Scrapper

Here we leave formalism and get back to films that suddenly go animated!

SCRAPPER is a cousin to AFTERSUN, as a very young father and his winsome daughter bond. Twelve-year-old Georgie (Lola Campbell, terrific) is content to keep house for herself in her Council flat after her mother’s death, going so far as to invent an uncle for the calls from Social Services and school. Georgie’s literally crossing off the stages of grief as she speeds through them, even though she’s built a monument to her pain in a locked room of the flat. When the father she never knew shows up, they have the expected bumps in the road, exacerbated by Georgie’s feistiness and criminal activity.

In the Q&A, the debut director said that the character and dialogue owed much to Lola (although Lola credited the script). Wherever the inspiration came from, this film gives us some real treats with its creative effects and editing and pure zaniness, only offset by some on-the-nose dialogue at the end. 4 cats.”