Meet the nightmarish Bursteads
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead (M, 95 mins) Directed by Ben Wheatley Reviewed by James Croot ★★★1⁄2
Colin Burstead (Neil Maskell) thought celebrating New Year’s in the country would bring his family together – instead it threatens to tear them apart.
No-one is particularly happy about the lengthy drive to Dorset. Then, within seconds of their arrival, his mother Sandy (Doon Mackichan) trips over and seems destined to spend the entire time in a wheelchair.
To make matters worse, Colin’s father Gordon (Bill Paterson) starts begging him for a loan, and the promised sound system has failed to materialise. Then comes the kicker, sister Gini (Hayley Squires) has secretly invited their estranged brother David (Sam Riley).
Claiming it’s a surprise for their mother, Gini almost instantly regrets the move. None of them have seen David for five years, since he left his children and their mother (who will also be in attendance).
And, if that wasn’t making things tense enough, Colin’s wife Val (Sura Dohnke) has just discovered that the waitress for the weekend is a woman Colin used to date at school.
What sounds like a traditional British family dramedy or cringe comedy on the surface is more than a touch cleverer than that.
Writer-director Ben Wheatley’s (Sightseers, High-Rise) craftily constructed, multi-stranded tale is actually a modern day reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus (which, apparently, had the hilarious working title of Colin, You Anus).
Sure, there’s none of the graphic horrors of Will’s original tragedy, but there are certainly some verbal eviscerations and plenty of recriminations and regrets that play out as the Bursteads’ time together unfolds.
The ensemble cast, that also includes Games of Thrones’ Charles Dance as a cross-dressing uncle and Taskmaster alumni Asim Chaudhry as a family friend intent on shocking everyone, tackle Wheatley’s memorable dialogue with aplomb, while also selling the increasingly chaotic scenarios.
Some may find it a little too stagey, others won’t appreciate the dark humour but, during this holiday season, Happy New Year, Colin Burstead might make you thankful that your family isn’t as dysfunctional as this one.