Treading Water
Gino Evans’ Manchester-set addiction drama suffers from moments of melodrama and an overstretched running time.
Image courtesy of Bulldog Film Distributors.
Although the end result is much less satisfying than one would hope, a lot of good work has gone into Treading Water. It is a drama set in Manchester and the first feature of Gino Evans who earlier made two short films. He always works from his own screenplays. The opening of the piece sees the central character, Danny (Joe Gill), being released from prison and the great walls of the jail provide a powerful image thanks to Evans choosing to film in widescreen – it’s a format that he uses well since he is also adept at never allowing it to detract in more intimate scenes. If his technique quickly makes a positive impact, one appreciates too the tone that he brings to this piece. On paper the story that he chooses to tell carries a serious risk of containing so much misery that it could feel over-indulged. Fortunately, as the writer here Evans is able to portray his unfortunate characters with a sympathy that never succumbs to sentimentality.
Danny himself is our narrator and we soon see him arriving at the halfway house where he is to be accommodated. This supported housing is run by Karen (Jo Dakin) who welcomes him and confirms the rules that apply including no drugs, no drinks and no overnight visitors. It is known to the authorities that Danny has mental health issues and an obsessive compulsion disorder as well as a heroin addiction which he more or less claims to have overcome although that is an exaggeration. In these circumstances regular sessions with a counsellor, Janet (Eliane Hawley), are very much part of what is required of him. As he settles in, we find him in time becoming friendly with other inmates including Rob (Darryl Clark) and Gavin (Thomas Ende). In addition, Danny looks in on his family (Christine Dalby, Vincent Davies and Leah Salmon) but there tensions can easily erupt especially with his father.
In Gill the film has a strong leading actor and the other players also keep up a good standard of work. All of these early scenes ring true and before long a chance street encounter brings in another significant character. This is Laura (Becky Bowe) whom Danny had not only known in his school days, but for whom he had formed a strong attachment. When he sees her, he immediately recognises her and, although it is apparent that she is now a prostitute, his old passion for her is quickly re-established. He will seek her out again but also secretly follows her in order to find out more about her situation. Not only is she pregnant but already has a young daughter, Sarah (Tahlia Cherry), and is in a relationship with her pimp, Warren (Darren Connolly). Despite discovering this, Danny starts to dream of how he and Laura could become partners and break away as a couple but it's not a vision easy for her to share despite her rapport with Danny. After all, his problems hardly make him a safe prospect, she has both her present and future child to consider and our initial view of how Warren has used her may be less than the full story.
In the film’s first half establishing Danny’s heroin addiction is readily done and oddities of behaviour that are part of his obsessive compulsion disorder are referenced even before Danny gets out of prison. What is more striking is the bold way in which Evans indicates Danny’s mental health problems. He is portrayed as somebody who in his thoughts frequently imagines himself turning violent and who is afraid that one day this will become a reality. The audience is made to share his troubled state since on these occasions we witness the attacks that he is imagining as though they were actually taking place. It's a bold device and a rather self-conscious one, but it works and for its first hour Treading Water is rewarding viewing.
What happens thereafter is another matter. A running time of just over two hours comes to seem excessive and the last hour contains scenes which for the first time carry an air of melodrama as well as episodes which feel unnecessary. There is, for example, a long scene in a bar in which the classic song ‘The House of the Rising Sun’ is featured and Danny's birthday becomes an excuse for a fairground visit with much drinking which is again handled at some length. We find too that certain characters just fade away in the second half. That applies to the family members and even more surprisingly also to Janet since we have been waiting to see whether or not the way in which she plays down Danny’s fears of his violent fantasies is well considered or a misjudgment. When it comes to Laura, we learn rather too little of her past history before meeting Warren, while it is he who now undergoes changes of attitude which initially convince but come to seem too pat and set up. Such a downbeat tale can go wrong by suddenly ending with an unpersuasive positive conclusion and that error is certainly avoided here. Nevertheless, for Treading Water to remain touching and real it surely needed better writing in its second half and a far more concise shaping of the later stages of the story. As it is, the first part is inherently superior to what follows, but both Gill and Evans have a real calling card here regardless of the weaknesses in the writing.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Joe Gill, Becky Bowe, Darren Connolly, Darryl Clark, Jo Dakin, Eliane Hawley, Christine Dalby, Vincent Davies, Leah Salmon, Tahlia Cherry, Thomas Ende, Ben Toye, Mike Hilton, Wendy Patterson.
Dir Gino Evans, Pro Ben Toye, Screenplay Gino Evans, Ph Sam Cronin, Art Dir Cameron Coles, Ed Gino Evans, Music Dan Baboulene.
Big North Films-Bulldog Film Distributors.
121 mins. UK. 2024. UK Rel: 25 April 2025. Cert. 18.
