Wasp

Released: 2003

Directed By: Andrea Arnold

Starring: Nathalie Press

Reviewed By: Samuel Cole

Wasp is a short film directed by British film maker Andrea Arnold. The film won an academy award for best short film in 2005, and also won other awards such as the best short film at the Stockholm film festival in 2003. Without doubt Wasp is one of the better short films made and is indeed a film everyone should watch and appreciate.

Zoe is a single mother of four children; she is broke and struggles to provide food for herself and her children. Wasp follows a day in this tough battle against the elements for her and her children. From morning to the night Zoe and her family face tough challenges to test their resolve and overall bond to come through and remain a close family. From a cat fight on the grass to the cliché love scene in a pub Wasp certainly delivers a powerful message. This struggle for survival depicted brilliantly through shots of a Wasp trapped in a kitchen window symbolising Zoe’s feelings within herself of being trapped and having seemingly no way out. Its dramatic climax will without doubt have certain members of the audience reaching for a tissue or two and surely would touch even the most masculine of men. Overall a brilliant short film and this film should be appreciated not just by film critics but any film lover should enjoy this absolute classy and magnificent British film.

Wasp is a thoroughly gripping adventure through the hardships of life in Britain today. I’m sure anybody can appreciate just how tough life has become these days but the life of Zoe in this film is extremely difficult. No job nobody around to help her care for her four children ultimately nothing in her life that can lend her the helping hand that everyone watches this film feels she does deserve. We see just how dedicated of mother she is, many acts of selflessness illustrate her dedication to making her kids as happy as they can be with the bare minimum in their life. Perhaps the major act of brilliance in this film was the casting of Danny Dyer as Dave, one of Zoe’s old friends.
The casting of him allows the audience to immediately empathise and engage in the character as the majority of viewers will recognise the face of Danny Dyer so this provides a familiar face to the audience and even convince some doubters to watch this film. Arnold provides us with a insight into both sides of Zoe, in some scenes we see the compassionate side of her but then in other sides we see an almost uncaring persona and a selfish side of her that she does possess. By showing us both side of Zoe it can almost turn the audience against her, especially in the pub scene when she tells the children to stay outside and only get her in an emergency this can be seen as an extremely uncaring and dangerous thing to do. However this can be seen as almost an act of desperation from Zoe that she wants a shot of having a man in her life and she is determined to let nothing get in her way in her search for true happiness. When leaving the pub and sitting in Dave’s car Zoe does show where her true loyalty lies and when hearing a cry from one of her children she is straight there to be by her children’s side. This provides a tear jerking moment for the viewers and the closeness and bond between Zoe and her children proving that no matter what life throws at them Zoe will always be there for her children and give it her all when it comes to being a mum.