Departure – Film Review by Emily Elphinstone

Director: Andrew Steggall
Writer: Andrew Steggall
Stars: Juliet Stevenson, Alex Lawther, Phénix Brossard

In the ambitious debut feature of writer/director Andrew Steggall, a Mother and Son journey to a remote village in the south of France to pack up the home where they once spent their holidays. The house is now merely the death knell of a fracturing family, symbolising the break up of Beatrice’s (Juliet Stevenson) marriage to absent husband Philip (Finbar Lynch), and the increasingly tense relationship with 15 year old son Elliot.

Alex Lawther (best known as the young Alan Turing in The Imitation Game) shines as aspiring poet Elliot in this melancholy coming of age drama; who casts himself as the tragic hero of the village, complete with shabby military jacket and well-thumbed journal. Lawther finds just the right balance between sympathetic lost soul, increasingly besotted with Parisian teenager Clément (Phénix Brossard); and infuriatingly self centred teenager, portraying all the delicate arrogance of middle class adolescence.

With breathtaking cinematography by Brian Fawcett and an atmospheric score by Jools Scott, Departure is so beautifully artistic that sometimes the aesthetics overpower the plot, which seems so overly tortured in places that it could have been written by Elliot himself. Nevertheless, it is an incredibly engaging film; most powerful in its portrayal of isolation, when the audience can practically hear the characters’ thoughts, whilst they remain completely deaf to each other. With hugely evocative imagery, moments such as Elliot clasping stinging nettles after impulsively declaring his love to Clément are so visceral that one can almost feel his physical and emotional pain.

With such a dense visual and lingual feast, which makes Steggall’s theatrical background unsurprising; the audience certainly have to invest themselves in the film to fully appreciate it. Departure may at times lean too close to parody in its earnestness, but this is avoided through the sheer talent of both cast and crew, delivering a raw emotion which makes it hard not to be swept away. Though overly lyrical in places, the film remains profoundly moving, and there’s no doubt that we can expect great things from Steggall in future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VVGI5gzLgg