Pond Life Movie Review

What did we do before mobile phones, laptops and streaming?

by Casimir Harlow
Movies & TV Shows Review

1

Pond Life Movie Review

This low-key directorial debut takes a slight but insightful, atypical snapshot of mid-nineties, pre-tech teen life.

Even for those who were of the right age during the 90s, it is sometimes hard to fathom how everything functioned without tech. Of course, the answer is that everything functioned just fine, but a sure-fire way of showing your age would be to go down the back in the day route.

Pond Life does just that, offering an insightful look at days gone by. 1994 is hardly prehistoric - it's the year of Speed, Pulp Fiction, and Leon - but being a kid back then actually did involve some element of back-to-basics gameplay, with mobile phones still a costly accessory, and the internet still in its nascent stages. Meeting up with your mates and going exploring outdoors wasn't actually an absurd idea.

You almost feel like it was made in 1994, although - ironically - nobody would make a movie this mundane in 1994

Trevor has outgrown his small-town life in Yorkshire; his teen sister, Cassie, has moved into his old room, and he's only really hanging around to take care of troubled local teen girl, Pogo. Along with geeky Malcolm - whose desperate love for Cassie goes utterly unnoticed because she likes the bad boys - and a couple of younger kids from the neighbourhood, the motley crew elect to make a trip out to the local Decoy Ponds to find a rumoured giant carp that everybody refers to as Nessie.
Pond Life
Tom Varey - touting his I've been in Game of Thrones badge, but you'd be hard pushed to remember him - gets the ostensible lead role as Trevor, but the choice part really goes to Esme Creed-Miles, who was recently in the Amazon Prime Video Original TV series remake of Hanna. She's quite disarming as Pogo, coming across as convincingly not-quite-there, remaining authentic in her portrayal as we wait patiently to understand what her deal is.

The debut directorial effort of bit part actor Bill Buckhurst, Pond Life revels in the mundane - but you soon realise that this is just life for these youngsters, and for anybody of that age, in that age. Old audio cassette recorders were all the rage, and shell suits were somehow fashionable. Buckhurst surprises with the quaint, remaining so authentic in his replication of the era that you almost feel like it was made in 1994, although - ironically - nobody would make a movie this mundane in 1994.

Whilst it remains an accurate snapshot of the teen lives of a past generation, some may prefer their own memories over a mundane walk down someone else's nothing-to-see-here memory lane

Buckhurst's main issue - which admittedly may come more from relative novice Richard 'Midsomer Murders' Cameron's writing - is that he doesn't go deep enough to strike a chord. This isn't Mike 'Naked' Leigh doing kitchen sink; it's not Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank. It is a feature intent on playing it so soft and inconsequential, that the real-life consequences that do occur - however naturally integrated - have minimal impact. So whilst it remains an accurate snapshot of the teen lives of a past generation, some may prefer their own memories over a mundane walk down someone else's nothing-to-see-here memory lane.

Scores

Verdict

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6

6
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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