Treading Water (18)
Directed by Gino Evans
★★★

SET in Manchester, Gino Evans’s powerful and hard-hitting directorial debut feature shines a light on the lack of opportunity afforded to many people in British society whose struggles and plight are overlooked in film.

Part character study, and part love story, it is viewed against the backdrop of mental health issues, drug addiction and inadequate housing as it follows Danny (Joe Gill) as he is released from prison and then faces the tough reality of living in supported accommodation. 

All the while he is a heroin addict with OCD who suffers dark and intrusive thoughts. As he admits: “Heroin is a medicine which gives me relief from myself. Without the heroin I can’t stay sane.” His violent thoughts are played out as if they were real and it is hard to determine what is reality and what is fantasy. 

Though it is very difficult to watch at times, it does give you an invaluable insight into his mindset and his constant struggles not to give into his disturbing thoughts. These include beating Karen (Jo Dakin) to a pulp. She is in charge of his supported housing and his stepfather. 

What is surprising is how supportive and non-judgemental his counsellor/therapist is as he confesses to self-medicating with heroin and describes his brutal thoughts at length. She tells him he can speak candidly and openly about his struggles as their meetings take place in a safe space. 

When he reconnects by chance with former schoolfriend and past love Laura (Becky Bowe), who is pregnant and both on the game and fighting her own demons, he becomes obsessed with her. He sees her and their spark of romance as his salvation and possible redemption. Yet she is as damaged as he is. 

Gill gives a powerhouse performance as a flawed individual and addict who is battling to survive in Evans’s raw and gripping uber-tense drama.  

While it is graphically violent and at times bone-chilling, it also contains compassion, humour and hope, ending on an upbeat yet realistic and though provoking note.

In cinemas April 25.