150. Red Herring; movie review

 

RED HERRING

Cert 12A

94 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

There can be nothing more heartbreaking than the death of a child, so any parent would feel the pain of the mum and dad of terminally ill filmmaker Kit Vincent.

Red Herring is a documentary diary that records their reactions and 27-year-old Vincent's path following his brain tumour diagnosis.

He has made the movie because he finds it cathartic, and his father, Lawrence, a former college principal, is an accepting participant.

Less keen are his mother, Julie, a district nurse and especially his girlfriend, Isobel, who understandably wants their private chats to be off-camera.

I can see why. They don't want to share their innermost feelings at the time of their greatest stress.

Isobel is especially miffed when Kit wants her to discuss fertility treatment that would enable her to have his child after his death.

She says she fears he is only looking into the possibility for the camera's sake.

There is also the fact that he has been through very testing times with his parents since their divorce more than a decade previously.

On occasion, his language toward them, especially his mother, is blunt, and I fear this may haunt her in the future. I hope I am wrong.

Nevertheless, from the outside, Red Herring is emotional, intense and definitely worth watching.

It also follows his father's conversion to Judaism, prompted by the grief of knowing his son's diagnosis and needing spiritual answers.

Kit tries to bring humour to his predicament, and I understand why. Mrs W and I laughed many times during her cancer treatment.

But his plight didn't make me giggle because I felt so deeply for his parents.

Nevertheless, I admire his bravery; his film is genuine and impactful.

Reasons to watch: Very real and impactful

Reasons to avoid: Upsetting scenes

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know?  More than 80% of all primary brain tumours are diagnosed in people older than 40. The average age for diagnosis is 61 years, while14.3% of brain tumours are diagnosed in people between 15 and 40 years of age, About 3.9% of all brain tumours are diagnosed in children under 14 years

The final word. Kit Vincent: "Making this film has given me so much joy and helped my parents find light amongst the darkness. I really hope we can do this for the wider public as well.”

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