BFI Flare 2020 - A Battle in Waterloo (short)
BFI FLARE 2020Writer-director Emma Moffat's short film Battle of Waterloo is a remarkably poignant and profound short that utterly engulfs its audience with a compelling and clever juxtaposed plot.
Leading the way is rising star Jessie Buckley (Chernobyl, Wild Rose) as Ellen, who in the space of the short running of twelve minutes utterly devours every second of the screentime with an emotionally immersing and strong lead performance. The actress is untouchable here, with a performance that perfectly balances an array of tone from anger and love that are woven with marvellous results.
Sex Education cast members Alistair Petrie and Samantha Spiro have snippets of roles to add weight to the world in this story, but it is the performance of Sophia Brown that adds the poignancy and precedent to this tale. Brown is equally as tremendous as Buckley but it is a performance that holds a different weight and gravitas that makes this feature click — not only contextually within the story but the performance holds the key to an emotionally prominent degree for a critical moment for a more profound and more substantial impact later revealed.
