Happy New Year, Colin Burstead (2018)

Clever British Family Drama - Happy New Year, Colin Burstead review by GI

A British social drama that exemplifies the misery that family gatherings can induce when old animosities and copious alcohol flows. Writer and director Ben Wheatley, with acknowledged contributions from the excellent ensemble cast, has created a virtually plotless drama that is all about character and relations uniting into a restless storm of disquiet and anger. The often underrated Neil Maskell plays Colin, a middle aged married man, who has rented a big country house for his extended family to celebrate the New year. From the very start tensions begin when his mother (Doon Mackichan) semi deliberately trips over the entrance step and makes a big fuss about it. Colin's completely unsympathetic expression sums up the dynamics at play which is then made worse when his dad (Bill Paterson) takes him aside to ask to borrow more money from him after a previous loan has disappeared on a dodgy business deal. Colin's refusal adds to the unrest that is building. But it all threatens to boil over when Colin's estranged brother David (Sam Riley), secretly invited by his sister (Hayley Squires), turns up with his new girlfriend. It's gradually revealed why David is not welcomed by Colin. This is a well acted, humorous and very British comedy of manners drama. Sometimes it feels that it drifts a little too much but perhaps that's the idea to show that these sort of family interactions are often unresolved and emotional messes that never fully sort themselves out.