Stars: Ellie Kendrick, David Troughton, Jack Holden
Storyline
Somerset, October 2014. When Clover Catto (Ellie Kendrick) receives a call telling her that her younger brother Charlie (Joe Blakemore) is dead, she must return to her family farm and face the man she hasn't spoken to in years: her father Aubrey (David Troughton). She is shocked to discover her home changed forever by the devastating floods that destroyed the area six months earlier, and Aubrey a tormented shadow of his former self. As she learns what has been going on in her long absence she and her father forge a new understanding, but can it withstand the troubles that they face on the ravaged farm as well as the truth of what drove Charlie to take his own life?
Cast: Ellie Kendrick -
Clover
David Troughton -
Aubrey
Jack Holden -
James
Joe Blakemore -
Harry
Immediately before going to see "The Levelling" at the 2016 London Film
Festival, I had watched on television "Penelope Keith's Hidden
Villages", in which the actress travels around the UK visiting villages
and glorying in their thatched cottages, cream teas and lovable
eccentricities (Morris dancers, etc). "The Levelling" shows the other
side of the rural coin...
'Clover' would be a good name for a cow, but dairy farmer Aubrey
instead lumbered his unfortunate daughter with the name. As a young
adult, Clover leaves the farm to study animal medicine, but just before
her final examinations she is forced to return to deal with her brother
Harry's suicide, Aubrey's simmering resentment, the farm's precarious
financial position and the aftermath of devastating floods.
As Clover, Ellie Kendrick (probably best known for "Game of Thrones")
delivers a variable performance: Clover's frustration with Aubrey's
refusal to take her seriously is well-essayed, but the device of
hiccoughing back the first word of a sentence in order to show
bewilderment ("What - what do you mean?") grows old very quickly and at
times Clover comes across as little more than a stroppy teenager
instead of a capable, educated woman. As Aubrey, David Troughton does
his best with the kind of antagonistic character he often seems to
play, and Jack Holden is perfectly competent in the film's only other
major role, that of Harry's friend James. The ultimate revelation of
why Harry committed suicide is unlikely to surprise any viewer, and it
is all very bleak - both the characters' situation, and the grey and
damp farm in which they live. But the film is atmospheric, and if it
turns up on television I might watch it again.
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