Wild Rose

From the moment she lost the TV contest/talent show I’d Do Anything, in which girls all over the UK and Ireland auditioned to play the part of Nancy in the new west end play of Oliver Twist. Jessie Buckely has ironically become an incredibly accomplished actress, landing herself with mammoth acclaim in several TV and film roles which led up her up to her Bafta nominated performance as aspiring Glaswegian country singer Rose Lynn. Who’s loose cannon persona and constant habit of singing while working as a cleaning lady for a wealthy local woman Susannah (Sophie Okeodeo), leads her to suddenly get noticed and before long she finds herself performing on BBC radio and trying to herself to the top of what is by British standards at least an incredibly niche subject of country music. While at the same time, trying to build bridges with her mum (Julie Walters) and two small kids which for most of the time, she pretends don’t exist. Much like Buckley’s performance, Nicole Taylor’s script and the film itself as a whole is engaging, enlighting and inspiring.

This is one of my favourite films of 2019 and probably of the entire decade. While I really enjoyed it on first viewing, I didn’t really get the ending nor some of the small strange twists which happen in the third act. However after watching the film again recently. I realised I was just nitpicking, which is something you do so often when you watch films and write opinion pieces about them for a living. This is a beautifully well crafted, supremely well acted coming of age musical with a surprisingly simple yet touchingly bittersweet ending and a lovely soundtrack performed by Buckley. Proving she’s just a great singer as she is an actress. It’s a good thing she didn’t become win the show where she first became noticed or achieve the part of becoming Nancy on stage. Because if she had we may not have seen her excel so highly as an actress.

10/10-Calum Roberts