TRUE THINGS (15)

Posted by ruthmedia on April 9, 2022 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

TRUE THINGS (15)

Director: Harry Wootliff

Runtime: 1h42m

Cast: Ruth Wilson, Tom Burke, Hayley Squires, Tom Weston-Jones, Elizabeth Rider, Melissa Neal, Robert Goodman, Chris Brazier, Malik Blumenthal, Ram Gupta, Max Bispham, Karol Steele, Jordan John, Nathan Ampofo, Charlie Heptinstall

Synopsis: Bored by the daily tedium of her office job, Kate is sleepwalking through life when a chance sexual encounter with a charismatic stranger awakens her. High on infatuation and the exhilaration of this new relationship, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to this mysterious new man. Hoping he will provide the escape she so desperately desires, she embarks on an emotionally dangerous journey that slowly begins to consume her.

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3lN0l4E5i0

Director Harry Wootliff’s follow-up to Only You (2018) is adapted from Deborah Kay Davies’s acclaimed novel ‘True Things About Me’, an intense and absorbing psychological drama which had its Scottish Premiere at Glasgow Film Festival 22.

It features a career-best performance from Ruth Wilson [The Affair (TV Series – (2018 -2019), Luther (TV Series – (2010-2019), Mrs. Wilson (TV Series – (2018), Saving Mr. Banks (2013)].

Kate (Ruth Wilson) is drifting through life and barely holding down a job as a benefits claims worker in a sleepy seaside town. Then she meets ex-con bad boy, Blond [Tom Burke – C.B. Strike (TV Series) 2017-2022, Mank (2020), The Souvenir (2019)] and her world is knocked sideways. Instant attraction leads to all-consuming obsession. Despite pressure from her friends and family to find some stability, she dives headfirst into romance. With wonderful performances, this twisted, sexy psychological thriller dares to immerse us in Kate’s mixed-up world and jolt us through the giddy rollercoaster of emotions that she is all too hungry to experience.

Kate, a disenfranchised woman on the fringes of society, is bored by the daily tedium of her job at the benefits office and crushed by the disappointments of the dating scene; she craves something more. Then one day, a cocky ex-prisoner (Tom Burke) arrives at her desk, and before she knows it the pair are having a quickie in the nearby car park.

She doesn’t even know his real name and calls him ‘Blond’ in her phone, but Kate is now awakened by her risky encounter and inexplicably drawn to this enigmatic new man. But will he provide the escape she so desperately desires?

Harry Wootliff’s subtle second feature ventures into dark territory, adroitly examining the line between infatuation and obsession, and the destructive power dynamics of a toxic relationship.

Cinematographer Ashley Connor uses Academy ratio (1.37 : 1), immersing us in the details of Kate’s mixed-up world while composer Alex Baranowski reflects the anxiety, abandon and foreboding in the narrative.

The charisma and magnetic chemistry of Ruth Wilson and Tom Burke raises True Things from the ordinary while it mines complex, character-driven drama from an ill-advised romance.

Harry Wootliff has commented that the film’s relationship seems familiar but is “a cautionary tale of a destructive sexual relationship that is both complex and ordinary.”

In cinemas

Images courtesy of: Picturehouse Pictures