Pond Life

Respected theatre director Bill Buckhurst makes a promising transition to the screen with this adaptation of a 1992 play by Richard Cameron (who adapts his own work). Moving the action on two years to locate the drama midway between the Thatcher and Blair eras, Buckhurst and Cameron convey a sense of a society in limbo, as Trevor (Tom Varey) fixates on catching a giant carp residing in Decoy Ponds before he leaves his South Yorkshire village in search of work. The fate of Nessie preoccupies tweenagers Shane and David almost as much as the romantic triangle between Malcolm (Angus Imrie), Cassie (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Maurice (Abraham Lewis). But events involving the latter's jailed brother have left their mark on the community and made Trevor all the more protective of his friend, the emotionally fragile Pogo (Esme Creed-Miles). The bond between the pair keeps the action anchored, as Buckhurst occasionally struggles with the pacing of a picture whose characters are always more interesting than its plotline. However, he ably captures the atmosphere of a long, hot, pre-social media summer.