Black Pond (15)

Dir: Will Sharpe and Tom Kingsley   Starring: Chris Langham, Amanda Hadingue, Simon Amstell. UK 2011 82mins

An ordinary British family are accused of murder when a stranger dies at their dinner table. Out walking his dog, Tom Thompson meets a disheveled man called Blake and invites him over for tea. Blake dies in the company of the dysfunctional Thompson family. Six months later, Tim, a friend of the Thompson daughters visits off-the-wall freelance therapist Dr Eric Sacks and the story of Blake and the Thompsons finds its way to the press. The facts are bent and the details spun as the Thompsons become known to the public as ‘The Family of Killers’. Black Pond is an account of the events leading up to Blake’s death, intercut with scenes from the fateful therapy session between Tim and Sacks and talking head interviews in which the Thompsons try to justify their actions and clear the family name.

Two-time BAFTA winner Chris Langham (Help, The Thick of It) is hilarious and heartbreaking as the bumbling Tom Thompson, who struggles to placate his neurotic wife Sophie and consistently fails to be a dignified father to his daughters, Jess and Katie. The inimitable Simon Amstell (Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Grandma’s House) makes his film debut as sinister psychotherapist Dr Eric Sacks.

Guardian review : http://bit.ly/vUI2kN

Variety review : http://bit.ly/sFX750