This low-budget British psychological horror first premiered at FrightFest all the way back in 2011 but, due to a rights dispute, is only now receiving a wider release. This long delay hasn’t done The Glass Man much harm, thanks to the continuing relevance of its recessionary backdrop and the growing fame of lead actor Andy Nyman, now well known for the 2017 film adaptation of his stage hit Ghost Stories.
A clean-shaven Nyman stars as Martin Pyrite, a man whose apparently comfortable, upper-middle class life is falling apart behind the scenes. He’s been fired from his job for reasons that are unclear, amassed a huge amount of debt, and is keeping all this secret from his genteel wife Julie (Neve Campbell). After a traumatic confrontation with his furious boss (Don Warrington) and an avoidant HR manager (Lorraine Burroughs), Martin spends a day deferring the inevitable, chit-chatting politely with shop assistants, while indulging in little luxuries he can ill-afford. It’s a tense and unsustainable situation, which comes to a head when a mysterious debt collector named Pecco (James Cosmo, by turns menacing and avuncular) arrives at the Pyrites’ front door. This Pecco is offering an impossible choice: pay up immediately or become his accomplice for a wild night of unspecified criminal acts.
Cristian Solimeno’s script is witty, well-plotted and goes to darker-than-expected places, but his direction isn’t always up to the necessary task of disguising budgetary constraints. The Glass Man looks cheaply and hurriedly made, which is a particular problem when it comes to depicting the supposedly well-heeled surroundings of characters like Martin and his old school chum-turned-movie star Toby Huxley (played by Solimeno in one pivotal scene). The performances are assured though, leading to an appropriately shattering conclusion.
• The Glass Man is released on 7 December on digital formats.
