215. Last Summer; movie review

LAST SUMMER
Cert 15
96 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong violence, bloody images

And the hits keep coming..
Here is another low-budget British film which bowled me over by the quality of its acting, attention to detail and gripping storyline.
Of course, it helped that the backdrop of Last Summer was the 1970s when I were a lad and we used to "play out all hours."
But, thankfully, my pals and I were not distracted from games of football and hide and seek by anything nearly as tragic as unfolds in Jon Jones's film.
Set in Welsh countryside, Last Summer sees four boys enjoying boundless exploration until a shocking incident.
This catapults them into a very adult world which they cannot fully comprehend.
Last Summer is all the more powerful because its action is so out of kilter with the carefree play which had preceded it.
The young boys are not mentally capable of dealing with its consequences and react just like the children they are.
Young Noa Thomas is the driving force with his character Davy refusing to accept the abnormality of the situation and believing that somehow he can restore the balance.
Young Welsh actors Gruffydd Weston, Rowan Jones and Christopher Benning complement him, utterly convincing in their roles.
Because Last Summer's surprises are essential to its enjoyment, I shall write no more about its plot.
However, I will heartily endorse it for the quality of its script, acting and the care taken with its 1970s backdrop which transported me back to the days of childhood.
I found it compelling and gripping.

Reasons to watch: Unusual and gripping
Reasons to avoid: Low-budget

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? According to latest government statistics, women are far more likely to be killed by partners or ex-partners (50% of female victims aged 16 and over compared with 3% of male victims aged 16 and over), whereas men were more likely to be killed by friends or acquaintances (32% of male victims aged 16 and over compared with 10% of female victims aged 16 and over).

The final word. Jon Jones: "Last Summer was a way of me making sense of childhood, of growing up and of losing something. I think I always wanted to make something quite elegiac and this is, to some degree, that film.”

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