Joseph, a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction, earns a chance of redemption that appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker.

Directed: Paddy Considine

Stars: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman and Eddie Marsan

What we think:  ”Nobody’s safe with me,” says Joseph, Peter Mullan’s character in the powerful British drama Tyrannosaur, from first time director Paddy Considine.

This film is raw pain, with extremely disturbing and gut wrenching emotions it seems to move from one anguish to the next without giving you much of a chance to catch breath.

Joseph is a violent man, fueled by self loathing he’s a nasty piece of work, the film’s title is the nickname he called his first wife, giving she was so large she’d make tea cups shake when she moved.

When he has a chance meeting with charity shop worker, Hannah, brilliantly played by Olivia Colman in her best performance to date, it gives him hope and possible redemption for his past, of which he is ashamed.

The pair strike up a strong bond, as both fight demons, Joseph seemingly having to lash out at inanimate objects from a post office window to a tin shed, a defense mechanism which he uses to stop himself from hurting other people. Although his dog, and man’s best friend is not so lucky.

Hannah herself has to battle an abusive husband, another solid performance from Eddie Marsden who is quite simply chilling. Hannah is pushed right to the edge of despair but finds a great deal of solace in Joseph which is truely heart warming at times when the pair are together.

The only monsters in this film are the ones hidden deep in the personalities of the actors, and Considine’s script is poignant and tough going, which is testament to his direction and how much he got out of his cast.

The film has a very late twist, which I have to say is not expected but it literally caps the film off perfectly, it will certainly shock you but there will be a sense of forgiveness and compassion.

If this is the sign of things to come for Considine then we are extremely excited, a great actor he is but he might turn out to be an even better director.

View the trailer

Rating: (5/5)

Visit the IMDb page for Tyrannosaur

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