Pin Cushion

A bold feature debut by Writer-Director Deborah Haywood, this film is everything that is great about British cinema (incredible performances, sharp humour, wonderful characterisation in a relatable setting), but avoids many (if not all) of its cliches.

At its heart the film tackles the themes of adolescence, bullying, social isolation and mental health without becoming burdened with psychoanalysis. It presents social structures of children and adults in its reality (granted for many this will be an extreme reality) and simply tells the story of two unique characters trying to navigate pitfalls they're tragically unprepared for.

With a brutal honesty that never becomes overtly graphic, there are many shocking moments to this story. But herein lies its brilliance. It is not a paint by numbers 'girl tries to fit in before realising her inner beauty and learns to love herself instead'; it is a dark fairytale (though we tend to forget that almost all fairytales are dark), often reminiscent of Fran Walsh & Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures but wonderfully original.

Within the film's brilliant cast there are standout performances from the leads Lily Newmark and the wonderful character actor Joanna Scanlan. While they've been gifted two of the years most eccentric and memorable characters, they bring them to life with such authenticity it's hard not to expect them to be receiving awards next year.

The highs and minor low for me come in the form of the direction. A brief scene where one of the film's bullies pontificates how their behaviour would improve in a different environment is so understated a lesser director would have had it on the cutting room floor or worse still expanded it into a third-act redemption for the bully, undermining our hero's plight. Instead it is a beautiful moment of reality, of which this film contains many.

When Iona and Lyn enter the nearby corner shop there is a sickening blue cast from the lighting, a motif that's not repeated in any other setting and while there could be further meaning to it, it was lost on me and formed a small insignificant distraction. After all, in every other moment in the film colour is used to great effect, particularly in the fantastical vision's Iona uses to escape reality.

This film is not going to make you feel better about the world but it certainly isn't going to lecture you about it. It's a disturbingly beautiful fairytale that sadly is set in the real world, but will bring you real moments of joy and innocence along the way. Go see this, it's wonderful.

Pin Cushion. For a change I'd not read any reviews. Didn't even know it was British. All I knew was that it was about a relationship about a mother and daughter. I didn't know it would be an intensely bleak tragi-comedy / psychological thriller / dark social realist drama with fantastical overtures. A jaw droppingly intense study of the effects of loneliness and bullying. It was Carrie without the supernatural but with the girl with long red hair and strange mother. I was an emotional wreck at the end. 8.5 out of ten. Highly recommended.

I give the movie points for terrific production values, solid acting, and a decent score. But I couldn't relate to Iona at all, and even less with the mother, Lyn. Iona kept seeking friendships with terrible girls who were quite evidently terrible to Iona from the first moment they met her.

I wasn't popular in school either, but I found lasting friendships with people who had similar interests and were also not the "super cool" kids. Iona had dozens of other girls who she could have made friends with, including one who seemed interested in her at the beginning. She nearly had a nice boyfriend who treated her with respect, but she forsake him in her ridiculous attempt to befriend the bullies.

And all for what? To become a horrible person like these other girls? Was she that blind and stupid? Certainly, her priorities were completely upside down. I couldn't help having some pity for her, but kept shaking my head at her dumb decisions...why did you keep trying to befriend these awful girls, Iona, why? In the end, her hopeless avarice led to tragedy, and her unbalanced mother was even more self-centered with her final decision.

I won't deny the emotional pull of the movie, or blame anyone who found it heartbreaking and effective. I love independent films and adore weird people who don't fit in with societal standards (quite literally, that is me). But I don't enjoy people who willingly change their nature to appease unworthy company. I don't expect Iona to grow or mature from the experiences she had in this film and her life will continue to be miserable until she finally does.

I think this was a well made, well crafted movie by people who really cared about the subject and the project as a whole. And it's a very much needed story about bullying and friendship between a young woman and her mother.

It can be a little slow, and I usually love slow movies, for my liking, and sometimes is a little tedious, but on the whole it's a good watch. First movies are never easy though, so i'll give them a break. Think 6 is a pretty decent score which reflects the flaws as well as the good points.

In some reason I saw it as an entrance for horror festival. It is not horror movie, although there are some similarities with Carrie, Requiem For a Dream or with 13 reason why. Story evolves around socially incapable mother whose only friend are her daughter, some birds and porcelain dolls. Mother and daughter have really close relationship, but as daughter is getting older she's trying to find some friends of her own. Similarity with Carrie? - Daughter is not well accepted by her schoolmates. There is no paranormality. Similarity with Requiem for A Dream? - Lapses of reality and sequences which are mere hallucinations. Similarity with 13 reasons why? - How can one mistake lead to the catastrophe.

Great movie, really great.