Daphne
In the opening stretch, Daphne’s pithy, no-bullshit dialogue and her wheeling through everyday travails seem to set up a how-women-live-now lifestyle film; echoes of 1990’s TV series THIS LIFE updated for the GIRLS generation (Lena Dunham-style frankness has left its traces). The drama takes a left turn, however, when Daphne witnesses a stabbing and the trauma throws her emotional balance out of wack. She drinks ever more compulsively and behaves erratically yet, even as she seems to approach a personal brink, her self-conscious, cynical wit never seems to flag.
With its theme of a young woman brought into crisis by sudden shock, Daphne rather recalls Kenneth Lonergan’s MARGARET, one of the filmmakers’ avowed reference points. Like that New York drama, Daphne aims to evoke the complexity of the city around its heroine; hence snatches of overheard dialogue, and fresh use of unfamiliar city locations, notably Daphne’s South London home patch of Elephant and Castle. (Jonathan Romney)
In the presence of Emily Beecham and Valentina Brazzini (producer).
- Emily Beecham - Daphne
- Geraldine James - Rita
- Tom Vaughan-Lawlor - Joe
- Nathaniel Martello-White - David
- Osy Ikhile - Tom
- Nico Mensinga
- Adam Scarth
- Joakim Sundström
- Nick Emerson
- Sam Beste
- Miren Marañón Tejedor
- Nigel Egerton
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