Fish Tank

AroView: Full of colourful profanity and hefty doses of working-class belligerence, this assured, Cannes-winning drama centres around a 15-year-old drop-out who develops a touching yet troubling relationship with her mother’s new boyfriend.

Lead actress Jarvis was cast “off the street” and gives a revelatory performance that is both courageous and tough and yet laced with teenage vulnerability. The director adopts a loose, organic approach to narrative in the style of Ken Loach - one that denies the actor’s access to the full script - though by comparison, and as with her debut RED ROAD, she determines the drama to an altogether higher pitch.