Neutral

Directed by Paul J. Farrell

2017

With his latest directorial effort, Blondi’s War, being nominated for two Midlands Movies Awards this year (and taking home one win), it’s clear that Lee Dilley has some serious talent.

For Neutral (made in 2017) he takes a co-writer credit, working with director Paul J. Farrell to tell this touching story about two ex-lovers who reconnect over a car journey to pay their respects to a deceased friend.

Both Hannah Lederer and Adam Horvath are excellent as Abbey and Alex respectively, perfectly capturing the awkwardness of meeting your ex, especially under an emotionally fraught time such as grieving. It’s a good job too because the camera is on them for every second of this.

The script from Dilley and Farrel gently coaxes the emotions out of the characters, as the conversation leads from small talk, to their friend and then finally, inevitably, to the reasons why they split it up. It’s similar in a lot of ways to Locke (2013, Steven Knight) in the way it deftly builds its story using little more than dialogue.

It's possibly a little too neatly wrapped up at the end, putting aide the unresolved issues to allow the characters to comfort each other in their loss.

But Neutral remains a stunning showcase not just for Farrell as a director and Dilley as a writer, but for the two young leads trusted to carry this film through its difficult subject.

★★★★½

4.5 / 5

Matthew Tilt

X (Twitter) @Matthew_Tilt