Shadows on the Wall | The Loneliest Boy in the World

The Loneliest Boy in the World

dir Martin Owen
scr Piers Ashworth
prd Matt Williams, Pat Wintersgill, Piers Ashworth, Ryan Hamilton
with Max Harwood, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Susan Wokoma, Evan Ross, Ashley Benson, Ben Miller, Tallulah Haddon, Hammed Animashaun, Alex Murphy, Zenobia Williams, Jacob Sartorius, Sam Coleman
release US 14.Oct.22
22/UK 1h30

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A lively pastiche packed with lurid colours and quirky characters, this film uses British locations to create a wacky version of America. As it plays with comedy and horror elements, there's some strong social satire lurking under the surface. Director Martin Owen and writer Piers Ashworth keep the film packed with witty references and pitch-black humour, and the actors somehow manage to create engaging characters amid the silliness.

Living in isolation after his mother's accidental death, Oliver (Harwood) is told by his minders (Ross and Benson) that he needs to make friends in his seaside community. With bullies picking on him, Oliver decides to befriend the recently deceased, starting with dead teen Mitch (Fiennes Tiffin), followed by three plane crash fatalities (Wokoma, Miller and William) and a dog. When they mysteriously come to life, he has an entire zombie family to keep him company. This gives Oliver the confidence to go on his very first date with living, breathing new neighbour Chloe (Haddon).

Outrageously hued sets extend to the pink skies, while the character eccentricities escalate amusingly until Halloween night, when Oliver's new family is free to head out, blending in with the locals for some fun on the town. Everything is a bit loose and overly nutty, and also increasingly gruesome, but there are deeper issues in the story as Oliver comes out of his shell and takes on the teens who are making his life miserable. Along the way, the gleeful yuckiness and pop culture gags keep us chuckling.

There isn't much nuance in the characters, as each of them is broadly comical, but Harwood manages to give Oliver a strong sense of underlying emotionality, even as grief, intermingled with guilt, has left him disconnected from reality. And there's a warm connection between him and his undead family, especially Fiennes Tiffin as the encouraging older "brother". Others have a lot of fun with their over-the-top roles, making the most of the absurdly jokey dialog.

While deeper points emerge along the way, the film's writing and direction leave them mainly in the subtext, even as the plot itself takes several darkly dramatic turns. At its core, this is a story of a young man grappling with grief and depression in the most colourful way imaginable. And while there are hints of even more resonant, important themes, the filmmakers seem to have been distracted as they impressively make rather a lot out of what's clearly a meagre budget.

themes, language, violence 13.Oct.22

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