Juniper: Film Review

Cast: Charlotte Rampling, George Ferrier, Martin Csokas, Edith Poor

Director: Matthew J Saville

A gin-soaked matriarch, an on-the-edge teenager and a wayward father all collide in a relatively emotionally potent mix in writer director Matthew J Saville's Juniper.

George Ferrier's Sam has been spiralling down since the death of his mother. Returning from boarding school to find his dad (a detached Csokas) on the cusp of heading to the UK, Sam discovers his injured grandmother Ruth (a ruefully dismissive Rampling) has moved in.

Content only to sound her bell screaming for help and consuming large quantities of gin, Ruth is a distraction that Sam doesn't need, an unwanted cripple in a home already destroyed by death. Equally Ruth isn't interested in Sam, choosing only to see him as a slave to her alcoholic whims.

But when Ruth offers up an alcoholic branch, the pair begin to bond despite the initial iciness and brusque behaviour...

It may be an unsentimental family drama, but Juniper has some introspective edges that will appeal to audiences.

Certainly Rampling delights in the more caustic and apparently brittle edges of her character, complemented by a script which indulges in her laissez-faire mix of attitude and bitterness; and Ferrier plays well, going from self-obsessed introspective teenager to blossoming young adult. There's certainly bleakness early on, and it takes a while for the film to settle on a lighter tone as the family edges come more to the fore.

In truth, there's nothing new here - a tale of rural isolation and teen depression is not something we've not seen before, but Saville gives proceedings a fresh lick of paint to keep audiences engaged. The use of soundscapes in the rural location is impressive, and the crunching sounds of the bell Ruth keeps ringing and the stomping as the battle of wills plays out is effectively handled.

Despite only being some 90 minutes long, Juniper starts to sag under its own weight at about 60 minute mark, almost as if the attempt at introspection has weighed heavy on proceedings. 

As the gradual wistful opening up unfurls, there's a feeling that some of the more sensitively handled moments have been captured among the self-loathing of both Sam and Ruth and their respective performances. In truth, this is a film that leads to a very predictable conclusion and takes a very familiar path, but does so with relative aplomb and reasonable engagement.