The Radleys
To the outside world and their neighbours in the leafy suburban avenue of the coastal town where they live, they are the perfect family, father Peter a doctor at the local surgery, mother Helen involved in so many activities and local groups it’s a wonder she’s ever home at all, and their two children, aspiring photographer Rowan with his circle of friends, even if he sometimes doesn’t feel he belongs, and Clara, recently vegan: the Radleys.
A summer of youthful exuberance and lawn parties, at the house and in the grounds of the ruined clifftop abbey, feeling unwell one sunny afternoon Clara leaves early, unaware she is being followed by one of the boys whose attention is unwelcome; making clear she has no interest in his advances, when he presses she reacts instinctively, creating a situation which requires the family pull together and face their secrets.
Based on the novel of the same name by Matt Haig, Damian Lewis, Kelly Macdonald, Harry Baxendale and Bo Bragason are Peter, Helen, Rowan and Clara, The Radleys a family of abstaining vampires finding themselves in the position of having to dispose of the exsanguinated body of the high school sports hero, Lewis serving double duty as Peter’s twin brother Will, the uncle the children didn’t even know existed whose life has followed a different course, fully embracing his bloody desires.
Directed by The Library Suicides’ Euros Lyn from a script adapted by Talitha Stevenson with credit given to Jo Brand for development, though the town is unnamed the principal filming location is unmistakably appropriate Whitby, long known for associations with vampire literature, the cliffs, abbey and waterfront amusement arcades presenting different facades in the bright summer sun and after dark, as do the family themselves.
Each of the family coping with the revelations differently, feeling urges long denied or now understanding the unnameable thirst they could not identify, Will is the wild card who could help or make things immeasurably worse, complicated by Rowan’s unspoken love for classmate Evan Copeleigh (Jay Lycurgo) whose disturbed and overprotective father, former police officer Jared (Shaun Parkes), already suspects vampiric activity in the area.
The ensemble excellent, particularly in the portrayal of Baxendale and Lycurgo’s delicate but likely doomed friendship and Lewis as Peter, dependable if a little dull, and Will, unfiltered swaggering bad influence on impressionable teens, the many elements are balanced but progressing without momentum The Radleys feels less like a feature film than a two episode mini-series strung together, entertaining but a trifle overlong when urgency would have accentuated the dilemma.
The Radleys is scheduled for release on Friday 18th October
