Review of London to Brighton (2006) by Eric B — 01 May 2010

A heartwrenching cautionary raw tale, full of suspense and grit. This was an amazing debut from Paul Andrew Williams. Well acted, great tone, perfect pace and extremely well edited. Getting the full story slowly fed to you as the thrilling suspense climbs and climbs to the explosive unpredictable end.

You feel sorrow for both the victims yet you can't keep yourself from blaming everyone involved. Just why did the child have to run away, why didn't the woman refuse to find the girl, how come no one stopped what was going on? And how strong a father/so relationship is when one is pure evil.

The performances are some of the most committed and strongest I have seen in an independent, unknown first debut in many years. Everyone does wonders with there well fleshed-out characters, but the one to mention is Georgia Groome.

She inhabits the role with such complexity and experience, its shocking to see the attitude and range coming from someone so unknown...and when the emotion is raised, its heart-wrenching to see her the way she is.

London to Brighton is certainly worth the watch and I urge you to seek it out. An outstanding debut that is amazingly realistic and gritty in its dark themes and is all the more satisfying when you know that the characters are the main focus and they are given the right treatment with some astonishing performances.