Director: Michael Pearce
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, Geraldine James
Running Time: 106 minutes
Synopsis: On the rugged Jersey island off the UK coast, 27-year-old Moll (Jessie Buckley) is still living with her parents and stifled by her mother Hilary (Geraldine James). After being upstaged at her birthday party, Moll goes clubbing and then meets rough-edged but charismatic poacher Pascal Renouf (Johnny Flynn). They start a relationship, despite Hilary's disapproval. When the island is shocked by the latest in a series of murders, Pascal is a suspect, and Moll has to decide whether she wants to protect her new lover.
What Works Well: This emotionally dense exploration of "the beast within" is a compelling and dark story of breaking free from the shackles of the past and the expectations of the present. Jessie Buckley is exquisite as the superficially fragile (but actually only temporarily caged) Moll, who has a violent high school incident on her record. She shares the same soul with Pascal, who has several arrests for various offenses, but only one of them is a murder suspect. Civilized constraints (here in the form of Moll's mother and police authorities) can only do so much to control basic urges, with writer and director Michael Pearce using repeated sense of smell references to reinforce animalistic tendencies.
What Does Not Work As Well: The pacing is slow and some stretching of the material is apparent, including the involvement of a mainland detective who adds bluster but not much else. After all the careful build-up, the final act loses some control with loose plotting, leading to an intentionally vague ending.
Key Quote:
Moll: I'd like to make a toast. To my family. For everything you have done for me... I forgive you.
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