Meeting Point

Directed by George S Evans

2024

Five-Fifteen Productions

How a life may turn out if another path is taken is one of the central themes of a new Midlands short that sees a man contemplate how his circumstances and choices intertwine with others'.

We are introduced to Andy (Jon Laight) who is on his phone at a pub and after ordering from the barmaid observes something strange on his mobile device. After this mysterious moment we move to the same man sitting on a stone bridge with a woman (Julia Bentley as Vicki) who asks how long it’s been since he lost his wife.

The filmmaker here mixes some flashback moments of a happy couple’s life together, shot with great cinematography that gives the visuals a warm glow and some loving sun-setting lens flare.

But from making two teas and crying into her clothes, Andy is clearly still coming to terms with his loss in a terrific performance from the lead actor. We also get moments where we are unsure if it’s the present or a memory and it’s this narrative and visual structure that the director successfully plays with.

Telling the story out of order helps keep things interesting for the audience but it takes a while to get going. Although there’s links between the first scene and later scene, the opening of a man looking at his phone for 2 and a half minutes in a pub and some tea-making and van driving was hardly riveting and didn’t pull me in until a while later.

The film hits its stride, and also takes a sidestep, as it switches to the woman’s domestic life at the midpoint. Vicki herself is accused of infidelity by her partner (Drew Noon as Jack in an intense performance) and their discussion soon becomes a shouting match. But it’s suddenly revealed their school-age son is behind a door listening to this severe conflict and whilst protesting her innocence, there are revelations that all is not what it seems and the boy decides to run away to escape this family tussle.

Technically, Meeting Point also has an interesting and superb ethereal score from Ross Baillie-Eames who adds some Inception-like moody atmosphere to the time-twisting narrative. The film has some really great individual shots but some scenes drag and I didn’t find its as narratively tight as the director’s previous film. Whereas English Rose (our review here) was a very focused story, Meeting Point meanders around its message a bit more.

However, no spoilers here but the two stories collide at the end and the audience awakes with a new understanding of some of the earlier scenes. The plots intertwine yet there’s not a great deal of connection at first. It sometimes feels like 2 separate films, perhaps intentionally. But this adds a dose of confusion that's not needed - although it does eventually explore two lost souls dealing with their own unfortunate and sad situations quite satisfyingly.

With much to recommend, Meeting Point is a film of two halves - both literally and thematically. Combining stories is a great narrative structure, even though it does take a bit of time to get there. Yet if you can stick with it, there’s an intriguing twist finish and overall the film is an interesting combination of dual lives that crash together with sadness yet also hope.

★★★½

3.5 / 5

Michael Sales