Soft Lad

This film deals with an interesting dynamic, but it is poorly produced. The dialogue is barely audible at times and the music sound track used is probably the most annoying ever. The acting is very variable, overacted at times a bit like a daytime soap opera. The camera work is shaky and at times one wonders if a hand held iPhone was used for some of the scenes. Heads get cut off, and the shaky images are nausea inducing. There are some scenes that add very little to the main story and could easily have been omitted. The ending seems a bit too tidy, and appears as if it were important to the Director/writer to have a happy ending, no matter if it made sense or not!

As a story it somehow it could have been considered a little dated, like it could have been made in the Eighties, closeted husband sleeps with wive's younger brother yada yada. In truth though it's actually a decent film, the story does grab you, it unfolds well, and the acting is excellent. I thought Suzanne Collins was excellent as wronged wife Jane. Daniel Brocklebank, Jonny Labey etc all very good. It's depressing in tone, but in fairness contains some positive messages. Watchable, 8/10

In theory this could have made for quite an intriguing story of cheating and naughtiness. Instead, it turned out to be a really disappointing melodrama showcasing the mediocre acting talents of a few handsome men and the writing of someone who had the vision for the story, but no real idea how to turn it into anything particularly compelling. It's all about the young and attractive dancer "David" (Jonny Labey) who is secretly having an affair with his brother-in-law "Jules" (Daniel Brocklebank). It's a bit tempestuous and after a row, the younger man seeks comfort in the arms of "Sam" (Craig Stein) but that just causes even more ructions and you can now see just what's going to happen, and anticipate the fall out that is looming large for all concerned. So much more could have been done to develop the characters; the sex scenes are ridiculously sterile and there is just way too much petulant dialogue making the whole thing feel much longer than just ninety minutes. It's gay theme gives it a slightly distinctive edge, but otherwise this is forgettable stuff, sorry.

This has got to be one of the worst films I've seen. It is so badly made, I was actually shouting "this is so bad!!" at my laptop. The camera work is so bad it's annoying; I don't know what type of tone or feel they were going for but the result is a mess of awkward angles, moving pointlessly back and forth and getting in the faces of the actors with absolutely no sense of framing.

The sound design is non-existent and the few attempts at scoring are generic 'sad'/piano music, that not only add absolutely no sentiment at all, they also sound really bad. And that also applies to dialogue as well, which makes the whole thing look and sound very amateur.

The script is so bad I can't stop thinking how it got approved or how people thought this kind of writing is good! To sum it up, it goes like this: -I just feel stressed and tired from it all -Why? -I don't know

The repetition of lines like "where is this coming from?" and "why are you being like this?" only makes things worst and adds to an already messed up and poor script that sounds so basic and forced and fake that makes the whole thing really annoying to watch.

In terms of plot, after one or so hours of the character's emotional ups and downs, it boils down to the consequences of unprotected sex and the use of condoms, which in this day and age is just old news.

The actors do try their best and they are some genuine moments that unfortunately don't last for more than a few seconds. Massively let down by a script that simply does not work, they end up trying to convince you how sad they are, or how confused with lines like...well, see above.

I can go on and on as I still can't believe how badly made this is and how amateur it looks and sounds; OK, maybe they didn't have the biggest budget ever and I get that but still, that's not an excuse for the complete and utter lack of a convincing narrative, emotional investment and quality of film making.

Came across this film through social media and was interested to see soap actors in a feature film. To be honest I didn't have much expectation as a lot of the reviews had said this was typical soap plot lines but in my opinion the film tackles real issues and the cast delivered the story exceptionally well. Laura Ainsworth who plays Stacey was hilarious, she played the character so well. Suzanne Collins who I loved in Brookside was also brilliant.

This film is set in Liverpool and was good to see a non London setting. Would Defo recommend this for soap fans! Incredible to think that this was made for less than £20k. Will be hoping to see more from the director!