London Film Festival 2012 – day five: What Richard Did

Saturday 20^th October, 9pm – Rich Mix

Richard is a decent, affable young man, part of a fairly affluent group of teenagers in Dublin who hang out together at the rugby club, house parties, and Richard’s parents’ beach house. One night, unable to handle jealous feelings about another boy hanging around his girlfriend, Richard lashes out, with unintended but devastating consequences.

The dilemma then becomes whether Richard will step up and take responsibility for his action, we feel for him terribly, as he is such a responsible person. He knows exactly what he has done and what he should do. Will he face up to the consequences, or will he bury the guilt. Whatever he does, life is now forever compromised. The most unusual factor in this film is that Richard is basically a good person who has done a bad thing, and his crime does not necessarily come from some deep character flaw, even though it undoubtedly creates one, and shows up the ethics of his family and friends.

The sense of Dublin and teenage life is enjoyably authentic and Jack Reynor as Richard is sympathetic and mesmerising. This film has the feel of a small scale, intelligent production which will linger in the mind for a long time.

Verdict: [rating=5]

Eleanor MacFarlane

Read more reviews from the 56^th London Film Festival here.

Watch the trailer for What Richard Did here: