Radiator

Actor Tom Fisher assumes the name Tom Browne for this touching directorial debut, which is inspired by the relationship between his own parents. It also makes evocative use of their stone cottage in the Lake District. Co-writer Daniel Cerqueira plays Daniel, a son summoned from his not entirely successful life in London to help his mother (Gemma Jones) cope with his ageing father (Richard Johnson), who has seemingly given up on life and refuses to budge from the settee. As vermin scurry through the clutter, Daniel comes to realise that his mum has always had a struggle putting up with the old man's mood swings, and he has to endure the dual pain of seeing him slip away and having happy memories tarnished by previously unperceived realities. In his final role, 87-year-old Johnson captures the curmudgeonly confusion of an impotent tyrant, while Jones touchingly conveys the grief of a woman about to lose the man who has made and marred her existence. Filmed for just £140,000, this low-key saga rings true without resorting to melodrama.