Bastion - Official Trailer
Channel: Indie Film Trailers
Date: 2019-06-04

Bastion is a 2016 British dystopian drama film co-written and co-directed by Dominic Hodge and Louis Hannan.

Set in a dark, dystopian world of the near future, the Cold War never ended and instead has seen the other side gain the upper hand. The British Prime Minister (John Alcock) addresses the nation as the newly formed CSR (Coalition of Socialist Republics), headed by the USSR and the People’s Republic of China is tipped to initiate military action into Western Europe and Central America. Tensions are high as the United Nations has crumbled as the League of Nations before it, and NATO is powerless against a greatly superior force.

London is now unrecognisable; the British Security Forces have turned the capital into a virtual prison with armed officers patrolling the ground and security drones and cameras watching from the sky, a city where privacy is a thing of the past and suspicion is everywhere. This is everyday life for David (Leo Taylor-Jannati), a lowly government office worker, whose position is trusted, but his paranoia increases with whispers of Russian infiltration of the Government. His pregnant wife, Abigail (Victoria Slinger), a pretty young school teacher has a particular passion for classical literature, such as George Orwell's Animal Farm, which is banned under the Government's crack down over Communist ideology, a worrying development that has not gone unnoticed by David. Their emotional separation has been growing rapidly since the discovery of Abigail’s pregnancy and it shows no signs of slowing.

David, already unnerved by society changing rapidly, witnesses a protester attempting to gain access to his heavily guarded Homeland Security Offices, seeing first hand the extreme tactics of the British Security Forces. But his day goes from bad to worse when he accidentally overhears office clerks discussing Russian spies and Government counter measures. Everyone is under suspicion. His mind flashes with doubts and fears, Abigail, is he under suspicion? Is he being watched? He has already decided what has to be done, but with a chance encounter with an advertisement for Taverstone Butter, a product made in a quiet village in the North of England, his mind is made up.

But in David’s head, he is already under surveillance. David rushes home to tell Abigail about overhearing the classified conversation but she refuses to listen, and refuses the idea of getting away from London. David’s paranoia deepens when he learns of the arrest of office clerks from the previous day. Convinced he is next, David drives to Abigail’s school to convince her that leaving London is the best course of action. His judgement is further clouded by meeting a fellow teacher at the school, William (Peter Adams), noticing a connection between him and Abigail. Driving out into the night, David and Abigail take a detour, heading out of London. But they begin to lose their nerve at a security checkpoint, arousing suspicion. Whilst the guards are distracted by another irate driver, David crashes through the checkpoint and out of the city.

Arriving in the small picturesque hamlet of Taverstone, David and Abigail head to the village public house to look for a room but find themselves confronted by the villagers and the hostile landlord, Chris (Andrew Swift). Luckily they find an ally in the Taverstone Dairy’s Tour Guide, Lawrence (John Michael Lowe). The divide between the couple resurfaces when haunted by a vision of her child in the woods surrounding the village, Abigail expresses a desire to return to London, clashing with David who wishes remain in Taverstone. Lawrence guides the couple to Taverstone Hall where a village meeting has been called to discuss the new arrivals. Chris expresses resentment at their presence at the meeting and an argument breaks out between him and Lawrence, cementing the idea in Abigail’s mind that they can’t stay in Taverstone.

David is collected from the public house by Lord Taverstone’s silent man servant, Gordon (Craig Carr) and taken to a lone statue for a meeting with the village leader, Lord Alistair Taverstone (Keith Flood). Lord Taverstone explains that the village operates independently from the State, with the Government preoccupied with centres of industry, the capital and the brewing conflict overseas, but expresses awareness of a foreign spy in the village and, using David’s place as a newcomer to the society, plans to root out the wrong doer with his help. With a firm reason now to stay in the village, David readily accepts.