Starring: Alex Lawther, Juliet Stevenson, Phénix Brossard, Finbar Lynch
Departure
Director: Andrew Steggall
Rating: 4/5
If you are looking for a great drama to enjoy on the big screen this weekend instead of a big budget blockbusters, then Departure could well be the movie that you are looking for.
Departure is a movie that has already been playing well on the festival circuit and will mark the feature film directorial debut of Andrew Steggall. As well as being in the director's chair, Steggall has also penned the movie's screenplay and is a filmmaker to watch out for over the next couple of years.
In the foothills of the Montagne Noire in the South of France, a mother and her son pass a week packing up the contents of their holiday home. As Autumn turns to winter and the trees that surround the isolated house give up their leaves, a figure appears and disappears in the forest.
The reservoir in the hills drops into a river that descends through the forest and glides past the house. Touched by opera, myth, and landscape, Departure narrates the story of the end of a marriage, the end of childhood and the end of an otherwise nuclear middle-class family.
There have been some fantastic British movies so far this year, but Departure really is up there as one of the best. It is a movie that explores the idea of change and transformation - both internal and external - as well as a change in the relationship with the people around you.
Steggall wonderfully weaves together to very different coming of age stories; that of Elliot, who is finding his feet in the world, coming to terms with the state of his parent's marriage as well as his own sexuality. While Elliot's mother Beatrice is on a journey of her own; she is finding her way through the collapse of her marriage and is on the cusp of a new and very different life.
But, at this film's heart, it is a love story and a love story between a mother and her son. Throughout this film we see the characters of Elliot and Beatrice go on very different and separate journeys but they lead to each other and the acceptance that they are both flawed individuals who are capable of making mistakes.
It is hard to believe that Lawther is so inexperienced on the big screen as he gives such a wonderfully nuanced and layered performance as Elliot. In someone else's hands, I think that Elliot's less likeable qualities would have audiences feeling a little cold but Lawther keeps you on side and rooting for him.
I have always been a fan of Stevenson and she also gives a terrific central performance as Beatrice; a woman who is coming to terms with her own problems while struggling to connect with her son.
There's something incredibly raw and real about the characters of Elliot and Beatrice - especially the former - and that really pulls you into the story and I think many audience members will see something of themselves in these two characters and their struggles.
As well as a fantastic script and two great central performances, Departure is a wonderful looking film. The rural setting really is beautiful and the house in which the film is shot is where the director conceived the idea for the film and penned the screenplay.
Departure is one of the best human dramas that you will see this year and with autobiographical elements from Steggall in the script, you cannot help but be drawn in by the themes of change and the air of melancholy that does hang over the film.
This is an impressive directorial debut from Steggall and I cannot wait to see what he delivers over the next couple of years - he looks set to be an exciting directing talent.
Departure is out now.