Film Review: True Things (2021)

True Things may not be the film for everyone but as you may well know, for me, Ruth Wilson can do no wrong 

“We’re not having sex in my car”

Released last year, True Things is a quirky little film that showcases its lead cast of Ruth Wilson and Tom Burke in real style. Directed by Harry Wootliff and co-written by Wootliff and Molly Davies, from Deborah Kay Davies’s novel True Things about Me, it skirts the line of psychological drama in its portrayal of a twisted romance.

Wilson plays Kate, a woman in her 30s not particularly enthused with her life as a benefits officer in Ramsgate. There’s strict rules governing her interactions with her clients but the sexual lightning that strikes on meeting Burke’s ex-con Blond, who propositions her during his appointment, leads her down a journey of self-discovery but also possibly self-destruction.

Filmed with a good deal of naturalism and very much rooted in everyday life, this isn’t a story full of surprise, it feels like so many tales of irresistible bad boys and toxic relationships that have gone before. But Wootliff and Wilson keep things interesting by making us wonder how aware of everything Kate is, fantasy sequences are inserted throughout to keep us off-kilter, a knowing smile never too far from those iconic lips.

Burke is strong too, even if we’re not quite as engaged in his gaslighting behaviour, his charisma oozing off the screen. And there’s good work from Hayley Squires as Kate’s colleague whose goodwill and patience is severely tested. Another magnetic performance from Ruth Wilson though is what makes this worth the time.

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