Fish Tank

Plot synopsis:
We open with Mia (Katie Jarvis), a 15 year old youngster, hunched over and trying to get her breath back in an empty apartment. She stands, looking exhausted. She is in an empty room over looking the Essex council estate where she lives. She calls Keeley and gets through to voice mail. She leaves a message. Admitting to being angry, she apologizes for something she said. She orders her friend to ring her back.She leaves the abandoned block and begins throwing small stones at a high window. An angry male appears and tells Mia to leave because Keeley isn't here. Mia shouts abuse at the man. She walks away towards a small grass patch in the middle of the estate where a group of teenage females are dancing seductively, much to the amusement of four teenage boys standing and gawking nearby. We see Keeley, Mia's friend dancing among the group. She pulls daggers at Mia, along with all the other girls. Mia sits and watches, smirking at the desperateness of the whole situation. The boys trying to get the girls to notice them and the girls taking it in turns to dance, obviously thriving off the boys attention. One of the girls becomes tired with Mia's sarcastic glares and shouts over to her. Mia instantly reacts with violence and storms over and headbutts the girl. The girl stumbles away with a bloody nose. Mia and the rest of the group hurl abuse at each other until Mia walks away, exclaiming "If you want more then you know where I am."Wandering out of the estate, Mia comes across a deprived looking horse chained to a caravan in the middle of a fenced off concrete block. She looks around for any signs of life and enters the area. She notices the chains on the animal and picks up a big rock. She begins hitting the chain hard, hoping to free the horse. A young man (Harry Treadaway) appears out of the caravan and shouts. He's holding a baseball bat and Mia flees.
She returns home, a small apartment block back in the estate, and kneels down to stroke her dog, until her mother, Joanne (Kierston Wareing) sneaks up behind her and pushes her to the floor, violently. The police have been looking for you. She barks. "You broke that girls nose, didn't you?" Mia shouts that she didn't start it but her mum doesn't believe her. They have a brief scrap as Mia tries to get past towards the stairs. "I don't know what's wrong with you." Her mum says as Mia runs towards her room. "You're what's wrong with me." Mia shouts back before slamming her door shut. She lies on her bed for a while and we see an old picture of Mia and Keeley before their argument.Mia sneaks downstairs to avoid any confrontation with her mum. She escapes successfully.
We see her pay an older looking boy to buy her a bottle of cider. She takes the cider to the abandoned apartment block where we saw her first. She plugs her music device into some speakers and begins hip-hop dancing. We cut from the sunset over the estate to Mia's dancing for a while. It becomes clear that dancing is something that Mia enjoys as well being an escape from her deprived life.A time lapse of a few hours occurs and we see Mia leaning over the balcony of the empty apartment with her cider. She takes long swigs and watches 3 young boys play football nearby. She then notices the boy who ran after her with a baseball bat after trying to free the horse. He is with several other boys and they are walking a dog. She leaves and returns home. Back at her home, Mia walks past her younger sister, Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths), and retrieves a hammer from a drawer. Tyler tells Mia that she will be in trouble because she was supposed to stay in. Mia leaves again anyway. We see Mia enter the site with the horse and caravan. She sneaks up and strokes the horse for a brief moment. She is calm around the horse which is a huge contrast to how she acts around other people. She then pulls the hammer out of her bag, ready to hit the chain again. However, a dog begins barking and runs for Mia. It's chained to the caravan so can't reach her but still scares her enough for her to turn and make a run for it. Only the boys are back and are behind her. They torment her and begin touching her. One of the boys rips her bag away from her. She retaliates but this only spurs the boys on. Two of the boys get a hold of Mia and it's disturbing to see where this is heading. The boy who previously ran after Mia with the baseball bat is stood watching, holding the barking dog. When it becomes apparent what his friends plan to do to Mia, he lets the dog go and it runs for the boys. This is Mia's chance to get away and she runs, leaving her bag with her music and speakers behind her.The next morning, Mia is in her kitchen. She starts dancing slowly to a song playing on a music channel on the small television on the work surface. She is interrupted by a noise coming from the kitchen door. A middle aged man (Michael Fassbender) stands, topless and smirking. She freezes and he tells her to carry on because he was enjoying it. She is embarrassed as she is only in her skimpy pajamas. He proceeds into the kitchen and begins making cups of tea. He introduces himself as a friend of her mother's. His name is Connor. They begin sarcastic banter about Mia's dancing. Mia watches him as he pours hot water and milk. He leaves the kitchen with two mugs and heads back up the stairs as Mia admires the curves of his back. She pulls his wallet out of his coat which is hung on the banister. She finds a wage slip from Wickes and also a five pound note which she quickly pockets before putting the wallet back and sitting innocently on the sofa as Connor comes back down the stairs. He puts his coat on as Tyler playfully guards the front door. She demands £2 and then she'll move and he can leave. He tickles her and demands a discount. She laughs and shouts "Fine, a pound!". He gives her a coin and she walks away. "I like you", Tyler says, "Ill kill you last". She makes a gun motion with her hand. In a playful mood, Tyler jumps on Mia. Mia stands and shouts at her sister. Tyler looks sad and lonely. Mia watches Connor through a window. He gets into his car and leaves.We hear Mia's mother play a love song on the radio in the kitchen. Dressed only in a small vest top and white underwear, Joanne is barely out of adolescence herself and is clearly happy about the previous evening's events as she dances and sings around the kitchen. Tyler and Mia watch her. She tells her daughters that she'll be having her friends round later and they need to either get out or stay in their rooms and its a no kids allowed event. Joanne clearly cares more about her friends, drinking and parties than her own daughters. Mia heads upstairs and Tyler shouts abuse at her mother as Joanne grabs her by her hair to get her out of the kitchen. Mia offers to give Tyler the child line number.We cut to Mia heading back to the caravan site with the intention of getting her bag back. She encounters the young man who ultimately saved her by letting the angry dog go. His name is Billy. He gives her her bag back and Mia asks if he let the dog go on purpose. He lies and says that the dog is strong.
We are back at Mia's apartment and she sits in Tyler's room with her sister and her sister's friend as her mother's party is kicking off downstairs. The two young friends drink out of a can and smoke as Mia sits on the window sill. They watch a reality show on a small television. Mia spots Connor walking into their apartment block. She immediately heads downstairs and opens the door to him. He says that he doesn't recognize her with clothes on and she swears at him, feigning anger but you can see that she is pleased to see him. She watches as he heads towards her mother and the two seductively dance together. Joanne storms up to Mia and nips her hard on the arm and tells her to go to her room. Instead, Mia heads into the kitchen and steals a bottle of vodka. She then heads into her mother's room upstairs and plays around with her makeup, whilst taking huge gulps of the alcohol.It's night time and Mia has passed out on her mum's bed. Connor is there, along with Joanne. She tells him to give Mia a prod to wake her up but instead, he picks her up and takes her to her bedroom. He begins taking her shoes off, along with her trousers. We don't know if this is purely fatherly instinct or something else. He tucks her in and leaves.The next morning, Mia walks downstairs in just her underwear and vest top. She drinks from the tap and her mother tells her to get some clothes on as Connor is sat at the kitchen table. Mia says that she is wearing clothes and her mother snarls that she's half naked. Tyler sits on the surface next to the sink. "Shall we get a move on?" Mia's mum says to Connor. Tyler demands to know where they are going but Joanne tries to shrug her off by saying that they are just going for a drive. Tyler says that she still wants to go with them. Connor thinks it would be nice for the girls to go too and we hear Mia's mum groan in despair at the thought of her daughters imposing on her alone time with her new lover boy. Connor tells Tyler to go and get dressed. "What about you?" He says to Mia. Joanne interrupts and says that Mia has better things to do. "Actually, I'd love to come". Mia snarls sarcastically towards her mother. She heads upstairs to get dressed.The four of them are in Connor's car and he plays music on his stereo which the girls dislike at first but then warm to and they all dance in their seats. Connor drives them to a stream where he has obviously been before as he says that he wants to show them something. He begins to take his shoes off and roll his jeans up. He makes his way into the water and Tyler and Mia's mum say that he must be mad. Mia takes her own shoes off and goes into the water after Connor as he says that he needs some help. "Trust bloody Mia". Says Joanne from the water bank.Connor instructs Mia to enter the water and walk slowly towards him. He keeps his eyes on the water in between them and places his hands underneath the surface. Mia does as she's told and walks slowly towards him. After a few tentative steps, Connor pulls a fish up from the water. All three girls gasp. Tyler is extremely excited. Connor takes the fish to the water bank and Mia follows. We see the fish dying on the grass. It becomes clear that Mia has cut her foot in the water. Connor takes his sock off and wraps it around the cut. Mia notices a tattoo on Connor's arm that says Kelly inside a heart. She asks him about it and he dismisses it as an ex girlfriend. The four head back to the car and Connor invites Mia to jump on his back to save her from walking back with no shoes on, seeing as her feet are all wet and cut. She jumps up and rests her head on his shoulder.We cut to Mia in a washroom of a pub. She washes her hands and fixes her hair. Through an open window, she hears Connor outside on the phone to somebody. "Alright, Ill pop over later". He says, sounding annoyed. She looks suspicious. We see Mia stood against Connor's car with a glass of coke in the car park of the pub. Joanne sits in the drivers seat with the door open and Tyler is on a swing nearby. Connor makes his way back to the girls, after having been on the phone and he looks irritated. Joanne asks if he's okay and he says that he is but he'll have to leave soon. Joanne says that he shouldn't have to Put up with s**t from his mum. Mia eyes him suspiciously. Connor says that he'll take the girls home and Joanne begs him to stay for another drink. She gets him to cave in by offering to pay for this round. She leaves for the pub. Connor gets into the driver's seat and plays with the stereo. He plays Get Up Offa That Thing by James Brown and says to Mia Lets see you move to this then. He gets out of the car and begins dancing, quite badly. Mia laughs at him. Tyler sings on the swing. Mia shyly begins dancing. Connor claps and urges her on. Mia starts getting into it and shows off her moves. Joanne appears with a tray of drinks and laughs at them both. Connor takes it lightheartedly and laughs too but Mia is immediately defensive as she is embarrassed to be caught having a good time with Connor. Joanne tells Mia to behave as Connor has been kind to her today. Mia dismisses this and says that she doesn't have to like Connor. He looks hurt and says that she doesn't mean it. Mia begins shouting that Connor doesn't know them after two days. She storms away and we hear Connor say But you haven't got any shoes on. It's clear that he cares about her. Back in Joanne's apartment, presumably the next morning, we find Mia sound asleep in bed.There is a soft knocking on the door downstairs. We hear Joanne greet somebody and she shouts for Mia. Joanne pops her head around Mia's door when she gets no response. There is somebody downstairs who wants to talk to you. Joanne says. Mia turns over in bed, ignoring her. Joanne picks up a dirty piece of clothing from the floor and throws it at Mia's head. She threatens to bring the guest upstairs if Mia doesn't come down. "Keep your hair on, I'm coming". Mia shouts. Joanne shakes her head in disgust at her daughter and slams her door shut. Mia looks down at the cut on her foot. It looks swollen and bloody. Mia makes her way downstairs after having gotten dressed. A woman introduces herself as Carrie. She seems nice but Mia obviously knows what this is about and doesn't warm to her. Carrie wants to have a chat with Mia. Mia asks if she can get a drink first and makes her way into the kitchen. They've got you in that special school. We hear Joanne say. We also hear Joanne softly say to Carrie, When she was born, she wouldn't stop crying for days. I swear she came out looking for trouble. Mia turns the tap on to make it sound as though she is getting herself a drink. She sees her dog eating the fish that Connor caught the day before. Carrie asks Joanne about Tyler and Joanne says that it wont be long until Tyler is just like Mia. "This place shes going to, what's it like?". Joanne asks Carrie. Mia looks panicked and quietly opens the front door and makes a run for it. We hear Joanne call after her. Mia makes it into the town centre and spots a flyer in the window of an internet cafe. Female Dancers Wanted Top Club Seeks Fresh Young Talent!Mia is in the internet cafe, looking up dance videos on the internet. She turns the computer off, packs up her headphones and takes the flyer from the window. That is when she bumps into Keeley and the rest of her new friends including the girl that Mia headbutted. "Is there a bad smell in here or what?". Says one of the girls when she spots Mia. Mia threatens to headbutt the girl again if she doesn't move out of the doorway. The girls back off although they still shout abuse at Mia as she leaves. Keeley keeps quiet. Mia is walking past the back area of a big department store. She spots somebody she knows and walks towards it. Connor is stood outside, smoking and in a security guards uniform. "How did you know I worked here?". he asks. "You said". Mia quickly responds. Although she knew because she found a wage slip in his wallet. "Thought you hated me". Connor says sarcastically. Mia responds with a funny comment and Connor laughs. He can't stay mad at her. He asks her how her foot is and she says its okay. He doesn't believe her and looks. He sees the swelling and blood and fetches a first aid kit from inside. He orders her to take her shoe off. She says that she can do it when she spots the kit but he says that he can do it better. He kneels in front of her and bandages her foot. "Do you ever wash your feet?". He asks playfully. She smiles. She puts her shoe back on and notices a group of young girls having fun and laughing nearby. Connor asks what she is up to and Mia looks lonely. She lies and says that she has stuff planned. She shows Connor the flyer from the internet cafe and Connor immediately begins urging her to go for it. "You're great". He says to her and it's clear that she isn't used to being complimented. "Don't tell mum". She says. Connor observes that the flyer says that all candidates must send in a video and he offers to let her borrow his camera. He agrees to give it to her on one condition she must smile in the video. She looks bashful and agrees. He says that hes coming over later and Mia looks happy. Connor goes back to work. Mia is back in the abandoned apartment, dancing with her headphones in. There are beer cans in the corner of the room. She practices some moves for her candidate video. She heads back home and Joanne is cooking on the hob. She tells Mia that just because she ran away, she can't get away with it and that Mia will be leaving for this special school in two weeks.Mia notices men's shoes in the living room and immediately heads upstairs to find Connor. He is changing his clothes in Joanne's room and Mia makes him jump. She asks for the camera and Connor hands it over. She begins playing with it and records him getting changed. He splashes on some aftershave and asks Mia what she thinks by leaning towards her and letting her smell him. She closes her eyes and inhales. "Fox p*ss". She jokes. He playfully grabs her and throws her across his lap. He begins spanking her and telling her that she's in for a good hiding. She swears at him and gets away. Connor smirks and says that she got away lightly this time. Joanne appears and says that tea is ready. Connor explains that he was just giving his camera to Mia. Joanne says that she'll probably break it. She'll get a good hiding if she does. Connor says. He winks and walks away with Joanne. We see Mia in the empty room in which she does her dancing. She is talking into the camera and is filming her candidate video. She recites her name and telephone number and begins dancing. Its night time and Mia is in bed watching her video on Connor's camera. She then watches the video she made of him getting changed. She pauses the video when she hears noises coming from her mum's bedroom. She walks onto the landing and hears moaning and creaking. Through a gap in Joanne's door, Mia watches Connor and her mother make love. Mia storms away and slams her bedroom door so they know that she is awake. She slams it a second time just to make sure.The next morning, Mia packs her bag in her bedroom and heads out to the post office for a stamp to post her video. She sees Billy in the post office.. She posts her video and follows him out onto the street. "Are you following me?". He jokes. They walk together and Mia asks how the horse is. He explains that it isn't what it looks like. He knows that Mia thinks that the boys starve the horse. He says that the horse is old. Mia asks where he is going because she wants to come. They head to a car scrap yard as Billy plans to steal car parts. He tells Mia to keep a look out whilst he works on a car. Mia says that she doesn't like it and she offers to get them both some money for some drink if they can leave. We cut to them both running through a car park, laughing and looking slightly tipsy. They chase each other around cars. They are inside a department store, Mia leading the way. She looks down every aisle and then finds who she is looking for. She runs and jumps on Connors back. She gets down and asks for some money. Connor asks if she is drunk. Mia walks up to Billy and tells Connor to observe how skinny he is. We need food. She begs. Connor caves and hands Mia a five pound note. Mia jumps on Billy's back and they leave the store. It's early evening and we see Mia with Billy in the empty apartment drinking beer from a can. They look at each other and we see him almost go in for a kiss but Mia looks away.
Mia returns home at night and asks her mother for some tea. "What do you think this is, a cafe?". Joanne asks. Mia looks in the fridge and fetches a yoghurt. She joins Joanne and Connor on the sofa. Tyler is asleep on the floor.Connor's eyes never leave Mia as she takes her jacket off and peels the lid off her yoghurt and licks it. He asks her if shes going out with that boy. She asks why and Connor responds by saying that he looks far too old. Mia says that hes only nineteen. Joanne tells Connor that Mia has never had a boyfriend and Mia angrily lies and says that shes just had sex with him upstairs. Connor doesn't look happy. Joanne asks Connor if he wants to go to bed and he agrees. He picks an asleep Tyler off the floor and takes her upstairs. Joanne hands Mia a letter all about her new school. Mia tears it up and throws it out of the window. Connor appears behind her and says That place might teach you some manners. Mia claims that it's got nothing to do with him and Connor nastily says that Mia needs sorting out. "You're nothing to me, so why should I listen?". Mia hisses at him. He looks hurt, retrieves Tyler's pillow from the floor and heads upstairs. Mia slumps on the sofa and falls asleep. Mia wakes the next morning and watches her mother retrieve Connors work shirts from the washing line outside. She looks happy. Mia gets a voice mail on her phone and it's somebody from the dance auditions. They offer her a personal audition the following week. We see her back in the empty apartment, with her headphones in, dancing. She seems calm. Mia is on her bed, in her pajamas, drinking out of a can. She hears the door open downstairs and she heads onto the landing where she sees Connor leading a drunk Joanne up the stairs. Mia retreats back to her room and watches as Connor puts Joanne into bed. She hears Connor head back downstairs. She follows him and finds him watching television. He looks up and says that shes up late. He asks if they are friends because she has been acting funny with him. She sits on the chair next to the sofa and drinks from a vodka bottle. "This family loves their booze". Connor comments. They talk about Mia's dance audition. She says that shes picked which song she is going to dance to. Its the one that Connor put on in the car on the day that they caught the fish. He looks really pleased and says that its his favorite song. He suggests that she dances for him now. She looks shy and says no. He says that if she's planning on auditioning in front of strangers then she should be able to dance in front of him. She gets up and puts a CD in. It's the song that she picked. She begins her routine. Connor watches intensely. Mia stops and sits next to Connor. He gestures for her to get closer and he puts his arm around her. He compliments her dancing and says "If it was up to me, you'd get the job". She cuddles him and he plays with her hair. She slowly looks up and he goes in for a kiss. He pushes her down onto the sofa and gets on top of her. He takes her pajama bottoms off and they have sex on the sofa. Afterwards, Connor sits up and looks shocked. "We need to keep this between you and me". He says. They are both out of breath and Mia looks uncomfortable. They hear a noise coming from the stairs but don't see anything. Connor says that they will talk the next day and then he heads off to bed. Mia hastily puts her pajama bottoms back on.Mia wakes up in bed the next morning to the sound of her front door slamming and her mother crying. She goes onto the landing and sees Tyler leaning up against the banister. Connor is gone is all she says. We see Joanne on her bed, crying. Mia runs down the stairs and out of the door. She runs all the way to the estate car park and just misses Connor as he drives away. She shouts after him but to no avail.The same afternoon, Mia heads into her mother's room where Joanne is lying on her bed with red, swollen eyes. Mia goes through Joanne's handbag to find her phone so that she can call Connor. "Did you know that I nearly had you aborted?". Joanne quietly asks. Mia doesn't respond. "I made an appointment and everything". Downstairs, Mia saves Connor's number into her mobile under Tyler's watchful eye. Mia makes her way out and Tyler follows. I know what you did, I'm telling mum. She says. Mia says that she doesn't care and walks away. Mia tries Connor's mobile several times only to be greeted by voice mail. She rings a directory and asks for Connor's workplace. A woman answers and says that Connor isn't working and wont be for a while. She hangs up. Mia makes her way to Tilbury, where she knows Connor lives. She walks there and asks a local how to get to Connor's road. It's a posh area and a woman walking past eyes Mia suspiciously. She spots Connor's car in a driveway and knocks on the door. Connor answers. "Jesus Christ!". he hisses quietly, as he ushers her away from his door. They walk hastily down the street together and he asks her if she thinks this is a good idea. He says he was going to call her but Mia calls him out on that one because he doesn't even have her number. "You know why I left". Connor says. You're fifteen. He adds. Mia says that it doesn't matter if you like someone. He drives Mia to the train station and asks her about the audition. He still spurs her on and says that she'll be great. He pulls up outside the station and hands her some money to get home. They have a quick kiss and he says that they'll talk later. Mia's train pulls up. Shes clearly deep in thought.
We cut to Mia walking to Connor's front door once again. She didn't get on the train. Nobody answers the door and Connor's car is nowhere to be seen.Mia slowly walks around the back of the house and jumps over the garden gate, making sure that nobody can see her. She tries the back door which is also locked. She opens a small window which leads to the kitchen and climbs through. She looks through the fridge, takes a can of beer and begins drinking. In the living room, she spots the camera that she borrowed. She sits and plays back the most recent video. It's of a young girl, around Tyler's age, stood in a garden in a pink dress. Her mother kneels beside her and the voice behind the camera is Connor's. Sing for daddy. We hear him say. The mother urges her on, kindly. Mia leans forward as the girl begins singing and it all becomes clear. Connor is married and he has a young daughter. The young girl sings Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis. "I don't care what they say, I'm in love with you". are just some of the lyrics which Mia relates to. Mia throws the camera across the room and stands. She breathes heavily as she notices all of the evidence that Connor is a father. Girls' toys in the corner of the room, small pink clothing thrown over the arm of the sofa. Not to mention to way he automatically connected with Tyler and seemed so friendly and fatherly towards her. She squats and urinates on the living room floor. We see Mia in Connors bathroom washing her face she looks up as she hears a car pull up. She runs downstairs and climbs back through the kitchen window, just as we hear the front door open. She climbs over the back fence and makes her way back to Connor's street. She sits on a wooden fence a couple of houses down from Connor's place and watches a young girl whiz up and down the street on her scooter. Mia recognizes the girl as the girl from the video. Connors daughter. In the distance, Mia sees Connor telling the young girl to stay off the road. He calls her Keira. He heads back into the house.Mia calls Keira's name as she goes past on her scooter. Keira stops and Mia says that her mother said that they can both go and get some ice cream. "Let's see who can go faster". Mia says as they both head down the street. Mia leads Keira off the road and onto a field. We hear Keira's mother shouting her name but Mia insists that her mother is just playing a game. They walk over the field and Mia becomes increasingly agitated. Keira begins to understand that they aren't getting any ice cream. Keira complains and Mia pushes her onwards. They walk through some woods and Keira exclaims that Mia is beginning to scare her. They come to a fence with a small hole and Mia picks Keira up and throws her over. Before Mia can get over herself, Keira runs. Mia calls after her but Keira keeps running. Mia gets over the fence and runs after her but Keira had a huge head start. We hear loud, running water as they come to the water's edge. Keira is running dangerously close to the water. Mia runs after her. She finally catches up with Keira on the edge of the choppy water. Mia takes hold of Keira's shoulders and shouts at her for running away. Keira begins screaming and kicking at Mia's legs. In a fit of rage, Mia picks Keira up and throws her into the water. Keira is entirely submerged. After a few seconds, she comes back to the surface, gasping for breath. It doesn't take long for Mia to pull her back onto the bank but it was a close call. Keira stands shaking as Mia hugs her, clearly feeling sorry for her actions. She leads Keira away.
It's night time. Mia and Keira walk hand in hand down Connor's street. Before they can reach the house, Mia lets go of Keira's hand. "Off you go then". She says. Keira runs home.
We see Mia walking back home, across the motorway. A car, driving far too quickly, storms to a halt next to her. It's Connor. Mia runs, knowing that he'll be furious. He catches up and slaps her around the face. Nothing is said as he walks back to his car. Mia sits on the ground in the dark.Mia is back home and on her bed the next morning. She puts on a necklace, some bracelets and a pair of large hoop earrings. She walks to her audition. She sits in the audition room, watching another girl take her turn. The girl is dressed only in a skimpy black leotard and dances slowly and seductively to a slow hip hop song. It becomes clear that the audition is for strippers. Its Mia's turn and she stands on the stage looking nervous. The two adults running the audition ask for Mia to redo her hair so that its down and not up. She does. "Much better", they say. Her music beings playing. She stands for a while, probably thinking about how much the song reminds her of Connor and then walks off the stage. She walks out of the venue, leaving her CD and her memories of Connor behind. She goes back to the caravan site and notices that the horse is no longer there. Billy is there, working on a car. They chat for a while and Mia asks about the horse. She was sick, we had to shoot her. He says, looking remorseful. Mia looks sad, sits on the floor and cries. We see a bullet hole through the window of the place where the horse slept. Billy says that he's getting the car ready for the road because he's going to Cardiff. He knows some people there. Back home, Mia packs a hold all with clothes and essentials. Tyler watches. She asks about the referral unit that Mia was meant to be going to. You can have my place Mia says. The girls head downstairs and Joanne is in the living room, slowly dancing to a song on the radio. Its clear that she has been crying. It isn't made clear if Joanne is crying because Connor has gone or if Tyler told her of Mia and Connors antics on the sofa or because she knows that Mia plans to leave. It's probably all three. A song plays on the radio and the girls dance together for a while. Joanne tells Mia to go but not in a hateful way. She speaks as though she knows Mia will have a better life away from the estate.Mia walks down the stairs of the apartment block with Tyler in tow, helping to carry her things. Tyler asks where she is going and Mia announces that she is going to Wales. Mia heads towards Billy, who has got his car working. Mia introduces Tyler to him. Tyler swears at Mia and then begins to cry. They hug. "I hate you" Tyler says, sobbing. "I hate you too" Mia says. Mia kisses the top of Tyler's head and gets into the car. The car slowly makes its way down the street and Mia looks back to see Tyler running after the car. "Don't forget to write, say hi to the Welsh for me!". she shouts. Mia faces forward ready for her new life in Wales. We see a silver heart shaped balloon fly across the estate.

Tags: suspenseful, depressing, realism

Review:
The poet Rumi said, "A rose's rarest essence lives in the thorn." The thorn is in full evidence in Andrea Arnold's compellingly honest second feature Fish Tank, the story of a fifteen year-old girl's struggle for self respect after having "grown up absurd" in the London projects.
Fish Tank, a film that is overflowing with life, works on many levels – as a look into squalid economic and social conditions in small town Britain, as a warning to those who act impulsively and without self-control, and as a coming-of-age story that allows us to experience a genuine sense of character growth.
Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, the film features an astounding performance from first-time actress Katie Jarvis, a 17-year-old who was discovered by the director while having an argument with her boyfriend on an Essex train station platform.Set in a bleak housing project in a working class London suburb, fifteen-year-old Mia is an angry, isolated but vulnerable teen who lives with her boozy mom (Koerston Wareing) and little sister Tyler (an adorable Rebecca Griffiths).
She goes from head-butting a rival on the playground to struggling to free a half-starved horse tied up in a junkyard while cozying up to the horse's owner Billy (Harry Treadway), a gentle 19-year-old who seems genuinely interested.Dreaming of becoming a dancer, Mia breaks into an abandoned apartment and practices her hip-hop dance routines alone to borrowed CDs of pop music including California Dreaming, the only time when she can feel good about herself.
Mia's first taste of something resembling kindness happens when her mother brings home a sexy, shirtless Irish lover named Connor (Michael Fassbender) who works as a security guard Fassbender's performance oscillates between the charming and the shady and we do not know who is real and who is pretend and where it will lead.
Although Connor's interest in Mia appears innocent, from the time Mia cuts her foot on a family fishing trip and Connor gives her a piggy back ride to the car, tension gradually builds until it explodes in a seduction that is not only inappropriate but has serious consequences.Fish Tank is a strong and unpredictable film because Mia is a strong (though flawed) character who refuses to allow her miserable circumstances to control her life.
Friendless and unloved Mia (Jarvis) dreams of becoming a dancer and when her mum's new boyfriend arrives on the scene, everything changes for the teenager.Fish tank is an exceptional artistic creation, based on the purity of Andrea Arnold's script and appreciative direction whilst a debuting Katie Jarvis excels as the troubled isolated teenager, and what a feature this is.British cinema is some of the most dramatic and flinching cinema in the world.
Everything is as it should be because everything has been so carefully planned, in particular the character development which will have many shedding a tear or two.Katie Jarvis' cold and unappreciative style is spot on for the protagonist and as the film goes through hard fights with families and spending time isolated in a deserted flat, we see the emotional desire of Mia. The ambition of becoming a dancer is exceptionally well produced, owing to the fact that the background is effectively established.
Seeing her younger sister drinking beer with her mother in the next room will have mouths dropping.Thanks to this straight forward no messing attitude the plot can move forward and tell the audience of what real life entails and the cultural state we are living in at the moment.Some British films go out of their way to preach, such as This is England and Brassed off and whilst that isn't a bad quality, the enriching style of this film makes it flow and add extra drama continuously.The scene setting shots are exquisite, as if made from a Skins episode without the teen angst.
Her life appears to change for the better when her mother gets a new boyfriend who is friendly, good fun and is not put off by the sudden aggression that is the signature of life in the family home.Writer/director Arnold quite impressed me with Wasp a few years ago and she stayed in my memory thanks partly to her shabby treatment at the Oscars (where, as the winner of her category, she had to receive the award in the aisle and do her speech from there – no stage for her), however Fish Tank she stays in my mind on the basis of her film-making ability.
Fish Tank ends up as a very engaging and gritty drama thanks to Arnold's direction and Jarvis' very strong performance, it mostly avoids cliché and predictable plotting and the cold grey atmosphere of the whole film makes for a distinctive product.
Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank" was a big hit in Britain and at Cannes and now tries its hand at America, who will probably nickname it "White Precious." Anchored by a star-making performance from Kate Jarvis, Arnold's film is more grit and zero melodrama, a step-up from the weepy style of "Precious." Jarvis plays Mia, a teenager living in the ghetto where kids expect to follow in the option-less footsteps of their parents.
Mia has a dream of becoming a dancer and she finds encouragement from mom's new boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender), a hunky security guard who seems like a nice guy but is, at times, "too friendly." It's familiar other-side-of-the tracks territory but it doesn't spend time wallowing in misfortune.
She tries to live her life among various problems that include bad parenting, terrible sibling hood and even worse relationship with other kids of her same age.Fish Tank is movie that is well shot with some decent acting and great screenplay.
But nothing seems to have as much impact as the unhealthy chemistry that forms between Mia and her mother's new boyfriend Connor (breakthrough performance by the man everyone loves to hate Michael Fassbender)."Fish Tank" made by up-and-comer Andrea Arnold is probably my favourite Cannes movie in an unbelievably strong competition of 2009.
Thankfully also Arnold manages to escape any cop-outs during the movie, although several options chosen do pose slight questions about their reality and adequateness to the general plot.Adding to that absolutely spot on acting by Fassbender and Jarvis, which actually allows the viewer to feel the growing sexual tension, but simultaneously grasps the awkwardness of this relationship, the movie is bound to be an instant classic.
We also have an attractive and kind man come into the picture who, through his natural goodness, offers an outlet for her yearnings for understanding, fun, and intimacy.The story starts off slowly as we get to know 15-year old Mia, her family and the wider (and very limited) world around her.
English screenwriter and director Andrea Arnold's second feature film is a throbbing and turbulent contemporary drama from one of Britain's less appealing suburbs, which tells the story about 15-year-old Mia, a vital and somewhat bewildered girl living on a council estate in Essex, England with her mother and little sister Tyler, which she argues more than talks to.
Mia's rebellious personality has made her more or less friendless and the only thing that gives her confidence is her passion for dancing, but the day her mother introduces her daughters to her new boyfriend Connor life opens new doors for Mia.Andrea Arnold returns after her uncompromising debut "Red Road" (2006) and shows her talent for social realistic storytelling.
Andrea Arnold's film has similarities to the films of Ken Loach and her story about an alienated teenage girl who discovers her sexuality whilst looking for foothold in a cynical world is reminiscent of films such as Lynne Ramsay's "Ratcatcher" (1999), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "Rosetta" (1999), Catherine Hardwike's "Thirteen" (2003) and Cate Shortland's "Somersault" (2004)."Fish Tank" is social realism in its purest form and a powerful coming-of-age tale about a fierce and stubborn girl who persistently keeps her dream of becoming a professional dancer alive despite the fact that her reality makes her dream look like an illusion.
"Fish Tank" is a gritty depiction of society that explores strong themes, but in-between all this gravity Andrea Arnold turns the camera towards nature's gracefulness and gives the viewer a little breathing space from the concentrated realism that makes the few rays of hope seem like utopia.
In the lead role Katie Jarvis is extraordinary - discovered by writer/director Andrea Arnold while quarreling with her boyfriend on a station platform - without any previous acting experience, she makes many Oscar winners look like dilettantes.
She is not a particularly great dancer but it seems to be her only escape.The story begins to unfold as Mia develops a bond with her mom's latest conquest, the attractive, easy-going, sexy Connor, excellently portrayed by Michael Fassbender (Hunger, Inglourious Basterds).
In "Fish Tank," Kative Jarvis delivers an astonishing performance as Mia, a restless, vaguely angry 15-year-old living in an English housing project.
Her mother brings home a 30-something boyfriend (Michael Fassbender, also excellent), who intrigues Mia in a complicated way -- handsome and sexually appealing, he's also the closest thing to a father figure she and her younger sister have apparently had for a very long time.
She sets excellent scenes, creates interesting characters (even though we've seen them many times before), draws fantastic performances from a predominantly young cast, and creates realistic tension and drama, but in Fish Tank the resolution is weak and in the last act I thought the story got a bit lost as if she didn't know where to go with it or changed her mind several times in a bid to find originality.
The movie is shot in totally unusual way and the whole presentation of the characters is through the Lead girl Mia played by Katie Jarvis Its terrific the way she carries off the role, she was totally natural and not even for a second you feel like you are watching a movie, her reaction to situations were cruel yet real she is not a trained actress and got this movie by chance & that's completely shows in the movie.
Everything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.How much can be said about the effect of a female writer-director on a film?
It feels more about the flow of real life.The filmmaker makes that seem like an easy task.I don't know if there is such a thing as organic film making but this is it, no artificial flavors of preservatives.The slight bit of story focus on a 15 year girl, named Mia living in a harsh area who has a dream of being a hip hop dancer.Michael Fassbender is in the movie playing the boyfriend of Mia's mother.
Mia (Katie Jarvis) is a volatile fifteen-year-old hip hop dancer living with her white trash mother Joanne (Kierston Wareing) and brash younger sister Tyler.
"Fish Tank" is about a rebellious 15 year old girl, Mia, (portrayed by Katie Jarvis) whose life changes when her unsympathetic mother brings a new boyfriend, Connor, home (portrayed by Michael Fassbender) to their East London 'stroke' Essex council flat.
"Fish Tank" is a very good film, great to an extent, because of the way Andrea Arnold makes us interact with the characters and the content through the aesthetic style she has decided to go with.
I don't have to be told what life is like for working-class Brits: Fish Tank shows the stark realities of that country's under classes and class differences in brilliant detail.-- In the end, this film is about the loss of female innocence in a world that continues to give women few choices, especially when they come out of poverty - be it in a developing nation, or an industrialized nation.
Her mother may not have been able to break the chain of poverty and stultifying failure, but Mia will find a way, even if means escaping to Wales with a boy.-- Fish Tank's many universal themes (injustice, hypocrisy, the messiness of domestic life, loss, failure, love, ambition, intergenerational conflict and misunderstandings, challenging the status quo, fear, danger, boredom, confusion, family dysfunction, society's impacts on the lives of powerless women, youth, aging, and more) make it accessible to everyone.
The closing scene where Mia (Katie Jarvis) is saying goodbye to her little sister was especially evocative of the last words in Betty Smith's "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn"; when Francie is about to leave and takes one last look over at the fire escape where 10-year-old Florry Wendy is reading a book, then whispers "Good-bye, Francie".The film is not for everyone but if you like naturalistic acting and a gritty (often dreary) story you would be well served to track down this film.
"Fish Tank" is about Mia, a 15-year old girl who lives with her younger sister and their mother in low-income housing in Essex, near London, England.Mia, played by Katie Jarvis, who was 17 at the time the film was shot, is on the way to a worse life than she already has lived.
Connor is ruggedly good looking, and he's actually nice to the girls, something they're not used to.Connor's presence in Mia's life changes her in many ways, some of them good.Katie Jarvis had no experience as an actor prior to her being chosen by director Andrea Arnold ("Red Road") -- in fact, Arnold "discovered" Jarvis when she saw her loudly arguing with her boyfriend at a train station.
Fish Tank brings to mind other movies with a girl right in the heart and pit of a slum- Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire was another from this year- or those with men, like 8 Mile, where we see a character just trying to get by, and maybe find some way to come into the world from an isolated self.
And yet another movie might come to mind watching it- the also British but more 'middle class' story An Education about a teen girl also in a sudden close bond with a man just a little too old for her but friendly enough- that might cast a pall on what transpires over the course of the film.But the greatness in Fish Tank, a very bleak movie that could be called 'beat-box realism', is a film that doesn't give anyone any kind of easy out.
Perhaps that's why we see Mia early on in the film- when, frankly, it doesn't look like anything else is really going on (the only truly frustrating section of the movie if not all bad)- try and free a horse tied to a trailer by a bunch of white trash.
But the movie isn't about that since, frankly, that would be the American version (can you say 'Flashdance 2009'?) It's about this setting and state of mind, and the effect it has on a disillusioned fifteen year old girl with no real prospects outside of her dancing, and a dangerous, mutual attraction to her mother's boyfriend, Connor.Seeing this play out is rough and raw, like the DP was put on loan from the Wrestler specifically for this feature.
Many details and the acting performances of the main cast were raw and as realistic as they can get.The boredom of the children versus the menial lifestyle share by the parents and the children reflect nicely on the concept of a 'fish tank'.However, I cant help but be turned off by several moments in the film which I felt that they were too clichéd though they tried hard to be not-- a critical weak point of the movie.
I found myself observing this relationship and although she seems to like him, I couldn't help think "here we go again." Mia has had a tough upbringing and this complication and confusion is not healthy for a fragile 15 year old.The problem I have with Fish Tank and Andrea Arnold's direction is the last couple of scenes, which contribute to what turns out to be a completely unnecessary ending.
This is a good but by no means great film that highlights British Youth culture through the eyes of Mia.It has a good enough story and some nice moments but it cannot be ignored that the mass amounts of swearing and sex references and in one case sex scenes are not needed and get in the way of this film being truly great.All the cast give good performances and this film will probably live on forever as a text discussed at A2 media level but will never be remembered in years to come as being a great example of independent cinema or film making because it appeals to too much of a niche market..
Fish Tank follows in this traditional.Mia (Katie Jarvis) is a 15-year-old girl who lives on an sink estate in Essex.
But her is made even more complex when her mum starts seeing Connor (Michael Fassbender), a seemingly nice man who supports Mia dream but there is more then meets the eye with their relationship.Andrea Arnold shows that she has a nack for making this type of film.
I first thought that if this was a film about how dancing would save her, she would either need to get good quickly or it would be a serious fail.The male lead, Connor (Fassbender) appears early on as another of Mia's mothers' 'pulls' from the local pub or club.
She begins the film as she ends it.Mia is a fifteen year old girl who lives in public housing with her very young mother and little sister.
Any film shot in locations with names like Hamlet Towers, Barking, and Mucking Flats can't be all bad, even if it's an inexpensive, small-scale slice of working-class life seen from the point of view of a maladjusted fifteen-year-old girl.Kate Jarvis is Mia. She lives at home with her flamboyantly sexy Mom and her foul-mouthed little sister.
Fish Tank is an English film that follows the life of Mia, played by Katie Jarvis, a troubled 15-year-old in a lower-middle class town in England.