Julian Jarrold explores the domino effect of sexual abuse in this desperately emotional, sometimes confusing, British drama.
The film flits backwards and forwards in time as a 10-year-old boy, repeatedly gang raped by friends of his father in South Africa, grows up to be a cold and crazed investment banker in London.
This is based on the true story of businessman David Tait, though many changes have been made, some of them bewildering (Tait was actually abused when he was living in Deptford. Did Jarrold think viewers would find that too dreary?)
Anyway, the performances save the day. Dougray Scott is both pathetic and terrifying as David’s father, while Hugo Stone is devastating as the boy.
In one scene, the shell-shocked David chews his own mouth till it bleeds. It’s hardly a major film, but that image really sticks.
