Sight and Sound review In the style of Fish Tank Sextons latest film takes us back to the style

and tone of his last film, Drink, and once again tries to alter the audiences conceptions on what is really going on the film. The film takes place in a suburban secondary school, which could be seen as a typical setting for the theme of this film. The style of casting is one of the similarities between these two films; both use untrained actors, and as a result, give more visceral performances which most comes to our attention in from the protagonist and the antagonist. Charlie, the protagonist, is an introverted individual. He tries to keep his head down, and simply work, while drawing as little attention to himself as possible. Ryan, on the other hand, is the polar opposite of Charlie. Hes much younger, setting out as if he has a point to prove by acting the hard-man in front of his friends. Ryan is loud, whereas Charlie is quiet. Its almost as if, at the beginning of the film, the characters are designed to be mirror images of each other. The film takes an outlook of bullying similar to Jane Linfoots Youth, especially present during the ending scenes. The three boys on the bus ridiculing each other makes a statement. This statement is that this violent exterior that is shown to the world is simply a facade to cover up some of the persons weaker aspects. The best example in Youth is the asthmatic boy with the knife. The knife is a symbol of violence, whereas the inhaler he uses after being choked is revealing one of his weaknesses, and quickly covering it up. This is similar in Sextons film: Ryan puts on a much more aggressive facade in front of his friend, but once hes stuck to the bench with industrial strength glue The variety of shots in this film is a far-cry from Sextons previous work. Drink was awash with close coverage, and wider-than-normal angles. This production takes a much more vanilla approach to camerawork, with a wide angle lens being completely void in this film. In a way, it separates the two pieces of work in terms of the look and feel of the film. As Charlie is working, he notices that he has run out of a certain type of glue, and as a result of that, cant progress any further. So, he goes over to the stock cupboard. Cue the entrance of the antagonist, Ryan. Ryan enters quietly, but at the same time, overtly. He isnt one to sneak about, so he walks straight into the room. Charlie hears something, but brushes it off and continues looking for glue. Charlie walks back into the room, and sees Ryan, standing next to a drill with a small metal statue in his hand. The little statue serves as a metaphor. Its a culmination of all the different elements of Charlies personality: his ability to endeavor, his best efforts in this one statue. But at the same time, this isnt a flashy, expensive looking thing. Its a metal stickman glued to some wood. This says something too about Charlies inconspicuous methods of living; he doesnt draw attention to himself. After Ryan has drilled a hole through Charlies work, he leaves, uttering one word barely loud enough to hear: Pussy This in-your-face attitude from the younger boy is something that Sexton wants to put across very clearly to he audience - the fact that there is a power struggle going on in todays secondary schools, where more mature students are having to battle with younger students for the position of top of the school.