"Dustbin Baby" is a BBC film directed by Juliet May, based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Jacqueline Wilson. The film follows the story of young teenager April (Dakota Blue Richards) on a journey of self-discovery on her 14th birthday, as she tries to piece together the events of the day of her birth. Already aware that she was found newborn (George Bustin) in a garbage can by Frankie (Chris Ryman), a 14-year-old pizzeria employee, April skips school on her birthday to see if she finally gets some answers to the question. Mystery. Of his birth and past before his first adoption. Currently living with Marion Bean (Juliet Stevenson), April's former teacher who has a crush on her, April hopes to get a cell phone for her birthday, only to receive beautiful moonstone earrings. In a teenage adventure, April leaves for school without a phone, where she lies to her friends Cathy (Saffron Coomber) and Hannah (Poppy Lee Friar) by claiming she has a phone but is charging it at home. She furthers her lies by telling her friends that she has a dentist appointment on her birthday, giving her the opportunity to escape people she knows in her current life to look into her past timeline's roots.
April finds herself visiting Pat Williams (Di Botcher), the woman who took care of her and other orphaned children when she was a baby before her first adoption. They touch each other as Pat reminisces about his short time with April and what a delight she was as a young girl. She gives April a newspaper clipping from the day after her birth, finally being able to put a face to her savior's name. She then goes to visit her former adoptive mother, Janet Johnson (Carol Starks), or more specifically her grave. Then we recall the first adoption of a young April (Lucy Hutchinson), where she was absolutely devoted to Janet. Unfortunately for April, Janet was married to Daniel Johnson (Ian Kelsey), who was an abusive spouse who ended up leaving Janet and April, letting Janet believe it was all her fault and taking her own life.
April is then shuttled between foster homes until she finds herself in the Sunny Home Children's Home as 8-year-old April (Alex Hewett). At the orphanage, April befriends teenage Gina (Leah Harvey), who often asks April to help with burglaries where she can't fit in windows and small spaces to hide. However, this isn't the only way April misbehaves when meeting Pearl (Sylvia Hodgson), only to discover that Pearl is a bully when the adults aren't around. After several incidents of Pearl bullying April without her saying anything to an adult, she pushes Pearl down the stairs, much to the dismay of head caretaker Mo (Nicola Duffett). April is then transferred to Fairdale Residential School, where she is tutored by Marion, eventually learning the chain of events that led Marion to take her in.
Meanwhile, in the present day, we see two sides of the journey: April wandering around London, looking for clues as to where her biological mother might be; and Marion looking for April when she discovers her adopted daughter has been absent from school. With the help of her colleague at the mansion she works at, Elliot (David Haig), she is seen running through the local area and going further afield in search of April, while in a panic she fled. Away permanently upon learning how attached April was previously to Janet. It's a race against the clock to ensure the safety of April, who is about to reveal the truth behind her early stages of life. This film is a walkthrough of the main character's life with attempts to pass it off as a dramatic adventure.
The screenplay for this British TV adaptation was written by Helen Blakeman, who had previously worked on "Pleasureland". "Dustbin Baby" was commissioned by CBBC and BBC One, and was produced by Kindle Entertainment, a production company specializing in children's television. According to The Guardian, the film was heralded as "a key part of BBC1's family Christmas programming". At the time, the screenwriter said that when she read the novel, she "knew it was something she had to write". Director Juliet May, at the time of filming, had 14-year-old twins, thought "the fact that the protagonist April is 14 would be very interesting", as she felt she could understand the head of a teenager of that age. The production deals with controversial and sensitive topics such as bullying, juvenile crimes, domestic violence, unwanted pregnancies and adolescent anguish.
The film also addressed the topic of Asperger's syndrome. The BBC purposely sought an actor with Asperger's syndrome to play the role of Poppy. Lizzy Clark auditioned for the role after her mother saw an ad on an autism website. Clark was selected to play Poppy, and the role in Dustbin Baby was his first professional acting experience. Clark was credited with being the first actress with Asperger's syndrome to portray a fictional character with the condition. Clark, who has since campaigned with her mother against characters with conditions like Asperger's being played by actors without the condition.
Because of the weak script, the characterization of all the characters fell flat and really didn't make complete sense based on what we learned in earlier stages of April's story. Somehow April turns from a sweet young woman with a lot of potential into someone who thinks she's not good enough to associate with someone who doesn't really benefit her pursuit. It is understood that April has become a teenager, but that doesn't excuse the direction they chose to take the narrative, where everything revolved around her, without trying to figure out how people from her past actually behave when she comes across them. One of the script's biggest flaws is that it doesn't deepen the relationships with people who were part of its past, there isn't even a relevant story, an interesting revelation or anything... And it all takes place during an entire day. At least, we get to see in April how closed she is to herself, to know a little more about all the traumatic and difficult experiences she had to go through in childhood (forced to help with robberies at the orphanage; witnessing the suicide of her first adoptive mother, suffering with bullying from other children at the orphanage, etc.). We can understand why April is suspicious of everyone around her and why it is so difficult to trust and open up to the people around her (the difficulty portrayed in the film in hugging, which culminates in an emotional final scene is the main indication of this difficulty connecting).
Speaking of direction, it's hard to say if the characters lacked chemistry because of the direction or because the actors didn't match. Literally everyone felt uncomfortable in their roles. It all felt pretty awkward most of the time, with the development of April and Frankie's relationship being the only one that has any real spark. Some important details from the book also ended up being left out, for example this movie leaves out an important detail about why she is named April (because she was found on April Fools by Frankie), the little details like that help you really immerse yourself in the story and connect with April on her journey. Instead, we have an amalgamation of her backstory and the present day that doesn't define any niche information about the character.
The impression is that we have a very rushed story, which has a low-budget production treatment, almost a documentary, and not a work of fiction, and which fails to move throughout the entire film, failing to generate connection between the characters and the viewer. For the most part, this movie is backstory and a lot of walking where it tries to disguise itself as some form of artistic genius. With this walk, there really isn't much dialogue to go along with it, making the viewer feel like they're watching someone taking a mildly panicked walk through the streets of adjacent London boroughs, including central London at some point due to the end of April at Paddington Station. This whole walk doesn't really tell a story, but tries to set new scenes without adding too much to the overall plot.
April finds herself visiting Pat Williams (Di Botcher), the woman who took care of her and other orphaned children when she was a baby before her first adoption. They touch each other as Pat reminisces about his short time with April and what a delight she was as a young girl. She gives April a newspaper clipping from the day after her birth, finally being able to put a face to her savior's name. She then goes to visit her former adoptive mother, Janet Johnson (Carol Starks), or more specifically her grave. Then we recall the first adoption of a young April (Lucy Hutchinson), where she was absolutely devoted to Janet. Unfortunately for April, Janet was married to Daniel Johnson (Ian Kelsey), who was an abusive spouse who ended up leaving Janet and April, letting Janet believe it was all her fault and taking her own life.
April is then shuttled between foster homes until she finds herself in the Sunny Home Children's Home as 8-year-old April (Alex Hewett). At the orphanage, April befriends teenage Gina (Leah Harvey), who often asks April to help with burglaries where she can't fit in windows and small spaces to hide. However, this isn't the only way April misbehaves when meeting Pearl (Sylvia Hodgson), only to discover that Pearl is a bully when the adults aren't around. After several incidents of Pearl bullying April without her saying anything to an adult, she pushes Pearl down the stairs, much to the dismay of head caretaker Mo (Nicola Duffett). April is then transferred to Fairdale Residential School, where she is tutored by Marion, eventually learning the chain of events that led Marion to take her in.
Meanwhile, in the present day, we see two sides of the journey: April wandering around London, looking for clues as to where her biological mother might be; and Marion looking for April when she discovers her adopted daughter has been absent from school. With the help of her colleague at the mansion she works at, Elliot (David Haig), she is seen running through the local area and going further afield in search of April, while in a panic she fled. Away permanently upon learning how attached April was previously to Janet. It's a race against the clock to ensure the safety of April, who is about to reveal the truth behind her early stages of life. This film is a walkthrough of the main character's life with attempts to pass it off as a dramatic adventure.
The screenplay for this British TV adaptation was written by Helen Blakeman, who had previously worked on "Pleasureland". "Dustbin Baby" was commissioned by CBBC and BBC One, and was produced by Kindle Entertainment, a production company specializing in children's television. According to The Guardian, the film was heralded as "a key part of BBC1's family Christmas programming". At the time, the screenwriter said that when she read the novel, she "knew it was something she had to write". Director Juliet May, at the time of filming, had 14-year-old twins, thought "the fact that the protagonist April is 14 would be very interesting", as she felt she could understand the head of a teenager of that age. The production deals with controversial and sensitive topics such as bullying, juvenile crimes, domestic violence, unwanted pregnancies and adolescent anguish.
The film also addressed the topic of Asperger's syndrome. The BBC purposely sought an actor with Asperger's syndrome to play the role of Poppy. Lizzy Clark auditioned for the role after her mother saw an ad on an autism website. Clark was selected to play Poppy, and the role in Dustbin Baby was his first professional acting experience. Clark was credited with being the first actress with Asperger's syndrome to portray a fictional character with the condition. Clark, who has since campaigned with her mother against characters with conditions like Asperger's being played by actors without the condition.
Because of the weak script, the characterization of all the characters fell flat and really didn't make complete sense based on what we learned in earlier stages of April's story. Somehow April turns from a sweet young woman with a lot of potential into someone who thinks she's not good enough to associate with someone who doesn't really benefit her pursuit. It is understood that April has become a teenager, but that doesn't excuse the direction they chose to take the narrative, where everything revolved around her, without trying to figure out how people from her past actually behave when she comes across them. One of the script's biggest flaws is that it doesn't deepen the relationships with people who were part of its past, there isn't even a relevant story, an interesting revelation or anything... And it all takes place during an entire day. At least, we get to see in April how closed she is to herself, to know a little more about all the traumatic and difficult experiences she had to go through in childhood (forced to help with robberies at the orphanage; witnessing the suicide of her first adoptive mother, suffering with bullying from other children at the orphanage, etc.). We can understand why April is suspicious of everyone around her and why it is so difficult to trust and open up to the people around her (the difficulty portrayed in the film in hugging, which culminates in an emotional final scene is the main indication of this difficulty connecting).
Speaking of direction, it's hard to say if the characters lacked chemistry because of the direction or because the actors didn't match. Literally everyone felt uncomfortable in their roles. It all felt pretty awkward most of the time, with the development of April and Frankie's relationship being the only one that has any real spark. Some important details from the book also ended up being left out, for example this movie leaves out an important detail about why she is named April (because she was found on April Fools by Frankie), the little details like that help you really immerse yourself in the story and connect with April on her journey. Instead, we have an amalgamation of her backstory and the present day that doesn't define any niche information about the character.
The impression is that we have a very rushed story, which has a low-budget production treatment, almost a documentary, and not a work of fiction, and which fails to move throughout the entire film, failing to generate connection between the characters and the viewer. For the most part, this movie is backstory and a lot of walking where it tries to disguise itself as some form of artistic genius. With this walk, there really isn't much dialogue to go along with it, making the viewer feel like they're watching someone taking a mildly panicked walk through the streets of adjacent London boroughs, including central London at some point due to the end of April at Paddington Station. This whole walk doesn't really tell a story, but tries to set new scenes without adding too much to the overall plot.