Cinema - London to Brighton

There are some films which have starts so brilliant that the rest of the movie is something of a letdown. A case in point: Saving Private Ryan. London to Brighton, a thriller from debut director Paul Andrew Williams isn’t like that. The movie hits the ground running, with a stupendously taut scene depicting two girls crashing into a public toilet at three in the morning. And then it carries on at the same pace, the narrative interspersed with flashback, as we find out why the girls are there, why they are so terrified, and why the older one’s face is swollen like a rugby ball.

We are thrown into a terrifying urban world of pimps, prostitutes and paedophiles. The older girl, Kelly (Lorraine Stanley) has been asked to find a young under-age runaway to satisfy the sexual urges of a gangland boss. The younger girl, Joanne (Georgia Groome) has been earmarked for that purpose. The first half of the film explains, in flashback, why this sordid little deal has gone wrong, and why the girls are in fear of their lives. The second part, which sees the girls travelling to Brighton, makes you wonder what is going to happen to them if the nasties who are after them manage to catch them. Don’t expect any of the mockney clichéd nonsense of Guy Ritchie - this brilliantly acted, sparsely directed, beautifully shot film is how Mike Leigh or Ken Loach might make a thriller. Brilliant. DL