Seagull uses a sleepy Kent seaside town as it's backdrop rather than the usual London cityscape, and to good effect. The personal relationships between the main characters in the family are tense and occasionally disturbing, and as the story escalates to the inevitable final showdown you get the unsettling feeling that things are going to go very wrong indeed for all concerned. It's a small-scale independent film with a committed cast, and you can tell that everyone involved gave it everything. Jessica Hynes' character is indeed very different from those we are normally used to seeing her play.
4 Reviews
Where are we?Who are we?When are we?
eyazzatl19 June 2022
Finally found this film
BabyIDontCare20 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
As a native Folkestonian, I remember seeing this being filmed back in 2016 (it actually just popped up on my Facebook memories this morning). I'd never found anywhere to view it until today, 7 years later, on a US only streaming site, where I needed a VPN to view it.
Quite why this film has been hidden away from UK viewers I've no idea. Had I not been from the town it was filmed in I never would have known of its existence. What is the point of making a movie if you don't let anyone see it?
The film is good, and dark, and it kept me interested throughout. It does not go in for any explanations however, leaving the viewer to decide for themselves what caused the lives of Janet, her daughters Violet and Rose, granddaughter Lily (Rose's daughter), and partner Jeff to pan out the way they did.
My conclusions were that unbeknownst to Janet & Violet, Jeff was the father of Lily, not the step-grandfather. Violet even accused her sister of sleeping with her (Violet's boyfriend, Conor). Jeff tried to do away with Rose by forcing her to write a goodbye letter to her mother and have her leave the baby with himself and Janet to raise. Then he is shown throwing her off a cliff, which she somehow survives. When Rose returns, after living in a tent on the beach for 8 years, along with her Predator-esque "shoulder demon" (at least that's how I saw him), all sorts of chaos kicks off, and even a massive human poo is left on the roof of Jeff's car!
Rose eventually gets her revenge, or so we assume when we see her drugging her mother, sister and Jeff. She drags Jeff into the kitchen were she undoes his trousers and takes a big knife to his man parts before dialling 999 and leaving the house. You don't see the chopping off, nor the aftermath as the films ends with the sound of distant sirens and Rose seemingly returning to the beach.
Quite why this film has been hidden away from UK viewers I've no idea. Had I not been from the town it was filmed in I never would have known of its existence. What is the point of making a movie if you don't let anyone see it?
The film is good, and dark, and it kept me interested throughout. It does not go in for any explanations however, leaving the viewer to decide for themselves what caused the lives of Janet, her daughters Violet and Rose, granddaughter Lily (Rose's daughter), and partner Jeff to pan out the way they did.
My conclusions were that unbeknownst to Janet & Violet, Jeff was the father of Lily, not the step-grandfather. Violet even accused her sister of sleeping with her (Violet's boyfriend, Conor). Jeff tried to do away with Rose by forcing her to write a goodbye letter to her mother and have her leave the baby with himself and Janet to raise. Then he is shown throwing her off a cliff, which she somehow survives. When Rose returns, after living in a tent on the beach for 8 years, along with her Predator-esque "shoulder demon" (at least that's how I saw him), all sorts of chaos kicks off, and even a massive human poo is left on the roof of Jeff's car!
Rose eventually gets her revenge, or so we assume when we see her drugging her mother, sister and Jeff. She drags Jeff into the kitchen were she undoes his trousers and takes a big knife to his man parts before dialling 999 and leaving the house. You don't see the chopping off, nor the aftermath as the films ends with the sound of distant sirens and Rose seemingly returning to the beach.
Coming back for revenge
Woodyanders20 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
After spending eight years living alone on a beach, Rose (a fine and credible performance by Gabrielle Sheppard) returns to her coastal hometown to settle an old score with a specific family who live in said town.
Director/co-writer Peter Blach relates the bleakly compelling story at a steady pace, takes time to develop the characters, maintains a grimly serious tone throughout, makes nice use of the seaside hamlet setting, and generates a good deal of tension. The sound acting from the capable cast helps a lot: Adam Rafcliffe as jolly dad Jeff, Jessica Hynes as crippled mother Janet, Miranda Beinart-Smith as cute daughter Lily, and Rosie Steel as sassy older daughter Violet. A neat little movie.
Director/co-writer Peter Blach relates the bleakly compelling story at a steady pace, takes time to develop the characters, maintains a grimly serious tone throughout, makes nice use of the seaside hamlet setting, and generates a good deal of tension. The sound acting from the capable cast helps a lot: Adam Rafcliffe as jolly dad Jeff, Jessica Hynes as crippled mother Janet, Miranda Beinart-Smith as cute daughter Lily, and Rosie Steel as sassy older daughter Violet. A neat little movie.
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