Chicken

Chicken. A low budget British drama about a guy with learning difficulties and his relationship with his apparently brutish brother. The first half was slow but beautifully shot. The second half was devastating. Not going to give anything away but watch if you can. 8 out of ten

This is an emotional drama about a 15 year old boy, Richard, who has learning difficulties, he lives with Polly, his brother? he is a pikey/gypsy? with a liquid diet. They are struggling to live in in a small dilapidated caravan on a farm that has just been sold to new owners. Richard lives in his own world while Polly scavenges for work where he can. Richard's best friend is a Chicken called Fiona, his other friends are dead (roadkill) animals. Then along comes the daughter of the new owners of the farm, Annabell who befriends Richard. The performances by Scott Chambers -Richard, Yasmin Page -Annabell and Morgan Watkins -Polly are quite remarkable and show promise as future great British talent. This really touched me on a personal level and I couldn't hold back the tears at the end. A beautifully sad story, well worth seeing.

I watched this for "free" via Amazon Prime Video a few months ago. As of today I can still do that. I probably would be willing to shell out a few bucks to watch it again now that I know how moving this film is. The casting is great and the story is compelling if not inherently depressing. It is hard not to empathize with the protagonist and the twist at the end is rather disturbing but explains quite a lot. If you are able to watch this via an existing subscription to a streaming service then please do that. It's best to refrain from providing summaries that could give plot points away so I'll end this review here. Just watch it...I doubt you will be disappointed.

After reading about this oddity, looked forward to it being a thoughtful character study with heart and a message - a message it has but perhaps little heart. It's a low budget indie production that features a surprisingly stylised look. This comes via the talents of short and TV director of photography Eben Bolter's professional work ethic. He, along with some committed work by first-time director Joe Stephenson, give it a better than average look. Performances are mostly border line with Morgan Watkins perhaps faring best as the brutish, utterly despicable older 'brother'. He's given some OK backup from Scott Chambers in the difficult role of Richard the younger 'brother'.

It's difficult to call this entertainment and fits better into the modern social expose' of all that's despicable about heavily failed family relationships - and the grotty characters who prey on the vulnerable. Lovely country locations are about the only pleasing aspects on display here with maybe a little help from a cute chicken. Tom Linden supplies a thoughtful music score - adding what little warmth can be taken from a heavy study of all that's wrong within an immoral society.

Interesting but grueling and depressing with limited sustaining relief, that might perhaps leave some wondering if the makers may have been enjoying the negativity a little too much (?)

That's not an a review of the plot line, more the need for the viewer to persevere. My initial reaction after the first few minutes was to switch it off. I found it difficult to understand what the 2 brothers were saying, and nothing annoys me more than the need to constantly ask "what did he say?". But after a while your ears become attuned to their speech patterns and you find yourself immersed and gripped by the developments.

I won't talk about the plot detail other than to say it's a proper drama that repays the viewer.

Oh and as for Scott Chambers . . . what a performance. This was the first time I'd seen him on screen and I had to check his background to see if he was acting or if this was just him being him - he was acting. I hope to see him in more movies soon.