Hallam Foe

Hallam is a troubled teenager who lives in a treetop hut and goes around clad in a Badger’s fur costume.

And he is convinced that his beloved mother was killed by his odious stepmother and morbidly spies on her.

When forced to leave his family, Hallam starts to rebuild his life in Edinburgh, where he finds Kate, a woman who  looks just  like his beloved mum.
Kate is the woman of his dreams, but she isn’t flattered by his attentions,  especially when she finds Hallam testing his spying skills on her private life.

Hallam goes through a series of failures while consumed by his obsessions, but in the end he has to reconcile his past and, alas, learn to grow up.

David McKenzie (Asylum, Young Adam) is particularly good at depicting a character’s emotions with a few strokes.
In this case he is helped by a vibrant performance by Jamie Bell, the protagonist of Billy Elliott:

Bell has grown up into a sensitive actor who perfectly portrays Hallam’s immaturity and massive Oedipus’ Complex – moreover, he is perfectly able to climb rooftops and trees.

The rest of the cast are fresh and effective (especially the two female supporters Claire Forlani and Sophia Myles) and contribute to the film’s general feeling of youth:  the script seamlessly mixes a coming of age tale with a love story plus mystery.

And Edinburgh provides breath-taking locations, including the clock tower where Hallam builds  his den.
All these ingredients are sure to attract a wide and intelligent audience, and with a killer soundtrack featuring Franz Ferdinand and King Creosote it will appeal to the very young people that are its protagonists.

Original, refreshing, surreal at times if deeply melancholic,  Hallam Foe is British cinema at its (almost ) best.

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