Days of the Bagnold Summer: Film Review

Cast: Earl Cave, Monica Dolan, Elliot Speller Gillot, Tamsin Grieg, Rob Brydon

Director: Simon Bird

Days of the Bagnold Summer may be based off a graphic novel, and may be all about the agonizing interactions between mother and son, but it's no laugh-out-loud coming of age summer movie.

Fortunately it is helmed by The Inbetweeners’ Simon Bird who knows a thing or two about British social mores and excruciatingly awkward moments after years of being tormented on screen as Will in the comedy series.

Cave is Daniel, a long lank-haired metal loving teen who’s about to escape the UK summer holidays for time in the US with his estranged dad. But when he’s let down unexpectedly at the last minute, Daniel is forced to endure a holiday at home with his mum (the frumpy-clothed Dolan) who’s none too happy about it either.

There are moments in Days of Bagnold Summer that are well-timed gentle bombs of chuckles, rather than full on belly laughs.

Bird captures the push and pull and downright awfulness of teenagers and the exasperations of their parents with ease.

Whether it’s letting snippy dialogue hang just long enough or keeping things tight in an emotional moment toward the end after generations of shared memories pass, there’s a veracity here that’s hard to deny.

Sure this isn’t a film where earthshaking revelations drop, more a wry and tacit acknowledgement of the pains of adolescence and the pains of seeing a loved one grow away from you - the universality of it all is deftly captured and quietly and carefully espoused.

Days of the Bagnold Summer won’t change your life.

Despite it being nicely shot and acted, it’s a film that’s more keen to revel in the moments and the relationships; a film that’s captured something in its DNA that it deploys so well via its awful teenager - and yet not once does it ever lose the humanity of its leads.

Uniquely British in its humour, and muted in its execution Days of the Bagnold Summer is a perfect wee pearl of a film that may well just catch you off guard.