A One Mann’s Movies review of “Scrapper” (2023).
Seen as a Cineworld ‘Secret Cinema’ event (where you don’t know what the film will be before it starts) “Scrapper” is the debut from writer/director Charlotte Regan. Looking at the feedback from that screening, it’s clearly a “marmite” film, with some loving it and some hating it. I found it brilliant in places but frustratingly lacking in discipline in others.
“Scrapper” will be on general release in the UK from next Friday (August 25th 2023).
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
The mother of Georgie (Lola Campbell) has died. Her father left for Spain when she was a baby. She is living alone in the terraced family home, pulling the wool over the eyes of an inept social services team. Living from hand-to-mouth, she has teamed with her friend Ali (Alin Uzun) in stealing bikes and selling them on to shady dealer Zeph (Ambreen Razia). But when a stranger hops over her garden wall, her life takes a different course.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: NR. (From the BBFC web site: “Rude gesture, brief moderate violence”.)
Talent:
Starring: Lola Campbell, Harris Dickinson, Alin Uzun, Ambreen Razia.
Directed by: Charlotte Regan.
Written by: Charlotte Regan.
Twitter Handle: #Scrapper.
Jason (Harris Dickenson) and Georgie (Lola Campbell) bond over a metal detector. (Source: BBC Film).
“Scrapper” Review:
Positives:
- When the film started, I was expecting this to be a familiar Mike-Leigh-style working-class/’kitchen-sink’ drama. But it was a nice surprise that it didn’t go there. The film has a lightness in approach, mixing the adventures of Georgie and Ali with direct-to-camera talking heads from the characters surrounding them. My favourites of these were the two social workers, (particularly Youseff (Asheq Akhtar) who was hilarious) and the smartly dressed triplets, played by the Oyesanwo brothers.
- Lola Campbell is a fantastic find in her debut performance as Georgie. Her interactions with Harris Dickinson are terrific, with a train-platform-based improv session delivering one of the best belly-laughs of the whole film.
- The dreamy nature of the young 12-year old reminded me, stylishly speaking, of the wonderful “A Monster Calls” (which similarly covers a theme of a child handling his mother’s terminal illness). Georgie’s junk-built bedroom tower (with a “cut hole here” written on the ceiling) is presumably a childish attempt to reunite herself with her mother.
- The ending of the film is genuinely moving. (There must have been a lot of dust in the cinema!).
Negatives:
- The film veers into the surreal with a bunch of talking spiders. This felt to me like it belonged in a completely different film. Why were these scenes felt necessary? It was like taking a sudden left-turn into Monty Python territory and it was so jarring that it took me right out of the story.
- I really didn’t like the way that the film glorified and normalised theft by the kids. When Jason (Harris Dickinson) appeared on the scene I thought “Oh, he’s going to tear a strip off the kids for their criminal behaviour”. But no! He condones it and indeed becomes a partner in crime! This has a ’12’ certificate in the UK. Given that lots of kids in these types of neighbourhoods, and around this age, are often led astray by criminal gangs, this really didn’t sit well with me. (I thought it was surprising that the BBFC didn’t highlight this in their headline comments on the film, and have written to the BBFC to say so).
Summary Thoughts on ”Scrapper”
This is a surprising and innovative British film that deserves your attention. It is funny and moving in equal measure and marks Charlotte Regan as a director to watch for the future. But I did find the inconsistency in the style to be irritating and frustrating.
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Trailer for “Scrapper”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slyUJ1_eK4E.
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