I haven’t been locked into British television for a long time, especially on what we tea-drinkers would call “terrestrial television” (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5ive). Aside from the obvious Doctor Who of it all, there’s almost nothing I watch on those stations, and that’s been the same for a number of years now. Like, sure, they’ve got Taskmaster, but it’s mostly soaps, reality TV, and game shows. Most of their original programming is either police miniseries (which I enjoy sometimes, but not at the frequency they release) or period dramas, and that’s just not what I’m here for.
So, in comes Film Club, a little six-part serial created by Ralph Davis and Aimee Lou Wood, and starring that same Aimee Lou Wood, Nabhaan Rizwan, and Suranne Jones. The show centers around Evie (Wood), a twenty-something woman struggling with life in the real world, finding an escape in her weekly Film Club with her best and most consistent friend, Noa (Rizwan). However, that’s all about to change because Noa is moving away, bringing Evie’s very reason for being into doubt.
This show gave me such a lovely feeling and, although it deals with some really intense subjects, it does so in such a way that you can’t help but smile when it’s all said and done. Let me tell you why.
Mental health is a big theme within Film Club. It doesn’t pretend to have any answers, though, and that’s really refreshing. Evie’s breakdown is not something she can explain in real terms, and neither can she understand why she begins to be agoraphobic. The surface-level interpretation would be that she’s scared that she’ll have another incident out in the wild, instead of in the safety of her own home, but she can’t articulate those thoughts.
It’s not just Evie who faces her own demons, though, with her mum (Suranne Jones) having a side plot trying to make new friends at an age when it’s hard to make new connections, whilst being worried about (and being hyper-overprotective of) both of her daughters. She’s an anxious mess, but she puts on the bravest of facades in the face of everything.
Then there’s the little hoodlum Callum (Owen Cooper), who is never at school. Evie forms a bond with him after recognising that he’s angry and nobody has actually asked him why. They have an antagonistic relationship, but they find comfort in that normalcy. They call one another out on their bullshit in the nicest ways. Cooper, coming off his Adolescence Emmy, puts in another good, if understated, performance here, too.
Film Club is a love story. You could say it’s Evie’s journey to loving herself again after her breakdown, but I’m talking about the more straightforward one on display: Evie and Noa. From the moment you see them talking on the phone, you know that they are meant to be. Whether it’s the right time or place, that’s to be debated, but Evie and Noa are soulmates.
It may be a little predictable, for sure, but does that actually matter? Have you ever gone into a romantic comedy like You’ve Got Mail or When Harry Met Sally or Sleepless in Seattle (okay, I’ve been on a Meg Ryan kick) and been disappointed when the couple you think should get together actually do? HELL NO! You ride that wave of emotion right to the end of the movie. Film Club hits in the same way.
What was completely evident from the minute I started watching Film Club was that it was made for us. We, the collective of CouchSoup, are f*cking nerds about pop culture, movies, comic books and video games, and this show is all about that. Evie’s insane pop culture extravaganzas are exactly what I’d expect from someone in this community.
From the first episode, where she decorated her garage (or spare room) in tin foil and dresses in Ripley’s engineering outfit, while Noa turns up looking like Kane, post chest-burst, I felt like these were my people. Also, Evie and Noa habitually recite obscure quotes from the movies that they’re watching. It makes me think of all the times I have said, “Have you got a diet anything? I’m, like, 99.9% parched,” and expecting people to know it’s from Just Like Heaven. The majority of folks will brush it off as a weird turn of phrase, but those who know, know.
Look, I could tell you a bunch more things about Film Club, and you would probably say that you’ve heard or seen that before, and you’re probably right. It’s a romantic comedy about a couple of film nerds who you want to see together but they have social anxiety and mental health issues to work through before they can truly be happy. If that bores you, then fine, but it left a fuzzy feeling in my heart that said, “Hey, you! Yes, you over there, feeling seasonally crappy and a little bit overwhelmed. This one’s for you.”
And, you know, sometimes that’s all you need from a TV show.
Film Club is something I’d recommend to anyone who has a spare three hours to watch six 30-minute episodes. As of now, it’s on BBC iPlayer in the UK, but I’m sure it will be streaming on a service near you very, very soon.
