Ollie and Noreen are in love. They are planning to get married. It’s Noreen’s birthday, just a simple affair, cheese and pickle sandwiches in the park and a couple of cans. When Noreen (Jodie Whittaker) unexpectedly and tragically dies, half of Ollie’s (Edward Hogg) world disappears. Ollie is devastated. His best friend Tom thinks he needs support, Ollie says he has support he has his y-fronts. At work management says he’s damaging morale, so could he keep his troubles to himself. And he does, he starts hearing voices in his head. They become more frequent. He’s unravelling, he turns up at work wearing only his underpants, the voices get worse. People have been tampering with his cheese. He won’t get help, the voices get worse. Someone’s put a chip in his brain he must get it out. Without doubt a strong and tender performance from Edward Hogg as this man who is falling apart in front of our eyes. And that’s just the thing about mental illness, unless you can see it, nobody really understands what the person is going through. This film is a bold and brave attempt at trying to capture the inside of the characters head, but ultimately it doesn’t work. Sadly, there’s an uncomfortable empty feeling of voyeurism. Like watching an animal suffer in pain without being able to help. The more we feel helpless, the more he suffers. And as with any animal in pain, all you really want to do is put it out of its misery. Or walk out the movie theatre.
Showing @Cineworld 18th of June 18:30 and 20th of June 18:00