''Pond Life'' is a 2018 drama film written by Richard Cameron and directed by Bill Buckhurst. It stars Esmé Creed-Miles, Tom Varey,

Angus Imrie Angus William Jake Imrie (born 2 August 1994) is a British actor. He is known for playing the character Josh Archer in BBC Radio 4's long-running drama serial ''The Archers''. In 2014, he won the casting agency Spotlight's Most Promising Actor ...

Daisy Edgar-Jones Daisy Jessica Edgar-Jones (born 24 May 1998) is a British actress. She began her career with the television series '' Cold Feet'' (2016–2020) and ''War of the Worlds'' (2019–2021). Edgar-Jones gained wider recognition for her starring role ...

, Abraham Lewis, Ethan Wilkie and Gianluca Gallucci. The music was produced by

Richard Hawley Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...

. It tells the story of a group of young friends who embark on a life changing fishing trip in the summer of 1994.

Cast

Tom Varey Tom Varey is a British actor. He is known for his roles in '' Pond Life'', ''No Offence'' and '' Ridley Road''. Early life Varey grew up in Mossley, Greater Manchester. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for three years from 2011 ...

as Trev * Esmé Creed-Miles as Pogo *

as Malcolm *

as Cassie * Abraham Lewis as Maurice * Ethan Wilkie as Dave * Gianluca Gallucci as Shane *

Shaun Dooley Shaun Dooley (born 29 March 1974) is an English actor, narrator and voice-over artist. Early life Dooley was born in Barnsley in Yorkshire. He studied at the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester between 1992 and 1995. Career Dooley's fir ...

as Rus * Siân Brooke as Pogo's Mum *

Sally Lindsay Sally Jane Lindsay (born 8 July 1973) is an English actress and television presenter known for her roles as Shelley Unwin in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', Lisa Johnson in the Sky One comedy series '' Mount Pleasant'' an ...

as Irene *

Siobhan Finneran Siobhán Margaret Finneran (born 27 April 1966) is a British actress. She made her screen debut in the 1987 independent film ''Rita, Sue and Bob Too'', and subsequently worked consistently in television drama including roles in ''Coronation Stre ...

as Kath *

Faye McKeever Faye McKeever (born 18 January 1985) is an English actress. Her notable works include playing Linda in Sky 1 sitcom ''Trollied'', Marie in '' Massive'' and Claire Olssen in ''Little Boy Blue''. Early life McKeever was born on 18 January 1985 i ...

as Tracey *

Julie Hesmondhalgh Julie Claire Hesmondhalgh (born 25 February 1970) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her role as Hayley Cropper in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' between 1998 and 2014. For this role, she won Best Serial Drama Perfor ...

as Muriel * Adrian Hood as Billy * Steve Garti as Kenny

Production

''Pond Life'' was released by Verve Pictures in 2019 and produced by Open Palm Films as part of the original slate of films announced in 2017 by founder

Dominic Dromgoole Dominic Dromgoole (born 25 October 1963)DROMGOOLE, Dominic Charles Flemi ...

. The screenplay was adapted by Richard Cameron from his original stage play, of the same name, which debuted at

The Bush "The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia and New Zealand where it is largely synonymous with '' backwoods'' or ''hinterland'', referring to a natural undeveloped area. The fauna and flora contained within this a ...

in 1992 when Dromgoole was artistic director. ''Pond Life'' is director Bill Buckhurst's feature debut. Buckhurst was first introduced to Dromgoole while working at

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays, in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. The original theatre was built in ...

where he directed eight productions from 2012.

Reception

''Pond Life'' premiered at the Glasgow International Film Festival 2019. It received rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

from reviews. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' reported that, "The depictions of sunburnt teenagers ambling through estates, obsessing over crushes and minor betrayals, yet haunted by the terrible truths of the adult world, seemed utterly true."

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, pond_life_2018, Pond Life 2018 films British drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films