World Premiere - Best UK Feature Nominee

* Repeat Screening

Short Synopsis

When six fourteen year old kids bunk off school to play in the woods they are befriended by a drifter, whose behaviour becomes increasingly suspect. Held hostage in their den they are forced to embrace the dark side of human nature if they are going to survive the ordeal.

Review

When six 14 year old kids skip school to play in the woods, their day’s antics culminate in a motorcycle crash where they fear having killed a drifter. Relieved that he is still alive and well, they feel obliged to befriend him- an obligation they come to deeply regret.

The drifter’s behaviour increasingly oscillates between kindness and abuse and the truants eventually find themselves being held hostage in their own den. They are soon forced to embrace the darker side of human nature if they are going to survive this ordeal.

Summer Scars sheds serious light on the choices we are forced to make under extreme circumstances where our impulsive reactions can sometimes take us beyond what we thought capable. With an unsettlingly natural Jekyll and Hyde like performance from Kevin Howarth, writer/director Julian Richards superbly captures the essesnce of life-changing experiences. The resonance of a single event is beautifully explored here, this is a definite must for all British Film fans.

Ramchandra Solanki