Scrapper

This film presents a curious case where numerous individual elements seem mismatched and unlikely to blend well, yet, remarkably, they come together to create a cohesive and compelling whole. The synergy of these components remains somewhat of a mystery to me, but there's no denying that the end result is captivating. A significant part of this success can be attributed to the outstanding acting, which brings a level of authenticity and engagement that elevates the entire experience. In essence, despite its seemingly disparate parts, the film manages to work exceptionally well in a way that is both surprising and gratifying.

It's fair to say that life has taken quite a turn, since your mother passed away you've had to learn, how to fend, forage, sustain - hold the social and constrain, and then your dad walks in, and makes surprise return. At first it's somewhat awkward and annoying, if there's one thing that you're not then it is cloying, you do your best to shake him off, but he's persistent like a cough, but you try to understand, how he's deploying.

Two top drawer performance from Lola Campbell and Harris Dickinson make this a film worth exploring in the tradition of great British contemporary independent filmmaking.

Set and filmed in the greater London area, Lola Campbell is really good as Georgie. She was an accidental product of teenagers and her dad skipped out pretty quickly. Now that she is 12 her mother developed an illness and died. Somehow Georgie managed to stay in their flat, avoiding Social Services by claiming an uncle lived there. An ingenious girl, she would have the guy at the story recite certain phrases that she could play back during phone calls.

She has to really scrap to stay alive, like nicking things to fence so that she could get some money. Mostly living the life of a feral child, with only one friend, a boy named Ali. Then, out of the blue, this 30-yr-old guy with partially bleached hair shows up, jumping over the back wooden fence. He is her dad, coming back from overseas to see what he might be able to do.

The way the movie starts, with unusual scenes and a very shaky camera, we considered abandoning it. But we didn't and the patience paid off. This is a really nice, heartwarming story about two strangers, daughter and dad, learning about each other and finding how each can enrich the others' life. The last 20 or so minutes is definitely worth the patience.

At home, on DVD, from our public library.

"Georgie" (Lola Campbell) ingeniously manages to hoodwink social services following the death of her mother, and so lives on her own and makes a living running an unique cycle recycling programme with her friend "Ali" (Ali Uzun) that keeps them in ready cash. One afternoon, a guy leaps the back fence and introduces himself as her absentee father "Jason" (Harris Dickinson). She wants nothing to do with him, but he's no quitter and over the next hour or so we see the pair gradually realise what they have been missing in the years they spent apart. There isn't really much jeopardy here but what there is, is chemistry, The young Campbell is hugely charismatic and her mischievous but decent characterisation of a latter day urchin is really quite engaging. It's also one of Dickinson's more characterful efforts too. He doesn't rely on his looks and his musculature - he is also delivering us an enjoyable performance to watch as their relationship evolves - and not always smoothly. The writing offers us a dialogue that comes across as genuine, funny and for a low-ish budget effort this really is well worth a watch. I saw it at the cinema, but I'm not sure you need that - television will do fine.

Saw this at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival

"Scrapper" is a film about Georgie, a dreamy 12-year-old girl, lives happily alone in her London flat, filling it with magic. Suddenly, her estranged father turns up and forces her to confront reality. Being director Charlotte Regan first feature, the film is strong.

Throughout, the presentation, camerawork, colors, soundtrack and setting is pretty colorful and professional. The main story is pretty simple and certain elements remained me a lot of The Florida Project. While this film does offer some good insights on the poor areas of the UK, the themes isn't as strong as I think it is.

The performances from the cast are pretty good and the characters were interesting to observe from start to end. The dialogue moments had some funny and clever words, although some felt really fake and not believable. "Scrapper" is a type of film that fees familiar and basic but the overall experience was pretty interesting as there is good humor and chemistry between.

Rating: B.