PACE (Greengate Productions)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://vimeo.com/482609041

Available until: Unknown

I first read about this film a while ago and wondered if there would be an opportunity to see it so I was very happy when it was posted on Vimeo.

It tells the story of Jason, who has arrived at a police station following arrest. At first, we don’t know what’s happened. The story moves between the present and the past. Jason and his partner Emma are holding a gender reveal party and they want to share the moment with the people who matter to them most. Unfortunately, this means the guest list includes two people who really don’t get on. These two men have caused trouble in the past and Emma is concerned there might be further problems between them at the party.

She’s not wrong. Jason has been arrested in connection with an assault which presumably took place at the party. We don’t know who it is or how serious the injury is or even if the right person has been arrested. The flashbacks imply that Jason didn’t start the fight, but that’s all we know.

The action flips between the present, where Jason is at the police station following the arrest, and the past, with scenes from before and during the family gathering.

Writers Daniel Jillings (who also plays Jason) and Danny Miller (who also directs) have been very clever. They leave gaps in the narrative, but they leave it in convincing places. For example, there’s a point in the interview where the police officer starts speaking, then the sound zones out. This means we miss out on hearing important details about what happens, but because Jason is under considerable strain, it’s quite natural that he would zone out at this point and not really hear what’s being said.

The writing is good all the way through – the dialogue is convincing and believable and there’s enough for us to grasp what’s happening without giving too much away.

I only wish the film was a lot longer. The story has so much potential and it’s very easy to imagine its being four times as long (it’s only fifteen minutes). This would also have given us the opportunity to get to know the characters better. We get a good idea of who Jason is and learn a little bit about Emma (Faye McKeever), but the other characters are more of a mystery and what we know of them is based on the opinions of Jason and Emma and what we see in flashback. It would have been great to see more of the lead-up to the party, as well as the party itself. And perhaps what happens afterwards, though not necessarily – there’s enough potential for a feature film already and the ending is brilliant. But I appreciate that making a film isn’t cheap and also, this film is based on a true incident so there might have been a need for some sensitivity. I just think this film is great so I wish there was more of it.

Daniel Jillings manages to make Jason into a very sympathetic character – we really want to know what happened while simultaneously hoping it’s not as bad as it seems. Faye McKeever is lovely as Emma, raising her concerns calmly and reasonably without sounding like she’s nagging (and I’m not being sexist here, men are very capable of nagging – I nag my fiancé!).

It’s a very strong cast. Joe Gill (Benjamin Williams) and Dean Fagan (Rick) do well to show their characters’ personalities in a relatively short screen time. Judith Barker is fantastic as Mary without even speaking and Siobhan Finneran, Simon Lennon, Eliza Marsland and James Quinn are competent but human police officers.