The End of Summer

Sue is a young teenager in Leeds who hangs around with her friend Tom in the local dump, smoking, shop lifting and just fooling around for the lack of anything else to do with her time. Her mother worries about her and resents the lack of help she has looking after the two of them, however Sue continues her way.

I'm not sure if this was a student film for director Bisgaard (he has gone on to greater things) but it is associated with Leeds University and has a feel of a good student film. The gritty feel is well supported by the handheld cameras used. I really felt like I was part of the film with this approach. The plot requires thought as there really isn't any to speak of, it is more a look at the inner-city experience of young Sue. As such it is a little directionless and episodic but it is worth seeing for the fact that it is quite real.

This is in part due to the acting from young Bailey. She is very realistic and it doesn't feel like she's trying at all. Jones is almost as good as Tom but it is Bailey's film to take control of. The lack of a short story is a small problem and it did take away from the film that this wasn't a chapter of her life but more a series of quite unrelated snapshots of a teenager's life.

Overall this is a quite stylish short that is quite well done despite lacking a strong narrative. That said the `experience' approach works quite well and a great natural performance from Bailey makes it.