HOW TO BE A DAD (SCRAPPER)

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At first glance, 'Scrapper' looks like your typical English kitchen sink social realist drama.

However, Charlotte Regan's debut feature isn't quite what you might expect.

Set on an Essex council estate, it follows Lola Campbell's 12 year old tomboy, Georgie who is secretly living on her own in a flat following the death of her mum.

Only her close friend, Alin Uzun's Ali knows her circumstances.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

Social Services, teachers and neighbours are all under the impression that she is living with her uncle "Winston Churchill".

In order to get by, Georgie steals bicycles with the help and sells them on to pay the rent and for provisions.

The sudden appearance, however, of Harris Dickinson's Jason throws everything up in the air.

Sporting an Eminem hairstyle, he announces he is her estranged dad and has been asked by her mum, Olivia Brady's Vicky to look after her.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

Georgie isn't just wary of him, she is downright hostile.

She's annoyed he has never been in her life up to now and has suddenly turned up, potentially spoiling her plans for the summer.

Jason, however, breaks into their home and refuses to budge, threatening to shop her to the local council if she doesn't play ball with him.

Over the course of the movie, the errant dad tries to establish a connection with his daughter.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

Some of his efforts are unconventional but Jason is on a bit of a learning curve.

He helps Ali and Georgie steal bikes, is shocked to learn she doesn't seem familiar with the concept of the tooth fairy and introduces her to metal detecting.

Conversations with Ali reveal Georgie believes she has bern working her way through the five stages of grief but her friend thinks she hasn't really got beyond the first.

Georgie gets into trouble with a neighbour after losing a mobile phone that contains a treasured video of her mum.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

She discovers a bullet in Jason's wallet, raising questions about who he is and what he was doing in Ibiza where he says he was working.

Georgie keeps her bedroom locked but why?

Audiences familiar with Charlotte Wells' 'Aftersun' will be struck that Regan's film is also about a young man's relationship with pre-teen daughter.

There''s a dream like quality too to some sequences just like Wells' film.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

But that's where the similarities end.

'Scrapper' feels very different.

Unlike Calum and Sophie in Wells' film, Georgie and Jason are starting from scratch - trying to figure out who each other is.

There's not much warmth between them at the beginning.

They're living on the margins, doing what they can to get by and there's a nagging suspicion throughout that everything might go south.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

What emerges, though, is a surprisingly tender film that occasionally veers into the improbable.

The film evokes memories of early Lynne Ramsay works like 'Ratcatcher' - although the vibrant colours of the flats where Georgie lives and the use of camera phone video also feels a little like a nod to Sean Baker's 'The Florida Project'. 

There are ambitious breaks from a traditional film narrative, with Regan using direct to camera interviews with neighbours, teachers and social workers like a Greek chorus reflecting on Georgie's life.

Some of these interviews amuse. Others jar.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

The gullibility of the social workers in the film feels a bit of a stretch.

And the weary cynicism of Cary Crankson's schoolteacher is laid on a bit thick.

Nevertheless the film features an impressive central performance by Campbell as the West Ham top wearing Georgie.

Throughout the film, Regan and Campbell hint that Georgie is suffering from ADHD.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

A twitchy kid, she fancies herself as a bit of a wheeler and dealer and rarely settles down.

Campbell is complemented by Dickinson's turn as an errant, uncertain dad.

It's clear that Jason wants to connect with Georgie.

He just doesn't know if he's capable of doing it.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

Dickinson conveys this with a heartfelt performance.

Uzun is wonderfully natural as Georgie's closest friend.

Ambreen Razia and Laura Aikman as neighbours Zeph and Kaye turn in spirited performances, while Olivia Brady delivers a touching voice message monologue that is revealed towards the end.

Regan shows a real taste for the unconventional, teaming up with cinematographer Molly Manning Walker to produce images you wouldn't normally see in a realist film by Ken Loach or Mike Leigh.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

Occasionally there's a frenetic, whiplash feel to some sequences in the film, hinting at Georgie's chaotic, troubled state of mind.

The opening credits are constructed with the help of a cameraphone and rapidly zoom in and out, catching glimpses of Georgie, Ali and other kids going about their business on the estate.

Another sequence where Georgie frantically searches for her phone is impressively edited by Billy Sneddon and Matteo Bini and takes on a nightmarish tone.

'Scrapper' isn't perfect but it's certainly absorbing.

© BFI, BBC Film & DMC Film

It's a movie of considerable promise that announces Regan and her cinematographer Molly Manning Walker as major talents.

Initially appearing rough, ready and really streetwise, it confounds it's viewers by turning out to be much more tender, humourous and whimsical than you might expect.

How Regan will follow her debut feature up will be fascinating.

('Scrapper' was released in UK and Irish cinemas on August 25, 2023)

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