Review of Tyrannosaur (2011) by Clayton D — 13 May 2012

Paddy Considine's debut as writer/director expands both on some of the roles he's been most effective in and his award-winning short film Dog Altogether. Although he doesn't appear, the theme of bottled rage and dangerously unpredictable loners is a Considine acting strength, so the presence of Peter Mullan only heightens the uneasy mood.

Mullan is exceptional and utterly convincing at playing both uncontrollable rage and remorseful sensitivity making his outbursts all the more disturbing and sad, none more so than the first scene with his dog.

Olivia Colman also really makes her mark here as Hannah, the kindly charity shop worker whose superficially pleasant life hides harrowing domestic abuse from her husband. Despite all this it doesn't completely fall down a working class miserablism black hole, with plenty of flashes of human solidarity and tenderness, complicated by the shadow of Joseph's own treatment of his late wife, the nicknamed "Tyrannosaur" of the title.

Even though the film ends with a character behind bars and not necessarily the one you expect, and one rather incongruous moment of gore, it for the most part feels honest and true, however unpleasant many of the events are.

A definite credit to both cast and director alike.