You Instead review
If you were to ask me to describe this film in a few words, they would be; rock and roll rom-com. But based on that alone, you might be mistaken for believing it to be some hipster wannabe movie that aimed to subvert a genre while really keeping to all the conventions. At least that was what I expected to find. What
You Instead actually turned out to be was quite charming, entertaining and, in places, really funny.
The story revolves around T in the Park, a music festival in Scotland where two bands, The Dirty Pinks (lead singer Morello, played by Natalia Tena) and The Make (lead singer Adam, played by Adam Treadaway) clash right at the beginning of the film, resulting in the two leads being handcuffed together. This soon leads to conflict as both have to navigate their way through the weekend, while performing and trying to placate two jealous other halves.
What makes this movie so unique is the setting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a film like it. Though the rehearsal period lasted around 3 weeks, the movie itself was shot over the course of 4 days, at the 2010 T in the Park Festival. With that in mind, the performances, not to mention the chemistry, are quite impressive. The festival itself is a character in the story and is shot beautifully; from the vast crowds to the bright lights of the rides to the natural light (or lack thereof) in the surroundings during both day and night scenes – you truly get a feel for the environment. This is helped along by performances including The Proclaimers, Paloma Faith and Newton Faulkener (who does a bit of acting as well)!
The plot itself is fairly predictable but I think anyone going to see this film will be well aware of how it will end. It’s the getting there that’s interesting. There’s a scene involving mud and a shower which is particularly good, in terms of the mixture of both comedy and quieter tension-building moments. Another highlight is a mash-up of Tainted Love with one of The Dirty Pink’s songs; Tena and Treadaway both sing in the film but are at top form in this scene.
What most impressed me with the film was what I felt was an attempt to comment on the appeal of festivals; a massive gathering of people would be weird (as one character observes during the story) if it weren’t for the music which brings them together. There’s a sense that in amongst all the crowds, there is still a keen feeling of loneliness and a search for identity and belonging. This is evident in the leads as well as the supporting characters. The idea that everybody goes for a good time but what they’re really looking for is a connection, whether that be with a group of people or a chance meeting with a stranger; striving to find a purpose in amongst all the noise and commotion and drunken antics.
You Instead opens in the UK and Ireland this Friday (September 16th).