Authenticity and artificiality battle with equal gusto throughout A Bit of Light, a filmic adaptation of Rebecca Callard‘s award-winning stage production. The theatrical origins are difficult to entirely dismiss throughout Stephen Moyer‘s drama though, with the True Blood alum not always proving steady in his narrative navigation.
Anna Paquin – coincidentally Moyer’s wife in real-life – leads as Ella, a recovering alcoholic whose struggle with sobriety has led to a tragic dynamic dynamic with her ex-husband (Youssef Kerkour) and her daughters; the latter feeling alienated as she negotiates visitation rights with them. Despite wanting to improve her life, Ella is reluctant to attend her meetings, something her recovering-alcoholic father (Ray Winstone) can’t stress enough will be of benefit to her.
Appeasing her father by feigning interest in her meetings, Ella ultimately spends the majority of her time in a local playground, the yearning for her children evidently behind her unhealthy decision. It’s here that she meets Neil (Luca Hogan), a 14-year-old who’s unusually perceptive and thinks far more highly of Ella than she does of herself. Whilst the film never entertains the idea that Neil’s interest in Ella is sexual, it’s a very uncomfortable dynamic between the two, especially when Neil continues to remain blasé about the whereabouts of his parents and that spending all his time with Ella won’t cause an issue.
Not having seen Callard’s stage play I can’t specifically comment on how the character of Neil was framed, and if whether or not his appearance was likened more to a dramatic device temperament, serving as something of a conscience for Ella. If so, Moyer has unfortunately fumbled in his representation here, with Neil almost having a supernatural quality about him – there were many moments I was convinced he was a figment of Ella’s imagination – as his aforementioned attitude towards his parents and constantly being under-dressed in the cold setting doesn’t allow his character to breathe the same natural breath as Ella, her father, or her ex; all characters he smugly interacts with, further suggesting that he isn’t a figment of Ella’s imagination which, in turn, only highlights his character’s oddity and Hogan’s disconcerting performance.
And though Hogan is the performer that sticks out the most in A Bit of Light, a film that mostly aims for a grounded realism in its temperament, Paquin too occasionally struggles with an accent that sounds as if it’s aiming for a British inflection, but can’t help but surrender to her native New Zealand tone throughout. It’s not enough to entirely derail her performance, but spending a lot of her time with Hogan doesn’t do her any favours; the film at its strongest when she’s playing off Winstone, or when it introduces her ex’s new wife (Pippa Bennett-Warner) and her acceptance of being her daughter’s new mother figure, a role she admits to not necessarily wanting.
As we see the relationships surrounding Ella crumble out of her control, Callard’s script ebbs and flows with subtlety and melodrama, and though there’s the best of intentions meant with the film – it’s never disrespectful to alcoholism and the recovery process – it can never quite overcome its uneven execution. A Bit of Light does indeed eventually adhere to its own titular promise, but it unfortunately proves too little too late after a frustrating mentality and questionable performances throughout.
TWO STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
A Bit of Light is playing as part of this year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival, taking place between February 8th and 18th, 2023. For more information head to the official SBIFF page.
