Scrapper
Charlotte Regan deconstructs the daddy-daughter relationship in a from-the-heart feature debut.
Finding the gold: Harris Dickinson and Lola Campbell
Image courtesy of Picturehouse
With over 200 music videos under her belt, writer/director Charlotte Regan brings an unconventional flair to her debut feature, incorporating stylized sequences that excavate her heroine’s vivid imagination and enrich Scrapper with a sensitive humour often lacking in British social realism. The pops of colour infused into the neighbourhood and cutaway interviews flip the script, painting the proverbial kitchen-sink in pastel. From the snotty local girls in head-to-toe Barbie pink to the pale yellow bikes ridden by a trio of the community’s boys, colour is but one of the forms that informs Regan’s vibrant, economic storytelling.
Living alone on the outskirts of London, 12-year-old Georgie (Lola Campbell) is adjusting after the sudden death of her mum. Cheeky and resourceful, she convinces the world that an uncle has come to take care of her and has no trouble pulling the wool over jaded social workers. To cover the rent, she spends her days nicking bikes around the estate with mate Ali (Alin Uzun). When uninvited visitor Jason (Harris Dickinson) arrives, Georgie is forced to confront what she’s missing out on. As it turns out, grief is a bit more complicated than those five stages make it out to be.
Regan’s deep dive into the working class community offers a fresh coat of paint on familiar struggles. Behind the tough exterior is an incredibly tender piece of filmmaking focused on characters at opposite ends of the same spectrum. A girl who’s had to grow up too quickly and a man that’s a real peter pan are forced to find a way to meet in the middle. Both Georgie and Jason cling to their phones and physical totems, holding tight to what they’ve lost and what’s left. It’s another strong turn from Dickinson, bolstered by spunky newcomer Campbell. Witty and saturated with joy, Scrapper is like a piece of metalwork in contemporary art – it’s not the pieces themselves, but how the artist has arranged them to evoke something new.
CHAD KENNERK
Cast: Harris Dickinson, Lola Campbell, Alin Uzun, Cary Crankson, Carys Bowkett, Freya Bell, Laura Aikman, Ambreen Razia.
Dir Charlotte Regan, Pro Theo Barrowclough, Screenplay Charlotte Regan, Ph Molly Manning Walker, Pro Des Elena Muntoni, Ed Matteo Bini and Billy Sneddon, Music Patrick Jonsson, Costumes Oliver Cronk, Sound Ben Baird.
DMC Film/BBC Film/Great Point Media-Picturehouse Entertainment-Kino Lorber.
83 mins. UK. 2023. UK and US Rel: 25 August 2023. Cert. 12A.
