Bait

BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer

Bait, written and directed by Mark Jenkin, has a ‘go back to basics’ feel, being filmed entirely in grainy black and white. Once you get used to this it is an atmospheric, if a little slow moving, movie.

It is set in a small Cornish fishing community where the loss of a local family’s traditional fishing trade brings about rivalry between two brothers. One has given up the family business in favour of catering for well-to-do second homers, running sightseeing boat trips up the coast. The other prefers to keep the fishing tradition alive. He has no boat and is reduced to spreading his nets over the small sandy cove in the hope of catching enough fish to sell in order to save to buy his own boat.

With newcomers slowly taking over the area tensions rise in the community with tragic consequences.

Bait won outstanding British Film 2020 at the BAFTAs and is certainly a film that will give you pause for thought.