SHORT TAKE

HAPPY NEW YEAR, COLIN BURSTEAD

Brit director Ben Wheatley’s latest black comedy follows a run of films twisting cruel laughs out of seemingly benign characters. They’ve included his 2012 camping trip murder spree Sightseers and his adaptation of JG Ballard’s High-Rise. In Happy New Year, Colin Burstead, he’s taken on the horrors of the family reunion.

The eponymous Colin rents a country manor to bring together his extended family for New Year’s Eve. Colin (Neil Maskell in the film’s best performance) thinks he’s doing a nice thing, but when his sister, Gini (the always-excellent Hayley Squires), unilaterally invites their estranged brother (Sam Riley) to the party, already tenuous relationships start to fray rapidly.

Although the film is not as gruesome as his previous work, Wheatley’s ability to tie your stomach in knots is almost as disturbing. It is also delightfully squirminducing, as the hilariously written characters – including a self-absorbed mother, cross-dressing uncle and the Black Sheep – are played with very straight faces by the excellent ensemble cast. While Charles Dance and Bill Paterson are recognisable, lesser-known actors bring a The Office- like “realism” to proceedings.

Ultimately, this comedy of bad manners is compelling in the way of Yorgos Lanthimos ( The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Favourite) where you watch, wideeyed, unable to look away. Some may find that Colin Burstead doesn’t quite reach those ecstatic heights, but if you have a heart for British misanthropy, this one’s for you.

IN CINEMAS NOW Sarah Watt