Sadly Over-hyped

disgusting, overrated, pointless

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Paul Wright's imaginative take on grief, 'For Those In Peril', tells the story of a young man who survives a fishing accident only to be blamed by his community for coming back alive. This could be a really powerful story, not just about loss, but also about how social normality hides the terrible reality that we do not in fact love one another in equal amounts. Yet the construction of the film is part that of a documentary, and in part mystical in affect; and the two aspects prove a slightly awkward fit: it was well acted, but I found it less moving than I felt I should have done. There's also an oddity that, perhaps because of funding, the film is set in Scotland but appears to have been partly filmed in Yorkshire, a minor incongruity, but pointless and thus grating.

Aaron is the sole survivor of a fishing boat accident that still pains the community. Having lost his brother in the accident, Aaron grieves, but his grief gives way to an increasingly fragile grip on reality. For Those In Peril could have been a myth-imbibed exploration of tragedy and sibling rivalry. It could have been an insightful depiction of unhinged grief. It could have been a story of personal redemption achieved in the face of a hostile community. While it hints at exploring all of these potential story lines, what it ends up being is an under-realised mish-mash that fails to cohere around any thematic, emotional or narrative thread. The film ever-so studiously chases art-house credentials, but invokes clunky genre devices that would make Michael Bay blush. For example, there is no need to wonder what the community makes of Aaron's miraculous survival of the tragedy, as this is relayed constantly in off-screen expositional comments by various bystanders. The cliché scene where someone with a lot on their mind dries up in front of a karaoke audience, so often seen on screen but never in real life, makes a jaded outing here. (Who in real life would ever ask a grieving mother to get on stage and sing karaoke?). You do not have to have spent time in fishing communities such as Ullapool and Shetland to feel the lack of authenticity of setting, though it will jar all the more if you have. Similarly, if you have known grief, Kate Dickie's one-note moping around will not invite empathy. In terms of a mind becoming unhinged, the film does better, with George MacKay's performance occasionally evoking both fear and concern. But these moments are far too few, as the script seems unable to handle the task of developing rounded characters, and falls back instead on lazy invocation of myth to bind the story, what there is of it, together. I am all for eschewing linear narrative in favour of an immersive experience, but none of the imagery is particularly memorable. The climax places its bet on one striking image, but instead that is fudged in an extreme wide shot, suggesting the production design of the model was not up to the job of providing the emotional whump this film requires at its end. Ostensibly bold and experimental, this film instead is tame and unimaginative. Perhaps learning how to handle the basics of simple story, well-told, would have been a better move for these clearly uninspired filmmakers.

..i didn't quite know what to expect - probably some action on see, webbed in some atmospheric scenes..it takes a minute or two until i realised the topic. you can see very clear how confusing and actually kinda impossible it is to point your finger on this if it happening in front of you.a lot of judgement comes to mind about self-responsibility..or the lack of. the mind of a schizophrenic/bipolar person is actually like two different persons - i know, kinda common knowledge, but at least i was always looking for a connection between the both..for a response from the 'true self' in everyone in the them. because its not like you realise it that clear when you watch/talk to/are involved with someone. there can be so many reasons for actions that take place, that an actual mentally illness is nothing that comes to mind that easy.unless really drastic things happen..than you start wondering, but can't really believe it. like it happens to the boy in the movie. better his friends, family, neighbours.but you have to take it as serious as if your life, and that of others, depends on it.i really loved the ending. you could say he died on sea and in his and his mothers mind he came through and freed his brother. and himself. it looks maybe like a romantic version of the truth but for me it felt much more real than any other attempt of explaining something you don't even understand.

This film seemed to have such promise as it developed, but ultimately that promise was squandered by a fizzler of an ending and many missed opportunities for more interesting storytelling along the way.  As the sole survivor of a boat tragedy, Aaron seemed initially to be unfairly shunned by the other residents of his small Scottish fishing village - but later developments give an inkling into the reason that he attracts such hostility.  Unfortunately, the film takes too long to get there and does nothing with the new narrative turn.  While the decision to leave the boating tragedy completely unexplained may have seemed a good one to the filmmakers, for the audience it just further serves to underline the hollowness at the heart of the narrative.  By taking too long to say too little, the film fails to sustain atmosphere, story or emotion.  Its haphazard use of locations means that it is also unable to sustain a sense of place, with each scene feeling like a separate, dull bead spaced widely along a thin thread of narrative.