Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2012

Irish actor Paddy Considine’s directorial debut is a fine example of working-class miserablism and not an easy sit. Nor is it uplifting. It does not offer a message of hope or redemption. It does not want your pity. It’s bookended by scenes of dogs being pointlessly killed. It’s exhausting. But it’s thoroughly watchable for the memorable, wrenching performances by Peter Mullen and Olivia Colman. Mullen (My Name is Joe; Trainspotting) is an actor known for his ability to portray great depths of sadness and loneliness, and to make you care, even when his character is not a naturally sympathetic one. Here he plays an angry, unemployed widower. One day when his demons are particularly active, he runs into a thrift shop and hides behind racks of clothing. The shop’s kind proprietor (Colman) offers to pray for him. But she is not without her own demons, centering on the wife-beater she’s married to (an excellent Eddie Marsan). She has turned, ineffectively, to religion, then to furtive drinking, but to no avail. The two develop a cautious friendship and find a sense of balance, however tenuous, as they try to salvage whatever humanity they have left.