The Inbetweeners star
Simon Bird's directorial debut is a funny, charming and wince-inducingly accurate adaptation of
Joff Winterhart's graphic novel, with a soundtrack by
Belle & Sebastian.
Days of the Bagnold Summer (2019) sweetly draws you into the wobbly relationship between well-intentioned single librarian Sue Bagnold and her black-clad teenage son Daniel, who'd rather listen to Metallica than his mother. Daniel was meant to spend the summer in Florida visiting his dad, but is now stuck with Mum following the trip's cancellation. The film boasts supporting turns by
Rob Brydon and
Alice Lowe, but belongs to its two leads. Long-suffering Sue is sympathetically portrayed by
Monica Dolan, with
Earl Cave's Daniel a suitably lank-haired, pale-skinned picture of adolescent metal-head angst.
—London Film Festival