Films

66 Sight and Sound February 2014

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Do|by
D|g|ta|
In Co|our
[1.8S:1]
D|str|butor
Trailer Trash
Director: William Jones
With Harley Ballard, Adam Nash,
Chloe Davies
Certificate 15
SYNOPSIS WoodmansLerne, Surrey, presenL day. 33 year old Adam llves wlLh hls parLner
Parley, and hls young daughLer Chloe, ln a suburban aL. Adam ls calmly preparlng Lhe aL,
gemng ready Lo propose, when hls rebelllous daughLer enLers loudly. 1hey share a haLeful
look, and she leaves, buL noL before causlng some Lrouble. Parley soon enLers aer, buL
[usL as Lhey seule down Lo champagne, nolse agaln lls Lhe aL. Adam qulckly sorLs lL ouL,
buL Parley ls noL appeased, and so Lakes Lhelr glasses and Lhe boule lnLo Lhe klLchen ln an
acL of . Adam's mood qulckly changes, and whllsL he vlolenLly sLorms over Lo Chloe's room,
Parley ls drugglng a new champagne glass. Parley asks Chloe Lo [oln Lhem, and she does.
Meanwhlle, Adam has fallen down Lhe back of Lhe sofa aer loslng Lhe rlng, prompung
Chloe Lo ask where he ls, and when Parley ls noL looklng, Lo drug her glass. When Lhey
boLh Lake a slp, Lhey slmulLaneously fall o Lhe sofa. Adam's head emerges, looks aL Lhe
engagemenL rlng, and frowns.
Left to right: Harley (Harley Ballard), Chloe (Chloe Davies)
'Marrlage ls a Lhree rlng clrcus: engagemenL rlng,
weddlng rlng and suerlng.'-years laLer Lhls message
sull rlngs Lrue LhroughouL Lhe rooms of a
dysfuncuonal famlly's suburban aL, ln Lhls unseullng
comedy from Wllllam !ones.
When we rsL meeL Adam he has [usL nlshed
preparlng hls aL for hls parLner Parley. 1he problem
ls hls rebelllous daughLer Chloe, acung as Lhe obsLacle
Lhrough her excesslve nolse polluuon. As Adam slowly
descends lnLo madness, only Lhe audlence ls aware of
Parley and Chloe's hldden agendas. 8uL can you really
blame Chloe, slnce she ls clearly sub[ecL Lo such
lnexperlenced and bad parenung on a dally basls? ls lL
Lhe parenL's faulL? !ones doLs slmllar amblguous
messages LhroughouL Lhe narrauve. 1hls shorL lm
Lruly leaves Lhe vlewer Lo exLracL Lhelr own meanlng.
lf !ones's rsL award wlnnlng feaLure !"#$"%$&' )%*+
(2012) oers a conLroverslal look lnLo Lhe frlghLenlng
mlcrocosm of a sLalker and hls vlcum, Lhen 1raller
1rash dlshes up an excluslve look lnLo Lhe Lroubled
worklngs of a common famlly. AlLhough, ,-.%/+-
,-.'0's characLers could easlly be LhaL of !"#$"%$&' )%*+
a few years on. lnexperlenced faLher, Adam (Adam
nash) ls [usL as menLally unsLable as AnLonlo, lf noL a
less capable verslon. Whereas, Lhe Lwo female
characLers: Lhe devlous glrlfrlend, Parley (Parley
8allard) and Lhe rebelllous daughLer Chloe (Chloe
uavles), emerge fresh and orlglnal, ln an auempL Lo
dlerenuaLe Lhe Lwo lms.
!ones weaves a narrauve of decelL, as Lhe audlence ls
lead Lo buy lnLo Adam's carlng naLure, before shocklng
Lhem wlLh Lhe unsavoury LruLh. Cne momenL he's
preparlng a beauuful proposal, Lhe nexL he's losL hls
cool as he bangs and shouLs, drlven mad by hls
daughLer. Lven more frlghLenlng slghLs are Lo come,
however as Parley and Chloe are seen splklng Lhe
champagne. lL's asklng a loL of audlences Lo keep
lnvesLed ln a proLagonlsL who's usurped of sLaLus mld-
way Lhrough, noLwlLhsLandlng rsL-umer Adam nash's
lnLeresung ablllLy Lo susLaln a suggesuon of madness,
even ln Lhe characLer's mosL sllly momenLs. !ones,
however, ls clearly oerlng analysls raLher Lhan
repeaung cllche, as Adam's acuons can be read as a
vulnerable faLher's paLheuc auempL aL keeplng hls
famlly LogeLher, acuons whlch are emphaslsed by wlfe
Parley, buL wlLh darker lnLenL.
1he Lurnlng polnL ls evldenL when Parley has clearly
had enough wlLh her husband's sllpplng grlp on Lhe
slLuauon, and decldes Lo Lake mauers lnLo her own
hands. 1hls lsn'L golng Lo end slmply. !ones has,
however, purposefully made Lhe vlewer
underesumaLe Lhe daughLer, buL all ls revealed ln Lhe
LwlsL nale.
Adam's chlldllke clumslness proves LhaL !ones has Lhe
ablllLy Lo creaLe more Lhan humourless reallsm. All of
whlch hlnL Lo a hlghly personal mode of lmmaklng,
one LhaL (unllke Lhe 8rlush norm) has noL been made
lnLo submlsslve compromlse. 1he Lrlo of Leenage non-
professlonals glve a surprlslngly naLural performance,
ouLwelghlng Lhe ob[ecuons anyone mlghL have of Lhls
lm. 1he Lyplcal famlly envlronmenL ls broughL across
experLly. 8uL above all lL's Lhe emouon LhaL shlnes
Lhrough. lf noL sllly aL umes, Lhls lm ls an
achlevemenL noneLheless.

1raller 1rash dlshes up
an excluslve look lnLo Lhe
Lroubled worklngs of a
common famlly."