The Selfish Giant

“Arbor” (Conner Chapman) is a bit of a tearaway who’s on medication that his elder brother frequently sells and hates going to school. His best mate is “Swifty” (Shaun Thomas) - a gentle giant of a boy, and the two are inseparable. When a brawl at school sees the former excluded permanently and his pal for a fortnight, they decide to turn their heads to scrap collection. A perilous business where much of what they are collecting is still connected to the live electricity supply, but there’s money to be made from unscrupulous merchant “Kitten” (Sam Gelder) and once they’ve a few quid in their pockets, then they just want more. These lads aren’t frivolous kids, they want to use their newfound cash to help their mothers stave off the debt collectors but that’s a never-ending cycle that causes them to take greater risks and get deeper embroiled in a business that is ruthless and uncaring. “Swifty” also has a penchant for horses, and when “Kitten” needs a racing driver for his cart horse “Diesel” this young lad proves to be a natural, but with his friend becoming jealous of his new affections and increasingly more reckless the friend’s relationship starts to become strained. Auteur Clio Bernard has created something gritty and revealing here and the two lads deliver really strongly, especially Chapman, as their travails tell us a story of want, enterprise and even a bit of greed. It’s also quite a potently photographed look at a dangerous, even brutal, sub-culture that thrives in plain sight but that is almost Dickensian in nature to watch unfold.