FISH TANK

This is Andrea Arnold's follow-up to the very impressive 'Red Road'.  

As with the earlier film it is built around a female protagonist, in this case Mia, a troubled teenager who hides her loneliness and vulnerability with an angry attitude to the world, including her single mum who neglects her and a foulmouthed younger sister, Tyler.

Things seem to pick up when her mum's new boyfriend Connor moves in.  He has the potential to be a kind of father-figure to her, for example by encouraging her aspirations to develop a dancing career.  There’s a nice scene where the family is out together and Connor shows Mia how to catch a fish.

Unfortunately there is a darker side to him, which becomes apparent one evening when after a few too many drinks, he seduces Mia.

This causes him to shoot off post haste leaving Mia’s mum distraught.  Mia though manages to track Connor down to his middleclass home where much to my surprise it turns out he has a wife (or maybe partner) as well as a young daughter.

I have to say I found this rather unbelievable but it does lead to an extremely tense sequence in which Mia makes off with Connor’s daughter.

Although at one point it looks as though this will end in tragedy fortunately it just ends with Connor giving Mia a good slap (not that I am condoning such behaviour).

As we then build to the film’s conclusion there are two heart-breaking scenes.

First Mia goes to a dance audition only to learn that the organisers are only interested in erotic dancing, causing her to walk out dejectedly.

Then she learns that a horse whose welfare she had been worried about has had to be put down. This is the proverbial last straw that causes Mia to finally break down in tears. 

Lest this all sound relentlessly grim there is some light at the end of the tunnel in that Mia has during the course of the film been developing a friendship with a local lad, Billy, and the film ends with the two of them driving off to Cardiff.  Their future is uncertain to say the least but they have each other and they are both highly resourceful so I am hopeful for them.

There is also some humour throughout in the hostile exchanges between Mia and Tyler. The sister’s final line as Mia and Billy drive off made me laugh out loud.   

Connor is played by Michael Fassbender who I normally think of as an actor who excels at portraying cold characters so it was a pleasant surprised to see him play a relaxed and seductive charmer.  

The outstanding performance here is by Katie Jarvis as Mia. Given that she had no training prior to this (she was cast for the role after being spotted having a row at a railway station) and that this is a highly demanding role (she’s in every scene) it’s a remarkable achievement, and it’s rather sad that it wasn’t the springboard for a stellar acting career (as yet).