No Man's Land

It's Christmas Eve and Rory (Euan Mackay) is stuck in the middle. Mum and dad have split, living in homes at opposite ends of a field and Rory trudges between the two as they squabble and bicker. He plays with his soldiers while the war rages around him... but will a truce be called?

This film is clever. It is so resonant that it almost hums. From the outset, as you watch Rory trudge through the mud between his parents' homes Sally Beamish's excellent score conjours up World War II battlefield images which lurk in your hindbrain as you watch events unfold.

Euan Mackay is excellent as a boy caught in the crossfire, saying more with a look than many adult actors manage with an entire monologue.

This film beautifully captures the atmosphere of divorce, tension fills the air as Rory walks an emotional tightrope. But perhaps writer and director Clara Glynn's greatest achievement here is to pull back from depression, there is a glimmer of hope here and it twinkles like a Christmas fairylight.