''Happy New Year, Colin Burstead'' is a 2018 British

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by

Ben Wheatley Ben Wheatley (born 1972) is an English filmmaker, film editor, and animator. Beginning his career in advertising, Wheatley first gained recognition and acclaim for his commercials and short films, before transitioning into feature films and tele ...

and featuring

Neil Maskell Neil Maskell (born 1976) is an English actor, writer and director who is known for his appearances in British crime and horror films. His credits include '' Nil by Mouth'' (1997), '' The Football Factory'' (2004), '' Rise of the Footsoldier'' ( ...

as the title character, with

Hayley Squires Hayley Squires (born 16 April 1988) is an English actress and playwright, best known for her work in the Ken Loach film '' I, Daniel Blake''. Squires has also appeared in ''Call the Midwife'' (2012), '' Southcliffe'' (2013), ''Complicit'' (2013 ...

Sam Riley Samuel Peter W. Riley (born 8 January 1980) is an English actor and singer.James Mottram: The only people for me are the mad ones. ''Independent on Sunday: The New Review'', 30 January 2011, pp 10–13 He is best known for his performance in t ...

Doon Mackichan Sarah Doon Mackichan (; born 7 August 1962) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She co-created, wrote and performed in the double-Emmy awards, Emmy-award-winning ''Smack the Pony''. She frequently collaborates with Armando Iannucci and S ...

Joe Cole Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger. He was long touted as a child prodigy and as the hottest prospect in English football, wi ...

, and

Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing intimidating, authoritarian characters and villains. Dance started his career on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) before appearing in film an ...

also starring. It tells the story of a man who rents a country house for his extended family to celebrate the New Year. The film premiered at the 62nd

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...

on 11 October 2018, and was distributed by

BBC Films BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), Truly, ...

, airing on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

on 30 December 2018.

Premise

Colin (

) rents a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

for his extended family to celebrate the New Year. Unbeknownst to other members of the family, his sister Gini (

) has invited their estranged brother David (

Cast

* Sarah Baxendale as Paula *

Sudha Bhuchar Sudha Bhuchar (born ) is a Tanzanian-born British Asian actor, playwright, and co-founder of the Tamasha Theatre Company. She is best known for Tamasha's ''Balti Kings'' (1999), ''A Fine Balance'' (2005), ''The Trouble with Asian Men'' (2005), ...

as Maya *

Asim Chaudhry Asim Chaudhry (born 24 November 1986) is a British comedian, writer, director, rapper and actor best known for playing Chabud "Chabuddy G" Gul in the BBC mockumentary series '' People Just Do Nothing'', which he co-created. For this role, he wo ...

as Sham *

as Ed *

as Bertie * Sura Dohnke as Val *

Vincent Ebrahim Vincent Ebrahim (born 1949) is a South African actor and comedian. He is known for portraying the roles of Ashwin in the BBC later Sky One comedy series '' The Kumars at No. 42'' (2001–2006, 2014), pub landlord Bobby in the BBC One comedy seri ...

as Nikhil *

Peter Ferdinando Peter Ferdinando is a British character actor, known for his varied performances. He has collaborated extensively with director and cousin Gerard Johnson, playing the title role in the short film ''Tony'' (2005), and in its expanded feature film ...

as Jimmy * Richard Glover as Lord Richard *

Alexandra Maria Lara Alexandra Maria Lara (''née'' Plătăreanu; 12 November 1978) is a Romanian-German actress who has appeared in '' Downfall'' (2004), '' Control'' (2007), '' Youth Without Youth'' (2007), '' The Reader'' (2008), '' Rush'' (2013), and ''Geostor ...

as Hannah *

as Sandy *

as Colin *

Sinead Matthews Sinead Matthews (born ) is an English actress whose credits include film, television, radio and stage. As well as having extensive theatre experience, her screen credits include '' He Knew He Was Right'' (2004), ''Vera Drake'' (2004), '' Pride ...

as Lainey * Mark Monero as Warren * Nicole Nettleingham as Fran * Bill Paterson as Gordon *

as David *

as Gini

Production

The film is loosely based on Shakespeare's ''

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ...

''. After seeing

Tom Hiddleston Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is a British actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with ''Thor (film), Thor'' in 2011 and incl ...

playing Coriolanus while casting '' High-Rise'' (2015), Ben Wheatley wrote the script. He reduced the plot to its bare bones and rebuilt it in a modern context. The film's working title was ''Colin You Anus''. The film was shot in two weeks at the beginning of 2018. The filming took place at Pennsylvania Castle in

Clint Mansell Clinton Darryl Mansell (; born 7 November 1963) is an English musician, singer, and composer. He served as the lead vocalist of alt-rock band Pop Will Eat Itself. After the band's dissolution, Mansell moved to the United States and embarked on ...

wrote the score for the film.

Release

On 11 October 2018, the film was screened at the 62nd

in competition. It aired on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

on 30 December 2018. The film was also screened at the 2019

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 19 ...

Reception

On review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of .

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave the film 3 stars out of 5, saying, "the performances are all great; they collectively create a directionless storm-cloud of disquiet." Stephen Dalton of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote: "Featuring a large ensemble cast of mostly British faces, this dysfunctional family drama is a departure in tone but not in style, returning Wheatley to his lo-fi social-realist roots." Guy Lodge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "one of his best, most fluid films." Ella Kemp of ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...

'' wrote: "The film takes a while to warm up, but unforgiving writing gives it a deadpan backbone of brilliance." Ben Wheatley was nominated for the Best Editing award at the British Independent Film Awards 2018.

References

External links

* * {{Ben Wheatley 2018 films British comedy-drama films 2018 comedy-drama films Films directed by Ben Wheatley Films scored by Clint Mansell Films set in country houses 2010s English-language films 2010s British films English-language comedy-drama films