Glasgow Film Festival 2015: Catch Me Daddy
Daniel and Matthew Wolfe's Catch Me Daddy opens to a creation myth recited with childlike naivety over images of a windswept, almost primeval landscape. Though its story is set very much in the present-day UK, the film evokes the past in its intoxicating atmosphere. It easily recalls Clio Barnard's The Selfish Giant, but this fable seems more savage and ancient – the mood is far grimmer.
Robbie Ryan's intimate roving camera gets close-up to the point of abstraction, but in doing so firmly places the viewer in the midst of the unfolding events, with the palette not drained, but cold, and the handheld visuals augmenting the dramatic urgency. It is never less than visually arresting.
Beauty and milieu can only go so far, though. While Sameena Jabeen Ahmed is a captivating screen presence – playing Laila, a girl on the run from her traditional family – the third act coalescence with a conventional thriller narrative breaks the spell with its rote machinations and violence. All that said, this remains an electrifying debut. [Ben Nicholson]