The Uncertain Kingdom review: Short film collection captures the mood of post-Brexit Britain

Brexit Britain: The collection of 20 short films is available on BFI Player

In this assortment of 20 short films, some fiction, some documentaries, all designed to capture the mood of post-Brexit Britain, a few are heavy-handed. But most use humour and originality to shock us into submission.

Pavement shows a homeless man (Steve Evets) outside a bank, sinking into the ground. The more he struggles, the deeper he goes. The SFX - simple but effective - work in tandem with Evets’ face. His mottled cheeks don’t seem covered in skin: they look like a vegetable-mineral hybrid. His raw eyes tell a different story and the terror in them makes you gulp.

Mark Addy is equally spry as a proud Brit who does so well in a citizenship challenge that he’s catapulted into a next-level existence: life as a swan (Addy’s deadpan expression is a joy). Meanwhile, Paul Kaye sends sparks flying as a horny, lonely school caretaker in Ernie, and What’s In A Name offers an essay on identity that combines pleasantly elliptical images with exceptionally smart interviewees.

Also memorable is Ken Morgan, the Jamaican-born British pensioner, now stranded in the Caribbean, who dominates the atmospheric documentary Motherland (Morgan tells bitter jokes serenely, and his sentences are paced like poetry).

I also liked the little Welsh boys testing their strength in Camelot, and the vigorous, dentally challenged organiser of a food bank in Left Coast. People of all ages and colours make themselves heard in The Uncertain Kingdom, a blazingly ambitious anthology that refuses to leave anyone out in the cold.

Available on demand from BFI Player in two feature length selections from June 1

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in