'It's grim up North' is a bit of a cliché, but one Dark River takes a solid dive into, smacking its head onto the shallows it finds. Ruth Wilson (struggling with not a lot) returns to her family farm after the death of her father, to find it run down, full of character-defining bad memories, and a relationship with her brother that goes from bad to worse. Sean Bean (high on the credits, seconds in the picture) lends his name only to a sad trend of slightly boring English set muderables - see also The Levelling. Feeling like a tv-special stretched to feature length, the direction is workman-like and dull - just as North Yorkshire is portrayed. They say the British film industry is booming, with Bradford as UNESCO city of film - but on this evidence the region has yet to have a recent film that showcases the beauty, or the plot possibilities, or even the positivity that could be shown.
Review of Dark River
