I saw this at one of those surprise screenings where you do not know what you are going to be viewing until the film starts. For the most part the films have been a great variety but are usually something a bit lower brow. Going into the film many were theorising online that it would be Blue Beetle or Strays, something silly that I could switch my brain off and just enjoy. Oh boy was I wrong with this one, because instead we got Scrapper, a British comedy drama that made me very emotional, along the way it also gave me a few chuckles too.

Scrapper tells the story of Georgie, a twelve-year-old girl who has fallen through the cracks. Her mother has recently died, and she is living on her own, stealing and selling bikes to get by. Her unusual lifestyle comes crashing to an end when her estranged father, whom she has never met, jumps over her fence and right into her life.

Along the way we are treated to a rough, charming, and heart-warming story about a little girl who has grown up too quickly and a grown man who never grew up finding themselves. I will not say too much but a lesser movie would have wrapped everything up in a neat little box, where this film chooses to instead approach the topic with a more nuanced and realistic take.

Charlotte Regan does a fantastic job as director of this flick, she uses her minimal cast to create something that is truly personal and profoundly poignant, yet hopeful. If I was to sum this film up, I would call it a quiet, beautiful yet bittersweet story. Though in that quiet the film speaks volumes about the state of the British Welfare system and the role of the father in a child’s life.

Scrapper pretty much only has three characters, that of the father Jason, played by a nearly unrecognisable Harris Dickinson and newcomers Lola Campbell as his daughter Georgie and Alin Uzun as her best friend Ali. All three had great chemistry and huge props to Lola for taking a character like Georgie, who most of us just would not like, and making her truly loveable.

For music Patrick Johnson was brought on board and I may not be too familiar with his work but the music he created for this film fell somewhere between a Trent Reznor score and Sigur Ros, it was haunting and soothing all at once.

I really struggled to get through this without any spoilers, but if you want a film that will make you feel something then this is the one for you. And that is all I feel comfortable saying about Scrapper, trust me this is one you should definitely watch.