Disappointed

Rating: 4/10 (17 May 2014)

The cinematography is great – pretty, "meaningful" artsy long shots – but this film could have been so much more. I live in Bristol, a town built on slavery (both black and before that white) which struggles to come to understand its past and the way people behaved – this film simply didn't engage on that level. I didn't feel any great empathy for any of the characters, their motivations weren't explored at any depth, it didn't really raise even the most obvious questions of the way people behaved beyond the most superficial level. And yet it has been really warmly received – maybe it's the power of political correctness, or could it be a commentary on a nation that still hasn't yet the maturity to come to terms with its roots. I'd give it a miss.