Attack The Block’s premise is so simple. Aliens (think big critters, rather than Mork) land in South London. They chase local shennagians-ers around for a bit, and everyone learns a little something.
Joe Cornish has since co-written Tintin with Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright, a fanboy’s Holy Trinity. With “Attack” he has more than paid his dues to be associated with these writers. Yes, the story is basic, and the creatures are made from shaved dogs and blue tack, but it’s the simplicity of his characters in an unforgiving and depraved environment that works. They are criminals, but Cornish never patronises youth and circumstance, and the story evolves into more social drama than scary film. Jodie Whitaker’s Sam, mid-invasion, hears that her initial attackers were more scared during their first meeting and the subsequent robbery than she was. It is such a simple revelation, but it anchors the tone (and humour) of a film that is really as much about the themes of isolation and boredom than it is about offering cheap scares. I wish Messers Loach and Lee would add some luminous-toothed monkey dogs to their socially-aware adventures; it would make them at least fun!
Love Like Poison is utterly beguiling. Anna, 14, is conflicted over her natural sexual desires and their weight on her upcoming Confirmation. There is no plot; it would only get in the way if there was. Anna, played with a delicate and often unhinging bravery by Clara Augarde, is surrounded by normality; her mother is separated, and she helps with the care of her grandfather. But in each of the characters around her there are seething contrivances. They use Anna for their own gain - her mother in a tormented battle with her father, her priest for her soul, her grandfather for her sexuality. It’s a credit to debut director Katell Quilleveree that such simplicity of tone is never dull, and always pushing forward. If Anna was real, looking back as an adult, these events will most likely have greatly shaped her life, but these are events so simple that they would need years to attest to their relevance. Love Like Poison has an eerie, sensual undertow that wraps youth in ambivalence and is often still to reality; it’s a cunning film that is fearless, and beautiful. And remember that great first trailer for the Social Network with the Gospel version of Creep? It was stolen from Poison’s ending. Bastards!
