The Road Dance: Movie Review

Cast: Hermione Corfield, Mark Gatiss, Will Fletcher

Director: Richie Adams

Based on John Mackay's book, and steeped in as much tragedy as sweeping shots of the Outer Hebrides' rugged coastline, The Road Dance is an old-school film that feels like the kind that don't get made anymore.

Set in the Isle Of Lewis in the days before World War I and inspired by true events, it's the story of Kirsty (Corfield), a girl who dreams of more than just a life planting potatoes and looking wistfully at ships heading to America off the coast.

When she falls for Fletcher's Murdo, she starts to come alive - but that life is brutally snatched from her when her sweetheart is called up for war, and she's raped by an unknown assailant the night before he leaves.

What follows in The Road Dance is the kind of earnest period drama that was once a staple of Sunday night TV shows or relegated to film festivals.

There are moments which feel stiff in their execution, even if the film's heartfelt approach and solid acting from Corfield anchors in it in the dramatic rather than the melodramatic.

There's compassion in the story's execution  as a difficult subject is explored, but how much attachment you'll feel to what transpires languishes largely on how much you're willing to forgive the film its occasional predictabilities.

Maybe a little overlong at its near 2 hour run time, The Road Dance remains an example of how solid dramas can do solid work and provide an impactful experience when it's least expected.