CAN YOU get away with a drama entirely peopled by ghastly people? The question will swim into many viewers' heads while watching this accomplished debut feature from television director Joanna Hogg.
Unrelated follows an unhappy middle-aged woman (Kathryn Worth) as she makes her way to an old pal's house in Tuscany.
Over several boozy evenings - and the odd dope-scented afternoon - she drifts away from the adults and becomes inappropriately close to her friend's handsome son (Tom Hiddleston). Eventually, she is forced to chose between her own generation and the crisp, hedonistic youths of the household.
It is, on reflection, not quite fair to call Anna ghastly. She seems to be a kind enough person, but, when she whines down the phone to her estranged partner or gazes wistfully at Hiddlestone's tousled head, it's hard to resist the urge to give her a vigorous shake. The rest of the party - both young and old - are, however, genuinely frightful in their patrician, toffee-voiced self-regard.
Still, Hogg does manage to make something gripping of this unpromising set up. Seeking middle ground between the al fresco chatter of Éric Rohmer's comedies and the poisonous bile of Harold Pinter's film scripts, she uses very long takes and improvised dialogue to combine mounting tension with convincing naturalism. Several of the Italian actors, friends of the director, are playing versions of themselves, and the sure sense of place helps add another layer of reality to proceedings.
Unrelateddoes have its gauche moments. The final scene is incongruously cosy, and the sequences in Siena really belong in a travel show. There is, however, enough promise here for us to trust that Hogg will go on to have a career worth following.
Let's hope she happens upon the odd likeable character when writing the next script.
