A Kindness (2014) Online

Three lads take a road-trip to Blackpool to visit one of their girlfriends who has moved there for uni; the other two going along for a bit of fun since, well, they don't call it Blackpoon for nothing. On the way though, the car hits something. Ramo insists they keep driving and that it was no big deal, however the blood up the front of the car suggests otherwise.

Billed as a black comedy, this film doesn't want to assume you read the promotional blurb, so it sets its stall out fairly early with a bit of deliberate darkness – the old hearse, the three very different characters, the laddish sense of fun mixed with violence, and the main event itself. Within the narrative we do have some relationship stuff, and some good gags and plot developments, all of which are pretty engaging and mostly quite funny, but for me I felt it almost wanted to push the dark comedy harder than the material naturally took it. I preferred the lighter moments, which allowed a stronger base for the darker stuff to develop – so when we jumped to extremes at certain points then it put me off rather than drawing me in. Probably this is personal taste, and I guess it will work well for others.

The cast are pretty solid. Oram is the one that sticks in the mind, and not only is he good but he brings with him the sense-memory of things like Sightseers, which is sort of the market this is going for. The downside of that is of course that it does remind you of stronger work, with better control over its elements, but still he is good here. Overall, it is an enjoyable film, which will please those who love this type of thing, but perhaps lacks the finesse to really achieve more and draw others in.