Watching the first few minutes of London to Brighton you get thrown into the midst of action as dirty and brutal as the reality of a Kings Cross toilet cubicle. What appears to be a mother and her daughter and a tale of domestic violence turns quickly into a strange tale of friendship between an all-knowing cheap prostitute and a (almost) victim of a paedophile crime. As the two friends run for their life travelling on the train from London to Brighton where they think they have a safe house for the day at least, they top up their money in the only way they know possible.
A disturbing picture of a 12-year-old smoking fags like an old-timer and a fairly realistic portraits of her older friend, it shifts from London search action by the baddies and Brighton haven for the girls.
The woman playing the prostitute does not glamorise the sex trade (nor herself, with poor teeth, bad hair and the shortest skirt possible paired with trainers), on the contrary, we get a glimpse of her thoughtful and bitter outtake on life from time to time. She is aware of the ugliness of her task as she carefully grooms the little girl on the way to her "first job" and there is the theme of innocence lost.
We are spared the gruesome details of the actual encounter as actions moves back and forth in time, but seeing all this violence against these two women is not easy. This is not a pleasant family movie or a good feel chick flick, but nor does it lack any hope or naivety, depending on your point of view, as we see the bad guys get punished or turned into philosophical saviours.
The ending is almost happy with one life restored and two lost. The film ends with a reality check for all those of us who expected a happy ending, as live goes on in the streets of Kings Cross, as if one life saved was indeed insignificant in the ocean of those with no hope.
A disturbing picture of a 12-year-old smoking fags like an old-timer and a fairly realistic portraits of her older friend, it shifts from London search action by the baddies and Brighton haven for the girls.
The woman playing the prostitute does not glamorise the sex trade (nor herself, with poor teeth, bad hair and the shortest skirt possible paired with trainers), on the contrary, we get a glimpse of her thoughtful and bitter outtake on life from time to time. She is aware of the ugliness of her task as she carefully grooms the little girl on the way to her "first job" and there is the theme of innocence lost.
We are spared the gruesome details of the actual encounter as actions moves back and forth in time, but seeing all this violence against these two women is not easy. This is not a pleasant family movie or a good feel chick flick, but nor does it lack any hope or naivety, depending on your point of view, as we see the bad guys get punished or turned into philosophical saviours.
The ending is almost happy with one life restored and two lost. The film ends with a reality check for all those of us who expected a happy ending, as live goes on in the streets of Kings Cross, as if one life saved was indeed insignificant in the ocean of those with no hope.