Tyrannosaur

Paddy Considine is an actor who has worked in some thought provoking films, playing complex characters. In recent years I’ve seen him play a colour healer in Submarine and a born again Christian pub owner in My Summer of Love. Tyrannosaur sees him make the well-trodden path from actor to director. This journey was taken by one of his lead actors, Peter Mullan, a few years ago.
Mullan plays Joseph, who we see from the outset, is a man of violence, he lashes out and kills his dog as a reaction to being wound up in the bookies. As soon as he aims the first and only kick he is remorseful and full of shame for his action. He’s ashamed of losing it and remorseful for killing his companion Blue.

The trouble for Joseph is that this isn’t an isolated incident. In the first few minutes of the film, after he kills his dog, he smashes a window in the local Post Office and also threatens a young man in the pub with a pool cue. This leads to more remorse and shame and he takes flight eventually taking refuge behind a rail of clothes in a charity shop.

Here he meets Hannah (Olivia Coleman), who we soon discover has her own demons to haunt and torment her. Joseph and Hannah’s coming together begins a friendship that from the outset is based on support and forgiveness. They, as the film progresses, attempt to help each other find redemption and a way of escaping from the lives they’ve ended up in.

This film is really required viewing. Considine has drawn some great performances from his actors, as so many actor-directors, including Peter Mullan, have done so before him. He allows his actors and characters to breath, enabling them to tell their story and to be real. I especially enjoyed some of the camerawork and some of the segues from scene to scene. This was as clever as the way Hannah’s husband (Eddie Marsan) could segue from mood to mood. Considine is certainly a director who cares about technique which is more than evident from this well-crafted piece of work.