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The Party’s Just Beginning is Karen Gillan‘s directorial debut, as well as writing it, and it’s great to see her making a low-budget indie flick, rather than constantly going for the big movies such as Avengers: Endgame.
When we first meet Liusaidh (Gillan), which she shortens to ‘Lucy’, she’s drunk and has had a one-night stand on the way back from the pub, and along her travels, she comes across best friend Alistair (Matthew Beard) on a bridge, who jumps into the path of a train just as it goes past… and later spots a man hanging from the ceiling across the road from her…
Is she really seeing these things? In fact, everything she comes across seems to do with death.
This film is seasonal in that in the plot, it’s coming up to Christmas and, in fact, there’s a few different storylines going on, and it’s not told in chronological order, but it does make for a bizarre, interesting and entrancing movie, and is certainly worth a watch, even though I don’t think it’s meant to make sense 100% of the time, but if you don’t mind films like that, then get stuck in!
The Party’s Just Beginning is available on demand from December 11th, and is currently on Amazon Video. They also have a listing for a DVD which isn’t yet out, so here’s hoping?
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 91 minutes
Release date: December 11th 2019
Studio: Blue Finch Films
Format: 2.35:1
Rating: 7/10
Director: Karen Gillan
Producers: R Andru Davies, Mali Elfman, Claire Mundell
Screenplay: Karen Gillan
Music: Pepijn Caudron
Cast:
Liusaidh: Karen Gillan
Dale: Lee Pace
Alistair: Matthew Beard
Liusaidh’s Dad: Paul Higgins
Liusaidh’s Mum: Siobhan Redmond
Donna: Rachel Jackson
Ben: Jamie Quinn
Sheena: Lesley Harcourt
Underwear Man: Matthew Zajac
Peter: Paul Tinto
Chav Friend: Kristopher Blair
Chav Guy: Ian Sheepie
Chip Shop Guy: Stephen Nelson
Barman: Andrew McAlindon
Donna’s step daughter: Erin Mullin
Donna’s step son: Dylan Mullin
Christmas Bingo caller: Paul Ellard (uncredited)
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.