Direction: Mark Jenkin
Country: UK
Bait is a taut arthouse drama with a vintage black-and-white look, sturdy performances, and nail-biter dynamics in its simple and efficient depiction of a picturesque fishing village in Cornwall. Due to its immersive atmospherics, the films of Henri-Georges Clouzot come to mind.
The central character is Martin Ward (Edward Rowles), a local cove fisherman who is forced to improvise professionally when his brother Steven (Giles King) takes their late father’s vessel for local cruise trips. However, his work is often disturbed by the annoying presence of tourists. His village is crowded with them due to a tourism business recently mounted by a couple of outsiders, Sandra (Mary Woodvine) and Tim Leigh (Simon Shepherd), who live in the now modernized house that once belonged to Martin’s family with their two teen children, Hugo (Jowan Jacobs) and Katie (Georgia Ellery). A jittery tension builds up with persistently dark and bitter tones, climaxing in an irreversible tragedy.
Director Mark Jenkin, a new brilliant voice in the British cinema, gives us a perfect view of the village dynamics, focusing his meticulously observant lens on the youth and adult alike. At times, it’s like if you were immersed in a psychedelic fever dream, but it’s not hard to wake up when the sad reality of gentrification bites. What can these people do if their lives are simply destroyed and ignored?
Bait is a tenacious, chillingly blunt, and unsentimental examination of a current topic that is getting out of control. It packs a punch by offering equal doses of fascination and disquietness, and deserves praise for combining extraordinary visuals captured by a vintage hand-cranked Bolex camera, a captivating intriguing mood, intelligent filmmaking techniques (the hand-processed 16-mm B&W film is an ode to the good old times and human craftsmanship), and compelling performances. An unmissable avant-garde gem is here folks!
