Review of Fish Tank (2009) by Steph O — 31 Aug 2010

In the opening scenes of "Fish Tank" Mia (Katie Jarvis) goes around looking for a fight â?? and finds one. This leads to a fight with her mother, who asks Mia what the hell is wrong with her. "You're what's wrong with me!" she screams back. And we have no reason to doubt that's true.

â??Fish Tankâ?? is about a 15 year old girl named Mia trying to deal with her less-than-loving family, and figure out whether her mum's new boyfriend (Michael Fassbender) coming into her life is a good thing or a bad thing. It's a complicated and realistic drama. Mia's a complicated character too. I liked that. Much of the movie focusses on the 'relationship' between Jarvis and Fassbender's characters. Right away you get the impression Mia likes her mumâ??s boyfriend. She calls him names and pretends to hate him, but it's obvious she doesn't. Her mother and sister are always putting her down, whereas this guy is always nice to her. Because of him, Mia gets the courage to respond to a flyer looking for young dancers.

Mia seems very out of place. Not just in her family, but everywhere else too. And for Mia, I think this guy seems like the only good thing in her life when she meets him. I loved the scenes with Mia and the guy getting closer, and getting to know each other. They were shot really well. The tension between Mia and her mumâ??s boyfriend is definitely the most interesting part of the movie. They show their feelings developing so well, that every next step and every change in how they act with each other seems completely understandable. You can see why she would like him, not like in some movies like this where things just suddenly happen between people. When Mia sees this guy with her mother, she becomes confused and annoyed. She immediately goes off and befriends a guy sheâ??s seen around town before (played by Harry Treadaway). Maybe so she can forget about her mumâ??s boyfriend. And her mum. Because her mum really is awful. Mia's mum says about Mia: â??When she was born she wouldnâ??t stop crying for days. Itâ??s like she came out looking for trouble...â?? and at one point pretty much tells her that she wishes she'd aborted Mia when she had the chance. She also wants to send her daughter to some sort of 'special' boarding school.

"Fish Tank" is never boring. It's a really powerful British drama about a surly teenage girl, her mother, and her motherâ??s new boyfriend.