Bright Future review - CATCH ME DADDY by Daniel Wolfe

Daniel Wolfe mixes western, noir and chase in his gripping and powerful feature debut Catch Me Daddy, which screened in the Bright Future section of the 44th International Film Festival Rotterdam.
 
A young Pakistani girl lives with her boyfriend Aaron in a caravan on the Yorkshire Moors. They are broke but content with each other's company. However, they are also a somewhat modernisation of the couple in West Side Story, rebels in the midst of the sharp edged clash between the British culture and Pakistani conservativism. In fact, their somewhat idyllic escape is tagedy bound as two cars ride into town, looking to see the girl back in the house of her father, who has hired them to see such mission accomplished.
 
Catch Me Daddy is the dark and intense feature debut of filmmaker Daniel Wolfe, who established a celebrated reputation as the helmer of music videos. The film also draws inspiration from a certain heavy situation of social realism, which particularly rings true in the attention the filmmaker gives to the regional elements of the country. One such technique employed is that of street casting, which proves to be the right choice and gives the film a sharp and compelling air of genuineness that makes the chase all more breath taking and enhances a three dimensional depth in the movie. 

 

Despite this, the film takes no direct digs at religious or even fundamentalist extremist ideas, despite teasing them, but rather looks at a wider type of marginalisation and makes sure to let us find out about each of the characters involved, all of whom seem marginalised and living on the edge of society. This is a narrative technique that recalls the works of such filmmakers as Pasolini, who used stark social plagues as a starting point for an organic exploration of humanity. In other words, the true importance lies in character exploration, rather than some type of ideological agenda or political observation, and that's what is ultimately so rewarding about the viewpoint of Catch Me Daddy.
 
As such, the chase is full of suspense and breathtaking right up to its particularly chilling finale. Taking place in the course of the one night, there is also a real-time urgence to the film that proves to be quite a sensational driving force, and conveys the underlying disenchantment and nihilism that accompanies the piece. It is only fair to praise Robbie Ryan's work on cinematography, who builds a greatly affecting atmosphere through an attentive eye for darkness, shadows and fogs - all of which result in a rewarding feeling of modern noir, mixed within an exciting western narrative structure.