it much differently, almost a POV, jumpy electric field. Quite like Doctor Who's Time travel, or Star Trek's Warp speed. Whichever it is, it impresses and gets the point across. Edited with many close-ups, Electricity is visually artistic and director Bryn Higgins accomplishes because of it.

After the childhood traumas, and now a middle-aged women, her smitten and quite self-fish mother passes away. As one of the next- of-kin, she gains her inheritance which is due to be spread between her siblings. However one of her brothers, Mickey, has been long- lost for many years. All she knows is a brief past and that he is somewhere in London.

Desperate to find him, and struck with recurring epileptic episodes she strives forwards with an innocent Taken-esqe style narrative (without the killings obviously). Onwards she encounters a completely unbelievable homeless woman, and eccentric characters galore.

Aesthetically challenged and solely driven by Deyn's performance, Electricity is an eye-opener to say the least.

Electricity is a low budget film starring Agyness Deyn who plays Lily O'Connor. She works in a cafe somewhere in Merseyside it seems but the film was partly shot in the north east.

Like most young girls she wants to have a good time but despite the medication her epileptic fits can set upon her at any time which leaves her emotionally and physically drained.

When her mother dies, her eldest brother, a gambler wants her to sell the house and split the proceeds. She does not want to sell because there is a younger brother she has not seen for years. When she is told he might be in London she sets off to track him down.

In London she befriends some homeless people who steal her money. At least they told her how to track down her brother and she contacts homeless shelters and people who work with the homeless.

However those epileptic fits are not far away but luckily she befriends someone who came to her aid when she blacked out.

The film is a straightforward drama of a young woman who has had a troubled family upbringing. She had a rough ride with her mother, problems with her brothers and issues with her disability that has led to a life of taking various medication to control it.

The title of the film reflects the visual effects that the director recreates when the epileptic fits occur. The film is not just about epilepsy but the drama about trying to find her long lost younger brother is a little bit mundane and by the numbers.

Lily is not cut out for the big city and we can guess she is just too trusting when she is exploring the underbelly of homelessness and drug abuse.

There are cameos from Paul Anderson and Tom Georgeson who kind of give this film a country & western feel with a northern beat. I had no idea that Agyness Deyn was some kind of fashion model, then again you are unlikely to look like one if your clothes look like they are from Primark. She really is believable as someone who is not letting her illness define her or get the better of her.

I liked the story-line/acting/occasional visual effects to suggest the epileptic fits. Deyn is sensational as the main character. Visually striking and amazingly empathic. Low budget but goes to show a good movie doesn't need a big spend. Interesting how other reviewers with epilepsy state the way the seizures are presented is very effective. As a doctor it did give me some cause for pause in how we treat this difficult condition and hope that patients will just follow their prescription. Possibly essential viewing for all medical students.

I expect the director and cast will always remember this movie fondly - well done all!

Agyness Deyn squanders her singular theatrical talent in this film just as she so well did in Sunset Song. Her performance in Electricity comes on really strong in every single image or frame she is on making her taxing role gain and perhaps surpass credibility. I have seen her in these two films so far and I have grown very fond of her interpreting skills. There's something about her acting that I find captivating. It strikes me though as if she had been suitably pigeonholed to enact really harsh roles that can only fill us with heartfelt sympathy, pity and compassion for the characters she portrays so majestically. They don't half know how to endure pain! I cannot wait to see her in her upcoming films interpreting other roles and we might as well test and hopefully taste her potential versatility. Cinematographically speaking I think she has a promising career ahead of her with lot to offer for us to just behold and relish it jaw-droppingly. Just wait and see! In the meantime, keep off watching the mundane hotchpotch of unsubstantial films that abound these days and stick to this delectable one.

I was drawn to this small, little-known British film by its star, since I have always found that model Agyness Deyn has such a fascinating face. In fact, Deyn - in her first major movie - is not just the central character but in every scene and, given her lack of acting experience, her performance is remarkable. She plays Lily O'Connor, a young woman from the north who travels down to London to seek the younger brother she has not seen since childhood.

The distinguishing feature of this film, directed by Bryn Higgins, is that from a very early age Lily has suffered frequent and severe epileptic fits. I was once travelling on an inter-city train when the young woman sitting next to me had an epileptic fit and I have never forgotten it. This film is part-funded by the Wellcome Foundation and its representation of such fits is very effective and striking.