The trials of war rest with Joanne Froggatt's Suzy. Photo / Supplied
The trials of war rest with Joanne Froggatt's Suzy. Photo / Supplied
You will go a long way to see a better piece of screen acting than the one Joanne Froggatt turns in here, as a British soldier returning from a tour of duty in Iraq.
The actress - familiar to TV viewers as the head housemaid Anna in Downton Abbey- plays Suzy, who is welcomed back to her Newcastle home by her proud family and her husband Mark, an Iraq veteran himself.
The opening stanzas have a light, roughly jokey flavour, only slightly soured by the standoffishness of Suzy's daughter Cass (Chloe Jayne Wilkinson). But we soon become aware that Suzy is haunted by an event in Basra, the specific details of which are held back before being spelt out in the most shocking of circumstances. Memories haunt her sleep and move her to take steps to protect her daughter from dangers at home that may or may not be real. Making matters worse, Mark (Mel Raido), who looms over the slight Froggatt, has some substantial demons of his own and takes none too kindly to attempts by Suzy's former brother-in-arms Paul (Andrew Knott) to help her out.
Froggatt, a compelling mixture of fragility, denial and defiance, seems to disintegrate before us in a tour de force performance and the film is distinguished by its clean and precise cinematography, in which Tyneside's drab and dilapidated urban hinterland reflects its inhabitants' state of mind.
The pointed title (it spins off the "Not In Our Name" protest campaign against the Bush/Blair warmongering) makes it plain where the film's politics lie, but director Welsh's script is not always up to the standard set by his cast, who have to grapple with some obvious plotting, and the film lacks a coherent ending.
But the end credits, which dedicate the film to "the thousands of servicemen and women incarcerated in British prisons after returning to civilian life", hints at a tragedy much wider than the one depicted.
In the wake of the documentaries Restrepo and Armadillo and the Oscar-winning Danish drama In A Better World, this is an impressive addition to the genre.
Stars: 3.4/5 Cast: Joanne Froggatt, Andrew Knott, Mel Raido, Chloe Jayne Wilkinson Director: Brian Welsh Running time: 90 mins Rating: R16 violence, offensive language, sex scenes) Verdict: Great acting, obvious script.
