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Daphne is a classic example of one of those films which really grabbed me from the trailer, below, but turned out to be considerably less than the sum of its parts.
Portrayed by Emily Beecham, the titular lead drinks, does drugs, she’s stupidly dismissive of everyone, and as the film follows her as she goes about her life – drifting between hating her job in a restaurant, hating her narcotics-fuelled social life and hating her life in general as she lives in a tiny flat where she can’t cook for herself.
It was also quite gross seeing her clawing out the crap from under her fingernails, in one scene, but the biggest problem is that there’s a wild variety of disconnected scenes that just don’t hang together. While one or two elements do come full circle in the 88-minute running time, for the most part, I was just waiting for the film to actually start.
I know life can be similarly up-in-the-air and disjointed, but it doesn’t mean that a film of said life can work in the same way.
In addition, I could do with subtitles, and hopefully the DVD will have those, as the dialogue is a bit rushed or mumbled at times.
Oh, and we could’ve done with more Ritu Arya, best known as Dr Sharma in BBC’s soap, Doctors, as well as from Channel 4’s Humans. She was only in two scenes.
Score: 2/10
NOTE: This review is for the film only.
Daphne is released tomorrow on DVD and Amazon video, and click on the packshot for the full-size image.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 88 minutes
Year: 2017
Released: January 22nd 2018
Languages: English
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Distributor: Altitude Film Distribution
Director: Peter Mackie Burns
Producers: Valentina Brazzini and Tristan Goligher
Screenplay: Nico Mensinga
Music: Sam Beste
Daphne: Emily Beecham
Rita: Geraldine James
Joe: Tom Vaughan-Lawlor
David: Nathaniel Martello-White
Tom: Osy Ikhile
Billie: Sinead Matthews
Jay: Ryan McParland
Rachida: Ritu Arya
Cigarette Thief: Richard Banks
Homeless Sandwich Guy: Gary John Clarke
Friend: Maurisa Selene Coleman
Beth: Karina Fernandez
Cashier: Erica Guyatt
Jimbo: Timothy Innes
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.