Paul Wright's imaginative take on grief, 'For Those In Peril', tells the story of a young man who survives a fishing accident only to be blamed by his community for coming back alive. This could be a really powerful story, not just about loss, but also about how social normality hides the terrible reality that we do not in fact love one another in equal amounts. Yet the construction of the film is part that of a documentary, and in part mystical in affect; and the two aspects prove a slightly awkward fit: it was well acted, but I found it less moving than I felt I should have done. There's also an oddity that, perhaps because of funding, the film is set in Scotland but appears to have been partly filmed in Yorkshire, a minor incongruity, but pointless and thus grating.
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cm4mwm5 March 2020Weird and wonderful. It's an experimental film, so don't expect a conventional narrative. Great acting, gorgeous cinematography.
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ozakevin2 February 2020Yes, I think it is still nice film. But I think it would be better if it is not about sea-monster hunting, or his lucky moment where he didn't got hurt at all after the incident, or the social think he is a witch where he summons sea-monster to eat his own brother and friends. And, if this movie want to talk about killing sea-monsters to kill his brother, please show more his effort in killing the monster. It's like magic, and almost instantly saving his brother and others
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This film seemed to have such promise as it developed, but ultimately that promise was squandered by a fizzler of an ending and many missed opportunities for more interesting storytelling along the way. As the sole survivor of a boat tragedy, Aaron seemed initially to be unfairly shunned by the other residents of his small Scottish fishing village - but later developments give an inkling into the reason that he attracts such hostility. Unfortunately, the film takes too long to get there and does nothing with the new narrative turn. While the decision to leave the boating tragedy completely unexplained may have seemed a good one to the filmmakers, for the audience it just further serves to underline the hollowness at the heart of the narrative. By taking too long to say too little, the film fails to sustain atmosphere, story or emotion. Its haphazard use of locations means that it is also unable to sustain a sense of place, with each scene feeling like a separate, dull bead spaced widely along a thin thread of narrative.
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The Edinburgh International Film Festival 2013 Presents:
Writer, Director Paul Wright creates a beautiful poetic tale, exploring the power of love and loss in his deep, visceral and emotionally charged feature debut.
Aaron, an awkward outsider in his small fishing community, returns home after surviving the boating tragedy that claimed the lives of all else aboard, including his elder brother Michael (Jordan Young). Aaron, who feels increasingly frightened and isolated, can remember no details of what happened. He not only struggles with the guilt felt from being the only survivor, but the guilt imposed on him by a community who will not readily forgive him for being alive, while their loved ones are dead.
In his loneliness and anguish, Aaron reaches out Michael's fiancée (Nichola Burley) which fuels the communities suspicions and anger further, in particular Nicola's father (Michael Smiley).
"Do you think if you believe anything enough, it'll become true?" asks Aaron. With his state of mind worsening by the day, Aaron, propelled by folklore and local superstition clings to the hope that Michael is still alive, and thus sets out to save him from "The devil in the ocean".
Wright's feature debut is a strong character drama that explores psychological trauma through a visceral coloured palette and a rich, compelling and thought provoking narrative. Wright uses almost every aid at his disposal to ensure the audience feels and experiences Aarons increasing fragility, torment and state of mind, and he balances it note perfect. This is achieved through a tapestry of visual formats (Super8 footage), sound, folklore and news articles that blur the lines between reality and fantasy. These methods of storytelling never force an idea, but rather tease the audience with possibilities, allow them to draw their own conclusions.
Wrights prominent direction and vision is felt throughout the narrative, but it must be said, his cast deserve as much recognition. George Mackay gives a powerful, sad and heartbreakingly honest performance as our troubled lead, Aaron.
Kate Dickie provides the emotional centre of the film, and exists as Aarons only buoy in stormy waters, in a town that has outcast one of their own. Cathy performance although understated encapsulates the heartbreak and strength of a mother who wrestles with her own grief, whilst trying remain strong for her now, only remaining son. Both performances are quite simply stunning and career defining.
It could be argued that the film becomes stagnant in its second act, refusing to move on in narrative, busying itself with visual flourishes and techniques that slow the pace. I however enjoyed these moments and found they added intrigue, beauty and mystery to an already compelling film.
In-Short
As someone I know put it, "For those in peril is as deep, scary and as beautiful as the sea itself"
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meredithsarahjane13 October 2013A story of a younger sibling trying to recapture the life he believes he had before a tragic incident leaves him the only survivor, living in a small community where all but his mother and his dead brother's girlfriend turn against him, a community where he was raised. Severely underdeveloped in character motivation (what is leading him? his brother's death? the tale his mother told him? or would he have been like this anyway given how the backstory unfolds), held together by a mix of hand held plus supposed home movies, none of which provide a coherence (my companion was really bugged by the relentless shots of the back of his head). Too many questions, such as who's view is this? Who is behind the home movies,and why? Who is filming on board the fated boat? At one point, when he straps the knives together I thought for a moment we were returning to NEDS (which I liked). Much of this was cliché - hands trailing over cement walls, held up to light;a horse suddenly on the beach. And the ending? I am not sure what to make of that. Many of the scenes could have been taken out as I wasn't sure they were propelling the story, or the scenes were too short so didn't lead anywhere, eg Aaron wearing the mask but no-one noticing. Given the good reviews, I must have missed something!
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An artistic character study of a young man, Aaron, (George Mackay) who is the sole survivor of a fishing boat accident that claimed his brother's life. His Scottish village mourns for the dead while disrespecting the living, believing that those who survive such accidents are somehow less noble than those who died. Because of this, Aaron is treated like an outcast and given little sympathy. Alone and unraveling, Aaron determines to go back to sea and find his brother, no matter the cost.
But this movie is not at all what it seems, which makes it a divisive movie. Some people will love it, some will hate it. I thought I knew where this movie was going and when it took a drastically different route I was shocked but I could not look away.
I also happen to love George Mackay and he's the real reason I watched this movie. I honestly wasn't expecting much from the film though. It was pretty slow at times and I expected it to stay slow, but there is a dramatic shift at a certain point in the movie, and well, you just have to watch it to see what I mean. If you've followed any of George Mackay's work, this is a true George Mackay film and his performance is wonderful as always. Understated, subtle, then jarring and emotionally powerful. He won a Scottish BAFTA for this and now I know why.
If you're looking for a quiet indie film about personal discovery and healing, this might not be for you. This film is a realistic drama but it also has an element of folklore and horror. It was a bit of a mind trip too. There were times where I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was real or not. And just when you think it won't get stranger, it does. George Mackay really knows how to pick his roles. His filmography is so consistently good it's crazy. I don't know if I've ever seen an actor this young, this good, and in this many powerful films.
I loved this movie and it's earned its place among George Mackay's most memorable performances. -
nigelmacdonald-9717327 August 2020Some great performances, but the story really drags in places and leads to a typically non-sensical ending that ruined it for me.
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magnuslhad24 April 2015Aaron is the sole survivor of a fishing boat accident that still pains the community. Having lost his brother in the accident, Aaron grieves, but his grief gives way to an increasingly fragile grip on reality. For Those In Peril could have been a myth-imbibed exploration of tragedy and sibling rivalry. It could have been an insightful depiction of unhinged grief. It could have been a story of personal redemption achieved in the face of a hostile community. While it hints at exploring all of these potential story lines, what it ends up being is an under-realised mish-mash that fails to cohere around any thematic, emotional or narrative thread. The film ever-so studiously chases art-house credentials, but invokes clunky genre devices that would make Michael Bay blush. For example, there is no need to wonder what the community makes of Aaron's miraculous survival of the tragedy, as this is relayed constantly in off-screen expositional comments by various bystanders. The cliché scene where someone with a lot on their mind dries up in front of a karaoke audience, so often seen on screen but never in real life, makes a jaded outing here. (Who in real life would ever ask a grieving mother to get on stage and sing karaoke?). You do not have to have spent time in fishing communities such as Ullapool and Shetland to feel the lack of authenticity of setting, though it will jar all the more if you have. Similarly, if you have known grief, Kate Dickie's one-note moping around will not invite empathy. In terms of a mind becoming unhinged, the film does better, with George MacKay's performance occasionally evoking both fear and concern. But these moments are far too few, as the script seems unable to handle the task of developing rounded characters, and falls back instead on lazy invocation of myth to bind the story, what there is of it, together. I am all for eschewing linear narrative in favour of an immersive experience, but none of the imagery is particularly memorable. The climax places its bet on one striking image, but instead that is fudged in an extreme wide shot, suggesting the production design of the model was not up to the job of providing the emotional whump this film requires at its end. Ostensibly bold and experimental, this film instead is tame and unimaginative. Perhaps learning how to handle the basics of simple story, well-told, would have been a better move for these clearly uninspired filmmakers.
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mooveephantom30 November 2021Every now and then we get a great film that covers tragedy and mental illness in a very special and poetic way. The movie truly goes to some dark places and shows what family history, bullying, abuse, fear of folklore/horror tales, outcasting, etc, can do to a person with an undiagnosed mental illness/Schizophrenia. The film almost structured like a documentary and montage/flashback project. Many of the nightmare like sequences are very disturbing and make you question what is reality within the movie and what is inside the main character's head/hallucinations. What happened on the boat? What was the meaning of the two final scenes? I think it works fantastically in the two main ways the viewer can interpret it. The movie can be seen as a dark drama and even an understated horror/thriller. Wonderful performance by a young George MacKay here. Kate Dickie also turns in a heartbreaking performance the mother.
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euroGary4 December 2013Thanks to her role in 'Game of Thrones', the biggest name (okay, pretty much the *only* name) in 'For Those in Peril' is Kate Dickie. But she's not the lead: that responsibility falls to the husky young George MacKay. He plays Aaron, the sole survivor of a trawler tragedy which claimed the lives of five other men (one of whom was his brother). The small, close-knit fishing community regard him with suspicion: why did he survive when everyone else died? Only his mother (Dickie, adding to her extensive repertoire of Working-Class-Women-Who-Nobly-Suffer) and his brother's fiancée have kind words to say to him. Gradually, Aaron becomes more and more withdrawn and disturbed. If you think this is the kind of story that can only end in tears, you'll be right, sort of.
The film makes much use of home-video footage to show the close relationship of Aaron and his brother, and voice-over vox-pop interviews with the villagers to explain their feelings about his survival. I thought these were clever devices, as they added to the realism of the piece: and there is a very strong sense of realism about the film (even leading man MacKay's acne is not covered with make-up). But that makes the ending such a rude shock: what had seemed to be a portrayal of one man's mental breakdown under unbearable grief and guilt instead veers into fantasy and fairytale. That, I felt, spoiled things.
The acting? As I said above, Dickie has played this part several times before, and she does it as well as she ever does. MacKay could perhaps have been a bit less monotone and starey - but hats off to him for the many scenes where he had to swim in what must have been the freezing waters of the North Sea - he should get a medal! -
gerald-holt20 February 2014Borderline mental illness is not one of the most commercially appealing genres, so this is the sort of movie that has absolutely no chance of any box office success, anywhere in the world. This movie upset me enormously, worried me, scared me and made me extremely sad. And I loved every minute of it, so I know that I am in a peculiar minority.
George MacKay playing Aaron was truly extraordinary. Even though his filmography shows that he was pretty much a child star, it isn't easy to play a rather unpleasant role during the period when you have spots all over your face and no muscular definition to speak of. On top of that, shooting the film must have been a nightmare considering the number of scenes shot in the cold sea.
I worried about what would happen next the same as in a Hitchcock movie or any number of modern thrillers. Was somebody going to be killed unexpectedly. What on earth was the main character trying to do? The ending of the film was both unexpected and marvelous and whether or not it was a hallucination or a psychotic episode does not matter to me. -
dfsdsdfas27 April 2014..i didn't quite know what to expect - probably some action on see, webbed in some atmospheric scenes..
it takes a minute or two until i realised the topic.
you can see very clear how confusing and actually kinda impossible it is to point your finger on this if it happening in front of you.
a lot of judgement comes to mind about self-responsibility..or the lack of.
the mind of a schizophrenic/bipolar person is actually like two different persons - i know, kinda common knowledge, but at least i was always looking for a connection between the both..for a response from the 'true self' in everyone in the them. because its not like you realise it that clear when you watch/talk to/are involved with someone. there can be so many reasons for actions that take place, that an actual mentally illness is nothing that comes to mind that easy.
unless really drastic things happen..than you start wondering, but can't really believe it. like it happens to the boy in the movie. better his friends, family, neighbours.
but you have to take it as serious as if your life, and that of others, depends on it.
i really loved the ending. you could say he died on sea and in his and his mothers mind he came through and freed his brother. and himself. it looks maybe like a romantic version of the truth but for me it felt much more real than any other attempt of explaining something you don't even understand.