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3/10

Stars: Mark Stanley, Marli Siu, Amy Manson, Scott Murray, Anders Hayward

Director: Scott Graham

We should say right away that anyone expecting a fast-moving pursuit movie from the title (and the runtime) is going to be disappointed. Instead, we have a barely-there narrative set in a dead-and-alive Scottish coastal town where the only occupation seems to be something to do with fish.

The focus is on a family of four: father Finnie (Stanley), wife (Manson), older son (Hayward), who has just got the sack from dad's fish factory, and schoolboy younger son (Murray).

Each takes it in turn to have the hump, with Finnie himself the angriest of them all. After one confrontation, he storms out, finds his car won't start, and takes his son's drag-racing special instead. Picking up his son's pregnant girlfriend (Siu) - they've fallen out - Finnie embarks on a wild ride around dangerous sea walls, seemingly intent on killing himself.

Back home, son soon discovers the truth and punches dad out. But everyone makes it up and life carries on as before.

The director gives the car-borne scenes a certain intensity, but impenetrable east-coast accents make most of the dialogue difficult to understand, and, despite most of the action taking place in a car, the film has very little narrative drive and fails to resolve any of the issues it raises. Dispiriting, although, to be fair, perhaps that was the idea.

David Quinlan

UK 2019. UK Distributor: Verve (BBC Films). Colour by Arri.
76 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.

Review date: 11 Mar 2020