Country: UK
Movie Review: The bleak independent drama, “Catch Me Daddy”, envelops us in a gripping multicultural story set under the grey skies of the Yorkshire Moors, England. The newcomer Sameena Jabeen Ahmed plays Laila, a carefree Pakistani girl who runs away from his dad’s house to go living with her doped English boyfriend, Aaron (Connor McCarron). Her father is both concerned and ashamed, as well as her brother, Zaheer (Ali Ahmad), who goes after her with a group of unscrupulous mercenaries. At some point, the solution found to make Aaron and Laila give up was making Aaron’s mother a hostage and blackmailing him. The thugs attain their intents, but the story ends up in tragedy, bringing irreparable damages for everyone. In a small town with limited places to go, the chances of being found are higher. The harsh and stressful circumstances separate every single character from happiness. The ones who were trying to find some peace and change their lives are consumed by the darkness while the ones already living in the dark, like the middle-aged cocaine addicted and mercenary, Tony (Gary Lewis), sinks deeper and deeper in the obscurity of their actions. The plot, co-written by the debutant director Daniel Wolfe (also connected with the world of video music) and his brother Matthew, is disconcerting and profoundly severe, balancing quite well the violent and the emotional, as well as alternating between love and hate associated with the family. Some of the nocturnal images were deliberately pitch-dark, an understandable and justified option of Mr. Wolfe who also selected an eclectic score containing songs by Patti Smith and Tim Buckley. The cast, encompassing both experienced and non-professionals, was competent and convincing enough to make us believe that this story could have really happened. The nightmarish “Catch Me Daddy”, whose director has described it as a modern Western, leaves us suspended by its inconclusive finale. It won’t be a good option for the fans of mainstream cinema, and only the more optimistic ones will find a tiny margin for hope here.
