Rating: 4/5
Criterion Challenge 2023 | 21/52 | British Realism
When she was born, she wouldn't stop crying for days. It's like she was born looking for trouble.
Mia stands breathless, calling Katie on her cell, but she can’t get through.
She approaches some girls dancing, including her former friend Keely. She headbutts one of them in the nose.
She spots a horse chained up in a parking lot. She tries to break it loose, but the owner chases her off with a baseball bat.
When she gets home, her mother, Joanne, shoves her and tells her that the police are looking for her because she broke a girl’s nose.
She slips out, buys some cider, and takes it to an abandoned flat. There, she puts on music and puts together some hip-hop dance moves.
The following morning, Mia meets Joanne’s new boyfriend, Connor. Mia can’t help but ogle him.
Thus begins a few days with Mia, a 15-year-old living in social housing in Essex with her mom and her sister, Tyler.
Later that night, Joanne keeps Mia in Joanne’s room during her party. She dozes off, so Connor carries her to her room. She awakens but pretends to sleep. He takes off her shoes and pants and puts her under a blanket.
As the family spends more time with Connor, Mia opts to do things that her mother and sister won’t. For example, Connor jumped into the lake to go fishing with his bare hands. Mia joins him, and they catch a fish together. She cuts her foot in the river, and he offers to carry her to the car.
It’s easy early on to read what he’s doing as fatherly, but boundaries get murky, notably as Mia develops feelings for him. The way he looks at her isn’t exactly innocent, either.
The movie is full of tiny details, some grim — she goes with a boy to a junkyard so he can find a Volvo part. While she’s looking out, she looks into one car and sees a smashed windshield with blood and some hair.
It’s also one where I predicted where it was going early on. A good script and genuine story maintain their power, regardless.
Katie Jarvis, who plays Mia, is so good. I can’t believe the casting agent found her because Katie was arguing with her boyfriend.
There are several moments near the end where I had my hands on my head saying, “Oh my god.”
The dance scene to “Life’s a Bitch” had me tearing up. Saying that feels insane.