Rare Beasts

Available on Sky Cinema in the UK and on VOD.

Rare Beasts is Billie Pipers feature film writing and directorial debut. Piper is Mandy, a single mum, a career in TV production, a son, her own mother who lives with her and a fledgling relationship with Pete (Leo Bill). Mandy’s life is all lived on the edge, she’s angry and unsure. She has a son who has her on edge, with his own anger issues. Her relationship doesn’t help, Pete is equally unsure about what he wants and who he is, from a religious family, he can’t get a handle on Mandy and that adds to his unease. All of which leads to a manic existence as Mandy and Pete explore their lives and future.

To be clear this will not work for everyone. It is as manic and on edge as its characters and its impenetrable at times, feeling like a bit of experimental theatre and it certainly didn’t all work for me. But it does have a certain charm, humour and share of touching moments. All of which had enough to keep me intrigued and engaged.

On top of that is Pipers performance, she carries the film with an energy and chaos that she balances on the edge perfectly throughout, even if the film around her doesn’t always mange it. There are some good performances around her, Bill as Pete is unbalanced by Mandy and his own desires, David Thewlis and Kerry Fox as her parents. Special mention as well to Toby Woolf who plays her son delivering a performance in line with the chaos around him.

It’s far from perfect. It sometimes dissappears into its own “cleverness” and the time it spends on the edge will be tiring and tiresome to some. But for me there was enough that was interesting and Pipers performance compelling enough to keep me invested.

Rare Beasts will definitely not work for all, but if you want something that aims high and attempts something interesting, if not wholly successfully this is worth a look. And at 88 minutes long, if it doesn’t work, it’s not taken too much of your time.