The Interview is a new film from Birmingham filmmaker and actor Dave Inglis and tells the tale of the difficulties of a past relationship.

Inglis previously directed SYNT (our review here) and here he takes the main, and only, role of John Hastings.

Filmed during the Covid-19 lockdown, Inglis is the sole participant who is recounting the background of a relationship with a guy called Nathan. Covering how they met, through to the happy times and the honeymoon period, it begins with a recollection of warm memories.

Each section is punctuated by a sort of helpful chapter heading (e.g. “trouble in paradise”) so we know where we are in the timeline of their partnership.

Inglis tells the story of the 3-year relationship and how the early days of romance and positivity has become a spiralling decline of control and abuse.

Domestic abuse is a common theme of local films recently and this one take an interesting stylistic choice – one defined by our current lockdown situation – that focuses on the personal ramifications of not being able to “escape”.

Unfortunately though, this has resulted in the film’s entire 23-minute length being one locked off shot with our protagonist talking to the camera against a black background. The lack of any variation to the visuals then becomes increasingly wearisome despite the well-intentioned themes.

A change of background, camera angles or an editing trick or two would really help a viewer to connect a bit more. The film acts as a very long monologue, rather than a visual film, and so would probably work better as a live theatre piece or as an actor’s showreel calling card.

In the end then, it’s great that local filmmakers are still finding unique ways of being creative during the lockdown. Limitations of location and contact with others has meant the traditional filming methods have become severely restricted in this period.

The Interview therefore does have a smart and timely premise, but sadly fails to present its ideas in an engaging fashion owing to its singular and static technique.

Michael Sales