Writer: Alex Sarrigeorgiou
Director: Jaclyn Bethany
The timely reopening of the Filmhouse is a fillip for the Edinburgh International Film Festival as it rebuilds towards its pre-pandemic scope and scale. This year’s programme has plenty to offer, including talks, retrospectives and premieres galore.
These include the world premiere of indy offering In Transit, a modest but beautifully realised little movie that only runs to 85 minutes. Lucy, the barmaid in a small Maine town (Alex Sarrigeorgiou) beguiles – and is beguiled by – Ilse (Jennifer Ehle), an older woman on an artist’s retreat. Although successful, Ilse has lost her way and hopes to find it again by persuading Lucy to pose for her.
From there, the plot is as gripping as it is predictable, with Lucy’s partner Tom (Francois Arnaud) soon getting twitchy about the new relationship. You may have seen this sort of material a hundred times before, particularly portraits of small communities in the sticks.
Yet somehow that doesn’t matter. Under Jaclyn Bethany’s assured direction, the movie is slow, small, economical, atmospheric, poetic. lt’s worth watching for the intensity of Jennifer Ehle’s performance alone. Her manipulation of Lucy is obvious but it’s also constrained by self-doubt.
The casting in general is excellent, with Sarrigeorgiou’s studied passivity contrasting well with the agency of both Ehle and Arnaud. There’s a superbly phlegmatic cameo by Theodore Bouloukos as bar owner Garry. While the story may not be the most original or surprising you’ll ever come across, the screenplay is tight and engaging, while the performances keep drawing you in, minute after intense minute.
In Transit had its World Premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival on 17th August.
