Dir. Tom Harper, UK, 2009, 93 mins
Cast: Thomas Turgoose , Holly Grainger, Rafe Spall,
Review by Carol Allen
Despite it's ironic title with its gungho, clean outdoor living overtones, this is actually a very dark and effective story about the powerfulness of emerging adolescent sexuality.
David (Turgoose) and Emily (Grainger), both in their early teens, live on a seaside caravan park, where their parents work. The two youngsters are best friends, playing happily together. But then Emily learns that her mother Sharon (Susan Lynch) has lost custody of her and she will be forced to leave the park and live with her father. Emily runs away and hides in a nearby cave, surviving with David's help, when he brings her food and clothes. But what at first is a childish game of hide and seek and make believe develops into something more sinister. The older and more precocious Emily has a crush on Steve (Spall), who works as the camp security guard and with whom the two of them are in the habit of hanging out. As the police begin to take Emily's disappearance seriously, Steve falls under suspicion. At the same time David, who is on the verge of puberty, begins to experience the confusion of his true feelings towards Emily and his resultant jealousy of Steve.
The relationship between Emily and David is at first delightfully innocent. Then gradually we realise David's emerging sexual feelings for her from the subtle suggestion of the way the camera shoots her as seen through his eyes and the flirty way he notices that she is relating to Steve. The camera work is impressive throughout, right from the very opening of the two children running carefree along the roofs of the caravans.
Turgoose is very good indeed as David. Although the actor is now in his late teens, he looks and plays younger here, in what is a very challenging, complex and possibly disturbing role for such a young actor. He is very impressive. The lengths to which does goes to keep Emily for himself are horrific but he still retains our sympathy. Grainger, who I also older in real life than she appears in this, is very engaging as Holly, feeling her way blindly yet with superficial confidence into young womanhood and there's good support from the surrounding adults, including Lynch as Emily's somewhat feckless mum and particularly Spall as the bewildered Steve, who is in many ways the most childlike and innocent of the youthful triangle.
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