Reviews

“Like Ken Loach’s upcoming Route Irish, this persuasive debut feature from writer/director Brian Welsh lays bare the psychological impact of the Iraq war upon British combatants returning to home territory. Refreshingly, the focus here is a female soldier, Suzy (Joanne Froggatt), who struggles to readjust to life with her volatile squaddie husband (Mel Raido) and their eight-year-old daughter (Chloe Jayne Wilkinson). Welsh cranks up the unease as a flashback-troubled Suzy grows increasingly paranoid. Anchored by Froggatt’s powerful performance, this is stark social realism steeped in honesty and humanity.” ★★★★

Tom Dawson – Total Film

“This strong second feature from NFTS graduate Brian Welsh (‘Kin’) deals with the urgent psychological issue of soldiers coming home from Iraq (a subject addressed by another LFF title, Ken Loach’s ‘Route Irish’) and is given a special spin by focusing on a female soldier, Suzy (a very convincing Joanne Froggatt), who returns to her disturbed squaddie husband and young daughter in the north east. Suzy’s unwillingness to share her combat experience with family and friends offers an element of suspense that’s compounded by the volatility of her husband. Welsh coaxes strong performances from his cast and imbues his film with the same sense of paranoia and fragility that characterises his protagonists. Impressive.” ★★★★

Time Out

“An accomplished and important film… Froggatt’s performance in this tale is electrifying, conveying at once the difficulties she faces as a soldier and as a mother, dealing with the recurring horrors of Post Traumatic Stress disorder. The film is an intricate journey into a very private world, which represents a much wider problem than the borders of the small town in which it is set. At a time when debate about the aftermath of the wars in the Middle East is being sidelined amidst the global financial crisis, this is timely, gripping and important viewing. Shortlisted for the Best British Newcomer Award.”

I-D Magazine

“Brian Welsh’s riveting film is about a female British soldier, with a kid and a squaddie husband, who returns from Iraq to face a destabilising mental state. A fine debut with a raw, honest performance from Joanne Froggatt.”

London Evening Standard

“Back in March on MMM: Almost Live, I gave much praise to Katherine Bigelow for getting the male psyche and bonding of relations that happened during her Oscar winning The Hurt Locker and how much understanding and realism it brought to the movie. The same, and reverse, can be said about Brian Welsh’s understanding of a mother trying to readjust to her surroundings after the trauma she has experience and falling into a trap of being too overprotective of Cass in the part and almost treating it like a mission and not a case of being a caring mother, making rash decisions that effect the lives of everyone involved. It makes the finale even more heartbreaking when the final pieces are set.”

Multimedia Mouth