Leslie Felperin 

Hinterland review – wispy but affecting drama about young adulthood

Harry Macqueen wrote, directed and stars in this tender but insubstantial drama about two childhood friends holidaying together
  
  

Hinterland film still
Tender sensitivity … Hinterland Photograph: /PR

Director-writer-actor Harry Macqueen’s first feature is so wispy and slight that it would only take a strong sneeze to blow it away, but its tender sensitivity is delicate and affecting enough to make one want to cup hands to protect it. Harvey (Macqueen himself), an aspiring novelist in his 20s, picks up Lola, an old friend from his childhood, for a weekend break in Cornwall at a house where they spent many family holidays as kids. Although their relationship is platonic, it’s clear there are strong feelings under the surface, expressed largely through longing looks and barely spoken hints. But the will-they-or-won’t-they suspense is less the point than the film’s interesting attempt to evoke the indecision and anxiety of young adulthood, especially for a cash-strapped generation. Campbell’s songs (she’s a singer-songwriter in real life) are fetching, and in some ways she’s the stronger performer, given that the dialogue is at times a bit clunky.

 

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