The Goob
classified 18Please note: This was screened in June 2015
Guy Myhill delivers a quietly electrifying debut, set in the depressed countryside of Norfolk. Taylor (newcomer Liam Springs) is 16 and spending his summer helping his mother (Sienna Guillory) ready their roadside greasy spoon for the busy holiday season. Both live under the vigilantly watchful eye of his Mum’s controlling, vicious boyfriend (Sean Harris) who, in a fit of rage, causes an accident that hospitalises Taylor’s brother. He also takes cruel pleasure in undermining the boy’s hesitant attempts at friendship and romance. Recalling Harmony Korine and Duane Hopkins without ever being derivative, Myhill orchestrates his collaborators with skill.
From pumpkin field to amateur racetrack, cinematographer Simon Tindall shines, providing woozy, drunken summertime images of dilapidation and corrosion, set against the glorious awkward beauty of youth. Luke Abbott’s electronic score is an uncomfortably effective contrast to the decaying rural setting, underlining the inherent violence in one generation giving way to the next.