Bite

If you’re going to get caught stealing money, there are better places to do it than at an underground dog fighting club full of gangsters, and there are better people to do it with than a junkie girlfriend with whom you already have a fractious relationship. This is something which Nina (Shian Denovan) figures out a little late in the day, and it’s the reason why she ends up shivering alone on a street corner where a group of men are threatening to rape her. Fortunately – or so it seems – she’s rescued by Beryl (Annabelle Lanyon), a kindly old lady who happens to be driving by. Clearly in need of a bit of company, Beryl takes her home, feeds her and gives her a bed for the night. But there’s something odd about the place and Nina doesn’t feel comfortable. When she goes back home to her girlfriend Yaz (Nansi Nsue), as people in abusive situations often do, she is shocked to find her frantic and to learn that she has been missing for a week.

It ought to end there – a strange experience which will haunt her, but nothing more. Unfortunately, the two young women have upset influential gang boss Roman (Jack Loy), and he wants to make an example of them, so they are forced to go on the run. As Yaz has already spent their meagre savings on drugs, they have no choice but to look to Beryl as a source of funds. Nina doesn’t like the idea, but she’s frightened, and she figures that stealing biscuit tin full of cash from the old woman’s kitchen will be a simple job. What she doesn’t realise is that next to Beryl and her family, those gangsters are not scary at all.

James Owen was a trauma surgeon before he became a film director, and he brings a visceral sensibility to scenes of torture and butchery, as well as having a good understanding of what human bodies can and cannot endure. This means that although we’ve seen elements of the story which follows several times before, they have a fresh intensity to them. The film will have particular appeal for gore fans and it also plays with the idea of the double life which surgeons, just like some of these characters, have to live, finding ways to psychologically separate the gruesome aspects of their day to day life from ordinary, cosy domesticity.

Despite the difficulties between them, the heroines’ relationship has a strong chemistry to it which keeps is feeling real, and Yaz’s addiction makes it easy to understand why Nina keeps forgiving her, even if it’s hard to imagine them arriving at a happy ending. Denovan is a capable lead but it’s Nsue who really stands out and, despite having less screen time overall, gets the most interesting character moments. Sometimes Yaz imagines an idealised version of herself, who has straightened hair and presents in a feminine way, highlighting the way she has internalised prejudice about her race and sexuality. She seems deeply uncomfortable in her own skin, terrified of losing Nina yet convinced that she’s not really worthy of her, which only makes her anger issues and her need for chemical relief more intense. It takes a very particular kind of heroism to enter the house and try to save the woman she loves despite all this, and despite the difficulty of doing anything when her brain is addled.

A rare sympathetic portrait of two very vulnerable people – just the sort of people who, in real life, are most likely to be targeted by gangsters and killers – Bite has some powerful moments. It’s not altogether successful, however. Beryl is an odd character who doesn’t always convince, feeling more like a stereotype of an old dear than a real person. Hints at her backstory are interesting but lack support from other aspects of production. It’s clear that Owen has spent a lot of time world-building but, as is all too often the case on a first feature, he’s too close to the story to have been able to tell consistently what is and is not successfully being communicated to the audience.

There’s some strong production design here, with the house – especially the kitchen – feeling real and lived in, whilst its hidden regions have been well planned with regard to function and look like somewhere which could really be used for these nefarious purposes rather than just being dressed up for shock value. Altogether, the film is rather a hit and miss affair, but it’s easy to see why it went down well at Frightfest. Where it’s good, it’s very good, and holds a lot of promise for Owen’s future, whilst Nsue is definitely one to watch.